The Georgia Southern and Florida Railway , also known as the ''Suwanee River Route'' from its crossing of the Suwanee River, was founded in 1885 as the Georgia Southern and Florida ''Railroad'' and began operations between

Macon, GA Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

and Valdosta, GA in 1889, extending to Palatka, FL in 1890. The railroad went bankrupt by 1891, was reorganized as the Georgia Southern and Florida ''Railway'' in 1895, and was controlled by the Southern Railway. In 1902, the GS&F purchased the Atlantic, Valdosta and Western Railway that ran from Valdosta, GA to

Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. The GS&F also owned the Macon and Birmingham Railway and the

Hawkinsville and Florida Southern Railway The Hawkinsville and Florida Southern Railway (H&FS) was founded in 1896 and by 1901 was operating of track from Hawkinsville, Georgia, Hawkinsville to Worth, Georgia, United States, where it connected with the Georgia Southern and Florida Rail ...

, both of which were operated as separate companies; both ended up going bankrupt and being mostly abandoned. The GS&F was eventually acquired by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

and still operates as a subsidiary. As of November 2012, at least one operating Norfolk Southern locomotive retains GSF reporting marks. The line was abandoned south of

Lake City, Florida Lake City is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329, up from 12,046 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistica ...

in the late 1980s. The Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail runs along some of the abandoned right of way. The remaining line is still in service and operated by

. It is designated as Norfolk Southern's Macon District from Macon to Valdosta, and the Navair District from Valdosta to end of the line in Navair (just south of Lake City).Norfolk Southern Georgia Division Timetable
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Historic stations

References

External links

"Georgia Southern & Florida Railroad," Railga.com

Abandoned Florida segment, described by Abandoned Rails
Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Defunct Florida railroads Railway companies established in 1895 Predecessors of the Southern Railway (U.S.) Norfolk Southern Railway Former Class I railroads in the United States American companies established in 1895 {{US-ClassI-rail-transport-stub

Historic stations

See also

References

External links