The Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railway was formed in 1914 as a reorganization of the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad, which had been created in 1905 to purchase the

Atlantic and Birmingham Railway The Waycross Air Line Railroad, chartered in 1887, was an air-line railroad in Georgia. It began operations between Waycross and Sessoms in 1890. In 1901, the railroad had extended as far as Fitzgerald, Georgia, at which time its charter was ...

and extend its track into

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, from an end point at

Montezuma, Georgia Montezuma is a city in Macon County, Georgia ( ZIP code ''31063''). The population was 3,460 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 13.5% since 2000. It is home to the armory of Bravo Company, 648th Engineers of the Georgia Army National Guard. Histo ...

. The railroad's chief engineer and general manager at the time was Alexander Bonnyman. The railroad went into receivership in 1921 and was acquired by the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast L ...

in 1926. They reorganized the line as the

Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad The Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad was organized in 1926 to replace the bankrupt Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railway. The AB&C was controlled by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which owned a majority of the stock. In 1944 it report ...

. The Mangum Street embankment which ran north–south along Mangum Street (parallel to today's Northside Drive, but two blocks to the east), upon which trains reached the Atlanta terminus west of

Downtown Atlanta Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The larger of the city's two other commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city, county, s ...

, was built in 1905 and razed c. 1990 for construction of the

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center ...

."Before the Georgia Dome and World Congress Center", ''Return to Atlanta'' (blog)
/ref> The building was used as offices and passenger terminal for the AB&A in Atlanta is located at the corner of Fairlie and Walton Streets in downtown Atlanta. It is now used as offices for Central Atlanta Progress. The upper facade of the building retains the "Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad" stonework on two sides.

References

External links

Owen, Thomas McAdory. ''History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography'', Vol. I. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1921, pp. 70-71.

Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad Photograph Collection
from the

Atlanta History Center Atlanta History Center is a history museum and research center located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926 and currently consists of nine permanent, and several temporary, exhibitions. Atlanta History Cen ...

Alexander Bonnyman Papers
-- A collection of railroad records and photographs belonging to one of their chief engineers Defunct Alabama railroads Defunct Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Former Class I railroads in the United States Predecessors of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Railway companies established in 1915 Railway companies disestablished in 1926 American companies established in 1915 {{US-ClassI-rail-transport-stub