The Atlanta and West Point Rail Road was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, forming the east portion of the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Selma Selma may refer to: Places *Selma, Algeria *Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada *Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons United States: *Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches *Selma, Arkansas *Selma, Cali ...

West Point Route The West Point Route was actually a nickname used in the early 20th century for the joint operations of the Atlanta and West Point Railroad and the Western Railway of Alabama. The name refers to the city of West Point, Georgia, where the two railr ...

. The company was chartered in 1847 as the Atlanta and LaGrange Rail Road and renamed in 1857; construction of the

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

line was begun in 1849-50 and completed in May 1854. A large minority interest owned by the

Georgia Railroad and Banking Company The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company also seen as "GARR", was a historic railroad and banking company that operated in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 1967 it reported 833 million revenue-ton-miles of freight and 3 million passenger-miles; at ...

eventually passed under the control of 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 ...

(ACL), which later acquired a majority of the stock. In the late 20th century restructuring, through the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

(SCL), successor to the ACL, the A&WP came under the

Family Lines System Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

banner in 1972. Years later in June 1983, it was merged into the

Seaboard System Railroad The Seaboard System Railroad, Inc. was a US Class I railroad that operated from 1982 to 1986. Since the late 1960s, Seaboard Coast Line Industries had operated the Seaboard Coast Line and its sister railroads—notably the Louisville & Nashv ...

, successor to the SCL. The former A&WP property is now owned by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

. In 1967 A&WP reported 232 million revenue ton-miles of freight and 3 million passenger-miles on of road operated.

History

The AWP and the

Western Railway of Alabama The Western Railway of Alabama (WRA) also seen as "WofA" was created as the Western Railroad of Alabama by the owners of the Montgomery & West Point Railroad (M&WP) in 1860. It was built to further the M&WP's development West from Montgomery, Ala ...

had financial backing from the parent company of the

. From 1886 onward the AWP and the Western operated essentially as one railroad under the name "

". In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the three were controlled through joint lease by the Central of Georgia Railroad and the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

(through assignment by its majority owner, the

). The CofG sold its interest in 1944. The lines eventually fell under the control of the

, as a result of a merger between the Atlantic Coast Line and the

Seaboard Air Line The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

. All of these lines, plus the

Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina. The 35-mile segmen ...

, became the

in the 1970s, though all the lines maintained separate corporate identities. Those identities became "fallen flags" when the group was renamed

(SBD). In 1986 SBD merged with

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated und ...

to form

A Georgia Railroad Mixed Train (24736866404)

The former AWP line remains in full service today, although This was 16 months before

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

took over most of the nation's long-distance passenger trains. (The Central of Georgia's ''Man o' War'' continued to operate for several more months over the A&WP rail line.) The Atlanta & West Point name ended in June 1983, when the railroad company was absorbed by the Seaboard System. One of AWP's most notable

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s, heavy Pacific AWP 290, survived and was restored to operational status in 1989. The 290 pulled steam excursions around Atlanta from 1989 to 1992 for the "New Georgia Railroad," including a special excursion from Atlanta to Montgomery along the original West Point Route.

List of stations

These stations existed as of 1867. Trains departed from Atlanta at 12:15PM and arrived there at 8:37AM. West Point was the connecting point further west via the

Montgomery and West Point Railroad The Montgomery and West Point Railroad (M&WP) was an early 19th-century railroad in Alabama and Georgia. It played an important role during the American Civil War as a supply and transportation route for the Confederate Army, and, as such, was the ...

References

* *

External links

Railga.com

Atlanta and West Point Railroad, Passenger Depot, Newnan, Georgia
one of many drawings related to the Atlanta and West Point Railroad in th
Georgia State Archives

"Steam Locomotion at High Tide!"
historical marker, Georgia Info {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlanta West Point Railroad Defunct Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Railway lines in Atlanta Seaboard System Railroad Predecessors of CSX Transportation Former Class I railroads in the United States Standard gauge railways in the United States Railway companies established in 1857 Railway companies disestablished in 1986 5 ft gauge railways in the United States 1857 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)

History

List of stations

See also

References

External links