The Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway was a Southeastern railroad that began after

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

and operated up until the start of the 20th century. It ran from

Monroe, North Carolina Monroe is a city in and the county seat of Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population increased from 32,797 in 2010 to 34,551 in 2020. It is within the rapidly growing Charlotte metropolitan area. Monroe has a council-manager f ...

Atlanta, Georgia 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 ...

and later became part of the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad 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 ...

History

Construction and early years

The Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway was founded in 1886 with the goal of building a line from

, to

. Construction on the line began in 1887 in North Carolina. By 1892 the railroad had almost completed its original plan when a court injunction halted its progress into Atlanta. As a result, the GC&N developed the Seaboard Air Line Belt Railroad. The Seaboard Air Line Belt Railroad ran about from Belt Junction (near

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

) west to the

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a railway company that operated in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. It began as the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, chartered in Nashville on December 11, 1845, ...

for which the Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway had trackage rights into Atlanta. In 1898 the railroad acquired the

Loganville and Lawrenceville Railroad The Loganville and Lawrenceville Railroad (L&L) was founded in 1898 and operated a line between Loganville and Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. It was owned by the Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway which was incorporated into the Seaboard Air ...

Seaboard Air Line years

In 1901 the GC&N was formally merged into the

Seaboard Air Line Railway 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 ...

. The Seaboard operated the line as their Abbeville Subdivision from Monroe to Abbeville, South Carolina and as their Atlanta Subdivision from Abbeville to Atlanta. The Seaboard primarily used the line for passenger services to Atlanta. The '' Silver Comet'', ''The Cherry Blossoms'', and ''The Capitol'' were passenger trains that ran the line daily from Monroe to Atlanta.Seaboard Air Line Railroad Georgia Division Timetable (1955)
/ref>

Later years

In 1967, the Seaboard Air Line merged with its rival, 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). The merged company was named 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 li ...

(SCL). Seaboard Coast Line designated the entire line from Monroe to Atlanta as the Abbeville Subdivision. The ''Silver Comet'' was discontinued the following year. In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the

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 unde ...

, creating the

CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger. T ...

. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into

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. ...

. CSX would later truncate the Abbeville Subdivision designation at Abbeville with track north of there being annexed to the

Monroe Subdivision The Monroe Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. The line runs from Pee Dee, North Carolina to Abbeville, South Carolina, for a total of 177 miles. The full line is disp ...

.CSX Atlanta Division Timetable (2005)
/ref>

Current operations

The full line is still in service today and it is still operated by

. The line is the primary route from the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

to Atlanta, and it is dispatched by

Centralized traffic control Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system cons ...

Monroe to Abbeville

The line from Monroe to Abbeville is now part of the CSX's

. The Monroe Subdivision also includes track from Monroe to just outside of

Hamlet, North Carolina Hamlet is a city in Richmond County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,042 at the 2020 census. History The area in Richmond County which presently includes Hamlet was originally known as Sandhills. The Wilmington, Charlotte & ...

Abbeville Subdivision

From Abbeville to

Tucker, Georgia Tucker is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, located near Atlanta and was originally settled in the 1820s, and later developed as a railroad community in 1892. According to the 2016 United States Census Bureau annual estimate ...

, the line is CSX's Abbeville Subdivision. The Abbeville Subdivision connects with CSX's

Gainesville Midland Subdivision The Gainesville Midland Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. State of Georgia. The line runs from Athens, Georgia, to Gainesville, Georgia, for a total of . At its south end, it branches off from the Abbeville Subd ...

and the

Hartwell Railroad The Hartwell Railroad dates to 1878 when the company was chartered to build a narrow gauge rail line between Hartwell and Bowersville in Hart County, Georgia. The 10-mile railroad was completed the following year. In 1898, it was reorganized a ...

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

. It also serves Total Distribution Services Inc. (TDSI), a CSX subsidiary, near

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. As of the 2020 census, the population of Lawrenceville was 30,629. In 2019, the ...

Tucker to Atlanta

The line from Tucker to Atlanta is part of CSX's

Atlanta Terminal Subdivision The Atlanta Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. State of Georgia. The Atlanta Terminal Subdivision is broken up into 5 sections known as "Charts" according to the CSX Transportation Timetable #3. Chart ...

, which also includes the company's other rail lines within Atlanta.

Historic stations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgia Carolina and Northern Railway Defunct Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Defunct North Carolina railroads Railway companies established in 1886 Railway companies disestablished in 1901 Predecessors of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Defunct South Carolina railroads