The Georgia, Florida and Alabama RailroadSources differ on the use of ''Railroad'' vs ''Railway'' in the official name of the company. (the GF&A), known as the Sumatra Leaf Route, and colloquially as the Gopher, Frog & Alligator was a -long

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

from

Richland, Georgia Richland is a city in Stewart County, Georgia, Stewart County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,370. History The community took its name from the local Richland Bap ...

Carrabelle, Florida Carrabelle is a city in Franklin County along Florida's Panhandle, United States. It is located east of Apalachicola at the mouth of the Carrabelle River on the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 2,606 as of the 2020 census. History In 152 ...

. It was founded in 1895 as a logging railroad, the Georgia Pine Railway. The northern and southern ends of the railroad have been abandoned, but the section from Cuthbert, Georgia, to Tallahassee, Florida, remains in use by various railroads.

Route description

The northern terminus of the line was at Richland, where it met the

Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway The Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway (SA&M) was a historic railroad located in the U.S. states of Georgia and Alabama. SA&M was built in the 1880s running between Montgomery, Alabama and Lyons, Georgia. It would be completed to Savannah, ...

and the

Columbus Southern Railway The Columbus Southern Railway is a historic railroad that operated in the U.S. state of Georgia. The railroad operated an 88-mile line from Columbus to Albany that opened in 1890. History It was originally chartered in 1885 as the Columbus and F ...

. It ran almost due south through

Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne () ( – 20 March 687) was a saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monastery, monasteries of Melrose Abbey#Histo ...

and Edison to reach Arlington, where it crossed the

Central of Georgia Railway The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...

. It continued through Colquitt and Bainbridge before crossing the

Flint river The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from th ...

and entering

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. It continued through Sopchoppy and Tallahassee and on to its southern terminus in Carrabelle on the Florida Gulf Coast.

History

Construction and early years

Hannibal Kimball Hannibal Ingalls Kimball (May 16, 1832 – April 28, 1895) was an American entrepreneur and important businessman in post-Civil War Atlanta, Georgia. Early years Born in Oxford County, Maine, to family of Methodist wheelwrights. He was the fi ...

promoted the Bainbridge, Cuthbert and Columbus Railroad to run north-to-south through southwest Georgia in 1869. Although work began on construction in 1870, it was never completed, and in 1872 the project was abandoned amidst financial problems and bond endorsement issues that stirred allegations of impropriety against Kimball. During the 1880s, attempts were made to revive the railroad, with some activity taking place in the middle of that decade, but this too came to nothing. Finally, in 1895 local entrepreneur J. D. Williams laid rails on part of the route creating the Georgia Pine Railroad connecting Bainbridge to

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

. The railroad had only been intended for logging, but since it provided an additional rail route from Georgia into Florida and connected with other railroads, traffic increased. By 1898, the railroad was renamed the Georgia Florida and Alabama Railroad and by 1901, it had been extended north to Richland. In 1902, the GF&A completed the section from Tallahassee to Bainbridge.

Tallahassee to Carrabelle

In 1906, the Georgia Florida and Alabama Railway purchased the Carrabelle, Tallahassee & Georgia Railroad (CT&G), which ran from Tallahassee south to Carrabelle on the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. The CT&G from Carrabelle north was first chartered as the Thomasville, Tallahassee and Gulf Railroad in 1883. Construction began from Carrabelle to the

Sopchoppy River The Sopchoppy River is a minor river in the Florida Big Bend. A tributary of the Ochlockonee River, it is approximately in lengthBoning, Charles R. 2007. ''Florida's Rivers''. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. and nearly entirely within ...

, but it stopped there since the company could not obtain funding to build a bridge over the river. The line was reorganized as the Augusta, Tallahassee and Gulf Railroad in 1889. It was then purchased by William Clark who owned 175,000 acres of pine lands near the railroad. Clark reincorporated the line as the Carrabelle, Tallahassee & Georgia Railroad on January 5, 1891. Construction was complete to Tallahassee by October 1893. CT&G also had stops at Hilliardville, Crawfordville, MacIntyre, and

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

(site of an elegant casino/hotel). From Carrabelle, the

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

''Crescent City'', owned by the CT&G, made daily round trips to Apalachicola, to which there was no road or rail access at the time. Once the Georgia Florida and Alabama Railroad acquired the CT&G, the GF&A reached its greatest extent from

, a distance of 180 miles. Image:Carrabele Tallahassee Georgia Railroad n038653.jpg, CT&G train approaching Tallahassee in 1895 Image:Carrabelle Tallahassee Georgia Railroad rc12343.jpg, Steamer Crescent City at terminus in Carrabelle in 1895 Image:Carrabelle Tallahassee Georgia Railroad c00012.jpg, Terminus at Carrabelle in 1898

Later years

The GF&A was leased to the

Seaboard Air Line Railway The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

in 1927. The Seaboard went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

at the end of 1930, and the lease was revoked in 1931. The Seaboard was reformed after receiving government loans, and it agreed to operate, but not lease the GF&A. In 1944, the court that was overseeing the Seaboard's receivership authorized the company to purchase 90% of the GF&A's bonds. Once under Seaboard ownership, they designated the line north of Bainbridge as their Richland Subdivision and south of there as the Bainbridge Subdivision.Seaboard Air Line Railroad South Carolina Division Timetable (1944)
/ref>Seaboard Air Line Railroad North Florida Division Timetable (1949) In 1948, the line was abandoned from Carrabelle to Tallahassee. The Seaboard Air Line became part of

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

by 1980. In 1983, the former GF&A line north of Bainbridge was sold off to the

South Carolina Central Railroad The South Carolina Central Railroad is a class III railroad that operates of former CSX Transportation trackage in South Carolina. Originally a RailTex subsidiary upon its start in 1987, the railroad passed to RailAmerica following their acquis ...

, and in 1989 it became part of the

Georgia Southwestern Railroad The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a Class III short line railroad company that operates over of track in southwestern Georgia and southeastern Alabama. Beginning in 1989 as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad on a pair of forme ...

. In 1997, the portion of the GF&A route from Richland south to Cuthbert was abandoned, and in 2002 the

Georgia Department of Transportation The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a li ...

acquired the remaining Cuthbert to Bainbridge section. The Georgia Southwestern remains the operator of the line.

Current conditions

North of Bainbridge

The segment from Cuthbert to Bainbridge is now owned by the

and operated by the

Bainbridge Subdivision

The segment from Bainbridge to

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

is still in service. This segment is still known as the Bainbridge Subdivision and it is operated by CSX from Bainbridge to Attapulgus. CSX sold the remaining segment from Attapulgus to

to the

Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad The Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad is a shortline railroad owned and operated by RailUSA in the Florida Panhandle. The line consists of 430 miles (692 km) of track: a main line from Baldwin, Florida (just west of Jacksonville), through Ta ...

in 2019. Currently, the line's milepost numbers begin in Tallahassee at 52 and increase from there. This is due to the fact that the numbering still reflects the line's full length to Carrabelle, which was mile 0 before the track between there and Tallahassee was abandoned.

South of Tallahassee

A 2.4-mile part of the abandoned Tallahassee-Carrabelle segment of the GF&A is now the Tallahassee-Georgia Florida and Alabama (GF&A) Trail in the

Apalachicola National Forest The Apalachicola National Forest is the largest U.S. National Forest in the state of Florida. It encompasses and is the only national forest located in the Florida Panhandle. The National Forest provides water and land-based outdoors activiti ...

. Research work on the rail-to-trail project was done by Genesis Group.

Historic stations

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

"Georgia, Florida and Alabama Railway
in ''Seaboard Air Line Railway: Steam Boats, Locomotives, and History'' by Richard E. Prince, 1966; reprinted 2000.

by Donald R. Hensley, Jr., at Taplines.net - includes a good map of the GF&A prior to its acquisition by the Seaboard in 1927. Defunct railroad companies of the United States American companies established in 1895 American companies disestablished in 1944 Defunct Florida railroads 1895 establishments in Florida Defunct Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Railway companies established in 1895 Railway companies disestablished in 1944 Predecessors of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Predecessors of CSX Transportation