Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad
 Brunswick headquarters in the early 1900s | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1902–1904 |
| Successor | Atlantic and Birmingham Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad (B&B) was a railroad in southeastern United States. Its main route ran from Brunswick, Georgia to Sessoms (just east of Nicholls, Georgia).
History
[edit]The Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad was chartered on December 11, 1900. In 1902–03, it built a 49-mile (79 km) line from Brunswick, Georgia to Offerman, Georgia and a 19-mile (31 km) line from Bushnell, Georgia to Ocilla, Georgia. The B&B purchased the Offerman and Western Railroad on July 1, 1902,[1] and the Ocilla and Irwinville Railroad on February 19, 1903. The railroad ran into financial troubles and was purchased by the Atlantic and Birmingham Railway in April 1904.
The Atlantic and Birmingham then became part of the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad (AB&A) when it took over the A&B network on April 12, 1906.[2][3] The Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad was acquired by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1926. The Atlantic Coast Line operated the AB&A network as the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad (AB&C) until 1946, when they fully merged the AB&C into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.[4] This gave the Atlantic Coast Line a second line to Brunswick (their first route to Brunswick was the former Brunswick and Western Railroad).
The segment of the line built between Brunswick, Georgia and Alma, Georgia was abandoned by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1953. The remainder of the line survived the 1967 merger of the ACL and Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, and the acquisition of the Family Lines (CRR, L&N, GA, AWP) into the Seaboard System Railroad in 1982. The remaining segment was known as the Alma Subdivision.[5] After the Seaboard System became CSX Transportation, the line between Sessoms and Alma was abandoned in 1986.[6]
Current conditions
[edit]
The railroad's former headquarters are today the Ritz Theatre in the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.
A small segment of the line in Brunswick south of Southern Junction is still in service and is part of CSX's Brunswick Subdivision (which primarily uses the former Brunswick and Western Railroad north and west of Southern Junction).[7]
Much of the railroad's former right of way parallels State Route 32 and much of it is now a power line corridor.[6]
Historic stations
[edit]| Milepost | City/Location | Station[8][7] | Connections and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AOB 532.0 | Brunswick | Brunswick | |
| AOB 538.0 | Brunswick Yard | ||
| AOB 541.0 | Southern Junction | junction with: | |
| AOB 543.0 | Greenland | ||
| AOB 544.4 | Brobston | ||
| AOB 545.9 | Buffalo | ||
| AOB 547.8 | Anguilla | Anguilla | |
| AOB 549.0 | Leicht | ||
| AOB 551.2 | Blunt | ||
| AOB 553.0 | Thalmann | Thalmann | junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line |
| AOB 555.7 | Lott | ||
| AOB 559.1 | Browntown | ||
| AOB 560.4 | Old Grade | ||
| AOB 563.0 | Fendig | ||
| AOB 566.0 | Needmore | ||
| AOB 570.0 | Hortense | Hortense | junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Main Line |
| AOB 574.0 | Giles | ||
| AOB 575.8 | Zirkle | Zirkle | |
| AOB 581.0 | Offerman | Offerman | junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Jesup—Folkston Line |
| AOB 585.0 | Aspinwall | ||
| AOB 587.6 | Bristol | Bristol | |
| AOB 591.4 | Woods | ||
| AOB 592.4 | Mershon | Mershon | |
| AOB 592.7 | Bynum | ||
| AOB 594.6 | Coffee | Coffee | |
| AOB 599.5 | New Lacy | ||
| AOB 602.1 | Rockingham | Rockingham | |
| AOB 605.4 | Alma | Alma | |
| AOB 606.1 | Southern Pines | ||
| AOB 609.2 | Guysie | ||
| AOB 613.0 | Sessoms | junction with Waycross Air Line Railroad (AB&C/ACL) |
References
[edit]- ^ Offerman & Western Railroad (RailGA)
- ^ Storey, Steve (September 14, 2018). "Railroads - Postwar Expansion and Consolidation". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ^ "Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast Railroad (GEORGIA'S RAILROADS, 1833-2015: Historic Context and Statewide Survey)" (PDF). Georgia Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- ^ "Wesley Thomas Hargrett collection". sclfind.libs.uga.edu. Hargrett Manuscripts and Russell Library Finding Aids. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
The collection consists of the papers of Wesley Thomas Hargrett from 1889-1919. The materials pertain to business operations of various Georgia railway companies
- ^ Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Florence and Atlanta Division Timetable (1982)
- ^ a b Brunswick to Nichols (Abandoned Rails)
- ^ a b CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable (2005)
- ^ "Georgia Railroads: Passenger Stations & Stops" (PDF). The Branch Line Society. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
External links
[edit]- Brunswick & Birmingham Railroad, Steve Storey, Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage
- Brunswick & Birmingham Railroad Office, Steve Storey, Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage
