Georgia Southwestern Railroad

The Georgia Southwestern Railroad is a Class III short line railroad company that operates over 234 mile (377 km) of track in southwestern Georgia and southeastern Alabama. Beginning in 1989 as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad on a pair of former CSX Transportation lines, the railroad has since undergone a number of transformations through abandonments and acquisitions, before arriving at its current form. The railroad was formerly a RailAmerica property before going independent, and in 2008 it was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

Traffic includes chemicals, clay, grain, peanuts, plastics, stone, and wood, generating around 13,000 annual carloads.

Upon its creation in 1989 as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad, the Georgia Southwestern railroad operated over two lines making junction at Richland. The first ran 130.7 mile (210 km) from Rhine west through Richland and Omaha, Georgia before crossing over the Chattahoochee River and terminating at Mahrt, Alabama. A second line originated at Columbus, and traveled south through Cusseta and Richland, before ending at Bainbridge, Georgia, 127.9 mile (206 km). Both routes were sold by CSX on July 5, 1989.

The original network consisted of only two lines (described below) containing 258.6 mile (416 km) of track. Commodities included forest products, aggregates, chemicals, fertilizer, peanuts, and paper, generating about 9,000 annual carloads. The railroad maintained its headquarters at Americus.

The east–west route from Rhine to Mahrt was built in different segments over a period of several years. The Americus, Preston & Lumpkin was started in 1884 and connected its namesake cities by 1887. In 1887, further extension brought the terminus of the railroad further east to Abbeville, and in 1888, the railroad became the Savannah, Americus & Montgomery. The railroad continued to grow in 1890, reaching Lyons in the east, as well as the Chattahoochee River and eventually Montgomery to the west. In 1895, the SA&M was reorganized under the Georgia & Alabama and in 1900, the railroad once again changed hands into the Seaboard Air Line. Through a number of mergers, the line eventually came under the ownership of the Seaboard System in 1983, which abandoned the line between Montgomery and Mahrt on April 20, 1986. The remaining line from Mahrt to Rhine, Georgia was sold to the Georgia Southwestern by CSX Transportation in 1989. The Heart of Georgia took over operations of the line from the Georgia Southwestern in 2000 and still operates from Rhine to Preston, with the segment between Preston and Mahrt out of service.

A second line out of Columbus to Bainbridge was originally built by two separate railroads. The first began out of Columbus and was constructed by the Chattahoochee Brick Company, and known as the Columbus Southern Railway when it opened its line to Albany, Georgia in 1890. The railroad was absorbed by the Georgia & Alabama Railway in 1896, and later merged into the Seaboard Air Line in 1902. The second portion of the line was built by the Georgia Pine Railway (Georgia Florida and Alabama Railroad after 1901) and made junction with the Seaboard Air Line at Richland in 1910. In January 1928, the SAL leased the GF&A, creating a shortcut for trains destined for Florida. The Seaboard Air Line was later merged into the Seaboard Coast Line in 1967, and the SCL became the Seaboard System in 1983. CSX sold the line from Columbus to Lynn to the Georgia Southwestern in 1989, concurrently with the sale of the Rhine Mahrt route. 1995 brought numerous changes to the Georgia Southwestern network, and the portion of the route from Cusseta to Cuthbert became redundant and was subsequently abandoned in that year, with the rails being removed in September 1997. Rails remained in place from Columbus to Cusseta in order to serve a large pulpwood yard near the latter.

In the mid 1990s, the Georgia Southwestern experienced a number of changes. Among these changes were the acquisition of Norfolk Southern tracks between Columbus and Americus (now abandoned), as well as trackage rights over NS to Albany. Additionally, two sister South Carolina Central Railroad divisions operating nearby were merged into Georgia Southwestern during the same period.

The Georgia & Alabama had been operating its route from Smithville, Georgia through Eufaula, Alabama to White Oak, Alabama since June 1, 1989, under the Thoroughbred Shortline Program. This South Carolina Central division crossed the Georgia Southwestern at Cuthbert. In 2006, the Georgia Southwestern purchased from Norfolk Southern, the entire 79 mile (127 km) of track from Smithville to White Oak that had been leased up until that point. The following year the GSWR abandoned the 4.54 mile (7 km) from Eufaula to White Oak.

Another South Carolina Central division, the Georgia Great Southern Railroad, operated from Dawson, Georgia to Albany, 22 mile (35 km). CSX sold the line to the SCC on December 14, 1990. Further expansion brought the railroad to Greenville in 1885. A few years later, the railroad was absorbed by the Savannah and Western Railroad, a subsidiary of the Central of Georgia Railroad, and formally merged into the CofG network in 1895. In 2005 the Georgia Southwestern sought to purchase 43 mile (69 km) of track from Norfolk Southern, between a point north of Columbus to Allie (known as the "R" line), along with an additional 12.2 mile (20 km) of trackage rights to the GSWR yard in Columbus. The line was abandoned in 2007.

GSWR parent company RailTex was sold to RailAmerica effective February 4, 2000. Additional ownership change came in 2002 as RailAmerica passed the railroad to local interests concurrent with the sale of several lines to the Georgia DOT, with the now independent Georgia Southwestern remaining as operator. Traffic on the GSWR grew from 8,600 carloads in 2002 to 13,000 in 2007. In 2008, the Georgia Southwestern network consisted of the Ochille Americus line, the Smithville Eufaula route, and operation on behalf of the Georgia DOT between Dawson Sasser, Columbus Cusseta, and Cuthbert Bainbridge. Additionally trackage rights remained over Norfolk Southern between BV&E Junction near Americus south to Albany and over CSX between Bainbridge and Saffold.

Genesse & Wyoming Inc. purchased the Georgia Southwestern outright in December 2008.