Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad

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Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad
Brunswick, GA, US, about 1900.jpg
Brunswick headquarters in the early 1900s
Overview
Dates of operation19021904
Successor Atlantic and Birmingham Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 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).

Contents

History

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

The former headquarters building in 2015 Ritz Theatre, Brunswick, Georgia, USA.jpg
The former headquarters building in 2015

The railroad's former headquarters are today the Ritz Theatre in the Brunswick Old Town Historic District.[ citation needed ]

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

MilepostCity/LocationStation [8] [7] Connections and notes
AOB 532.0 Brunswick Brunswick
AOB 538.0Brunswick Yard
AOB 541.0Southern Junctionjunction with:
AOB 543.0Greenland
AOB 544.4Brobston
AOB 545.9Buffalo
AOB 547.8 Anguilla Anguilla
AOB 549.0Leicht
AOB 551.2Blunt
AOB 553.0 Thalmann Thalmannjunction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
AOB 555.7Lott
AOB 559.1Browntown
AOB 560.4Old Grade
AOB 563.0Fendig
AOB 566.0Needmore
AOB 570.0 Hortense Hortensejunction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Main Line
AOB 574.0Giles
AOB 575.8 Zirkle Zirkle
AOB 581.0 Offerman Offermanjunction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Jesup—Folkston Line
AOB 585.0Aspinwall
AOB 587.6 Bristol Bristol
AOB 591.4Woods
AOB 592.4 Mershon Mershon
AOB 592.7Bynum
AOB 594.6 Coffee Coffee
AOB 599.5New Lacy
AOB 602.1 Rockingham Rockingham
AOB 605.4 Alma Alma
AOB 606.1Southern Pines
AOB 609.2Guysie
AOB 613.0Sessomsjunction with Waycross Air Line Railroad (AB&C/ACL)

References

  1. Offerman & Western Railroad (RailGA)
  2. Storey, Steve (September 14, 2018). "Railroads - Postwar Expansion and Consolidation". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  3. "Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast Railroad (GEORGIA'S RAILROADS, 1833-2015: Historic Context and Statewide Survey)" (PDF). Georgia Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  4. "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
  5. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Florence and Atlanta Division Timetable (1982)
  6. 1 2 Brunswick to Nichols (Abandoned Rails)
  7. 1 2 CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable (2005)
  8. "Georgia Railroads: Passenger Stations & Stops" (PDF). The Branch Line Society. Retrieved August 1, 2023.