Abbeville–Grimes Railway Company
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Panama City, Florida |
| Reporting mark | AG |
| Locale | Southeast Alabama |
| Dates of operation | 1989–1996 |
| Predecessor | CSX Transportation |
| Successor | Bay Line Railroad |
| Technical | |
| Length | 26.9 miles (43.3 km) |
The Abbeville–Grimes Railway Company (reporting mark AG), also known as the A&G Railroad after 1994, was a shortline railroad formerly operating from Grimes to Abbeville, Alabama, 26.9 miles (43.3 km). The railroad was merged with the Bay Line Railroad in 1996 and continued operation under the new name.
History
Construction of the Alabama Midland Railway began in 1887 and completed its line through the region in 1890. The Abbeville Southern Railway was created in September 1892 to build a branch line from Grimes, reaching Abbeville in December of the following year. Following the completion of construction, the line was transferred to the Alabama Midland, which operated the line until it was merged with the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway on September 2, 1901.[1]
The Atlantic Coast Line absorbed the SF&W in 1902. A pair of mergers, first into the Seaboard Coast Line in 1967, and later the Seaboard System in 1983, would precede the final merger into CSX Transportation in 1986.[2] In the late 1980s CSX sought to abandon the line from Grimes to Abbeville.[3] However, the Stone Container Corporation, operator of a woodchip mill near Abbeville and the parent company of the Bay Line Railroad, sought to purchase the branch and preserve service, which it did on March 1, 1989.[4] The new line reached its parent railroad at Dothan via trackage rights over CSX between Grimes and Dothan.[3]
Rail Services Inc. was responsible for operations of the Abbeville–Grimes Railway using locomotives and rolling stock supplied by the Bay Line Railroad. On January 1, 1994 the Bay Line was sold to Rail Management Corporation with the Abbeville–Grimes Railway included in the purchase. The name was shortened to the A&G railroad and continued to operate with Bay Line locomotives.[5] The A&G was formally merged into the Bay Line on June 26, 1996 and ceased to exist as a separate entity.[6]
References
- ^ Owen, Thomas M. (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Vol. 1. S.J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 71.
- ^ Solomon, Brian (2005). CSX. MBI Publishing Company. pp. 63–67. ISBN 0-7603-1796-8.
- ^ a b Nelson, Bruce (2005). "The Bay Line Railroad". The Railroad Press (65): 44–49.
- ^ Lewis, Edward A. (1991). American Shortline Railway Guide (4 ed.). Kalmbach Publishing Company. p. 8. ISBN 0-89024-109-0.
- ^ Lewis, Edward A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide (5 ed.). Kalmbach Publishing Company. p. 12. ISBN 0-89024-290-9.
- ^ "STB Finance Docket No. 19936". 21 June 1996. Retrieved 27 November 2010.