Georgia Southwestern RR taking over Greenville Line

Georgia Southwestern is taking over operations over on the line between Columbus and Allie, GA (near Greenville, GA). Not sure when it is supposed to become final. Norfolk Southern had the line, but a bridge got washed out a year ago. The mill up in Allie closed down and the mill at Durand wasn't generating that much money. So I'm assuming there wasn't much point in fixing the bridge. It was slated for abandonment, but Georgia Southwestern is stepping up to serve the line.

The quarries up north of Columbus I think will still be served by Norfolk Southern, and the big paper mill in Durand will be served by Southwestern. CSX also serves the mill, but they can cheaper rates now with two railroads able to serve them. There is some interest to reopen the mill up in Allie, so hopefully that line will stay open.

Speaking of GSWR, did they rehab their line between Albany and Dawson they had abanadoned a few years ago? It had been used as a trail, but I heard GSWR wanted it back so they wouldn't have to use NS trackage rights...

Is the southern portion of the Dawson - Albany right-of-way still available? Based on appearances, it seems that much of the line on the north side of the Albany area has been disposed of and has been converted to other uses!

Has the Ga Southwestern - NS trackage rights relationship soured? The NS trackage rights agreement was initially sought as a great alternative to the very expensive rebuilding of miles of Ga Southwestern trackage south of Columbus, Ga due to extensive wash-out damage caused by a hurricane that swept through the area. The agreement also resulted in the abandonment of miles of the former SAL/CSX track south of Cusetta, GA.

I never understood why the Ga Southwestern abandoned the section of trackage between Albany and Sasser, GA. The Ga Southwestern's subsidiary Ga & Alabama acquired the trackage into Albany for the purpose of establishing a southern gateway with the CSX in Albany. Shortly after Ga Southwestern set up the track for use, CSX made the decision to pull out of Albany! Subsequently, the Ga Southwestern abandoned the section of track north of Albany. It seemed to me that the successor to CSX (the Ga - Fl RR) would have possibly been a better partner at Albany than the CSX, as the Ga - Fl was hungry for freight, and would have probably worked harder to move Ga. Southwestern freight to/from Thomasville, Ga and Tifton/Pearson, Ga than CSX. Additionally, the Ga - Fl RR could have provided an additional point of interchange with CSX at Valdosta, Ga. via trackage rights on NS between Sparks and Valdosta, Ga. Maybe this point has become apparent to the Ga Southwestern.

Ironically, CSX established its own trackage rights on the NS between Albany and Oglethorpe, Ga. as part of its pull-out from Albany.

Anyone have any insights or explanations?

Best wishes to all!

ACLfan

You might find this interesting... it is the most recent Georgia DOT rail map, and has some very interesting features on it...

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/dot/plan-pro ... p_2004.PDF

Georgia Southwestern is trying to get back that section of trackage. It's not a done deal, but they are probably going to settle by taking track from Dawson down to a few miles outside of Albany. There is a new industrial park being built near an existing industry NW of Albany.
The track will NOT go all the way into Albany, since there is alot of residential areas and no industry in that part of town.
This also saves alot of money and hassle on the legal issues the railroad is having with the Rails to Trails outfit fighting for it. So they rather just strike a deal and get rail back in there now instead of fighting in out in the courts.
So GSWR will ship the traffic up to Dawson and around to Albany via NS trackage rights which they retain. It's a long way to go, but they will make money and thats what counts.

I'm now hearing that GSWR will acquire this line from NS before the end of March (2005). That bridge is still out, but repair work is already in the pipeline and construction will begin soon thereafter. The work is expected to be completed by this summer. GSWR already has plans to start serving the Georgia Pacific Mill in Durand, GA immediately since the mill has carloads they want to ship through NS via Columbus. Currently, GP can only ship via CSX so they'll be glad to have two railroads to choose from for lower rates.

Also there is now some solid talk of a new outfit coming into Greenville / Allie area and reopening that chipper mill. It is located up the line north of Durand. When the bridge is fixed they will be able to get trains up to the site.

Good news to see this line coming back to life.

Georgia Southwestern RR will be acquiring this line from Norfolk Southern on May 20th officially. Bridge & Track repairs are soon to follow and trains will be running up the line this summer.

Map of line:

http://www.dot.state.ga.us/dot/plan-pro ... le_map.pdf