Atlanta and West Point 554 (EMD FP7) and Georgia Railroad 1001 (EMD F3a) with Georgia Railroad Train 2 at Camak, GA in October 1967. Click to enlarge.
(Roger Puta, railfan 44, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
ATLANTA & WEST POINT RAIL ROAD
The Atlanta and West Point Rail Road (reporting mark AWP) was a railroad in the U.S. state of Georgia, forming the east portion of the Atlanta-Selma West Point Route. The company was chartered in 1847 as the Atlanta and LaGrange Rail Road and renamed in 1857; construction of the 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge line was begun in 1849-50 and completed in May 1854. A large minority interest owned by the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company eventually passed under the control of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL), which later acquired a majority of the stock.
A brand new Atlanta & West Point Mikado at the Lima plant in 1918. Click to enlarge.
(Photo: Altona, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
In the late 20th century restructuring, through the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL), successor to the ACL, the A&WP came under the Family Lines System banner in 1972. Years later in June 1983, it was merged into the Seaboard System Railroad, successor to the SCL. The former A&WP property is now owned by CSX Transportation.
In 1967 A&WP reported 232 million revenue ton-miles of freight and 3 million passenger-miles on 93 miles (150 km) of road operated.
A 4-4-0 locomotive of the A. & WPT. R. R. (foreground) in the ruined roundhouse of Atlanta, Georgia shortly after the end of the Civil War. (All other rolling stock either without identifiable marking or Ga. R. R.) Click to enlarge. (George N. Barnard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
History
The AWP and the Western Railway of Alabama had financial backing from the parent company of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company. From 1886 onward the AWP and the Western operated essentially as one railroad under the name "West Point Route". In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the three were controlled through joint lease by the Central of Georgia Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (through assignment by its majority owner, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad).
The CofG sold its interest in 1944. The lines eventually fell under the control of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, as a result of a merger between the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Air Line. All of these lines, plus the Clinchfield Railroad, became the Family Lines System in the 1970s, though all the lines maintained separate corporate identities. Those identities became "fallen flags" when the group was renamed Seaboard System Railroad (SBD). In 1986 SBD merged with Chessie System to form CSX Transportation.
The former AWP line remains in full service today, although passenger service ended on January 7, 1970. This was 16 months before Amtrak took over most of the nation's long-distance passenger trains. (The Central of Georgia's Man o' War continued to operate for several more months over the A&WP rail line.) The Atlanta & West Point name ended in June 1983, when the railroad company was absorbed by the Seaboard System.
One of AWP's most notable steam locomotives, heavy Pacific AWP 290, survived and was restored to operational status in 1989. The 290 pulled steam excursions around Atlanta from 1989 to 1992 for the "New Georgia Railroad," including a special excursion from Atlanta to Montgomery along the original West Point Route.
The preserved Fairburn Broad Street Rail Station building in 2014. (Ramsey Eden, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the observation car of the New York and New Orleans Limited, 1908. Click to enlarge. (Atlanta and West Point Railroad/Western Railway of Alabama-the two railroads operated the train jointly., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the club car of the New York and New Orleans Limited, a train jointly operated by the Atlanta and West Point Railroad and the Western Railway of Alabama. The joint service was referred to as The West Point Route, 1907. Click to enlarge. (Atlanta and West Point Railroad and the Western Railway of Alabama, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard photo of the dining car of the New York and New Orleans Limited, a train jointly operated by the Atlanta and West Point Railroad and the Western Railway of Alabama. The joint service was referred to as The West Point Route, 1907. Click to enlarge. (Atlanta and West Point Railroad and the Western Railway of Alabama, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
List of Stations
These stations existed as of 1867.
Name / Miles / Km / Notes
East Point / 7 / 11
Fairburn / 19 / 31
Palmetto / 25 / 40 / completed on March 17, 1851
Powells / 33 / 53
Newnan / 39 / 63 / completed on September 9, 1851
Grantville / 51 / 82 / completed on June 1, 1852
Hogansville / 58 / 93
LaGrange / 71 / 114 / completed in February, 1853
Long Cane / 80 / 130 / Off Long Cane Road
West Point / 86 / 138 / completed on May 15, 1854
Trains departed from Atlanta at 12:15PM and arrived there at 8:37AM. West Point was the connecting point further west via the Montgomery and West Point Railroad.
Atlanta & West Point GP7 571 with a Georgia RR mixed stopped at Crawford, GA station on November 24, 1967 with only a Georgia RR combine (no freight cars). Click to enlarge. (A Roger Puta photograph, railfan 44, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Atlanta and West Point 667, a Baldwin, and Georgia RR SW7 in GA RR yards in Atlanta, GA on April 14, 1963. Click to enlarge. (Roger Puta, railfan 44, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Georgia Railroad GP40 751 and Atlanta and West Point FP7 554, Atlanta, GA on October 26, 1968. Click to enlarge. (Roger Puta, railfan 44, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Atlanta and West Point Train 38, The Crescent near Fairburn, GA on November 23, 1967. Click to enlarge. (Roger Puta, railfan 44, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Atlanta & West Point Route Map. Click to enlarge.
(Danley, W. L., Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, Buffalo, N.Y., 1889, via Library of Congress, Public domain)
Overview
Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
Reporting mark: AWP
Locale: Georgia
Dates of operation: 1847–1983
Successor: Seaboard System
Technical
Track gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge originally built as:
5 ft (1,524 mm) and changed to:
4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) in 1886
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