Have some information on narrow gague Augusta Southern RR.Desire additional Information. Orgin who were founders ect. Also any knowledge of Stilmore Airline and Wadley Southern Railroads.

-- Tom Reynolds (Tlazear @email.MSN.com), September 05, 1999

Answers

The Stillmore Air Line was the product of a logging/timber man named George Brinson from near Stillmore, Ga. Brinson wanted RR access for his timber and started building a line to connect Brunswick with Athens. He started with the section between Collins & Still more in 1893. SAL made it to Swainsboro by 1899. Reached Wadley in 1901. In 1906 Brinson sold the SAL to the Central of Georgia which paired it with the nearby Wadley & Mount Vernon Rwy. The SAL shops & HQs had been at Stillmore. CGA moved shops to Wadley. The Wadley & Mount Vernon was another road to grow out of a logging road. One of its developers was Thomas Jefferson James who was a large land owner & timber man. The CGA operated the WS as a subsidiary. As paved roads developed the CGA began chopping away at the WS. By early 1930s the WS had only 20 miles between Wadley and Swainsboro. In 1960 the CGA sold the WS and neighbor Louisville & Wadley to local businessmen. The WS was abandoned in 1964. The L&W lives today in a shorten form.

-- Conrad Cheatham (ccheatham@ureach.com), December 03, 1999.

The Augusta, Gibson & Sandersville RR was incorporated January 8, 1884, and construction began that year. The road was opened, Augusta to Sandersville (80 miles) November 28, 1886. A planned extension to Albany via Hawkinsville never materialized. The road entered receivership January 1, 1892. Sold February 20, 1893, the AG&S was reorganized as the Augusta Southern on May 1, 1893. The AG&S was built with a three-foot gauge.

The Augusta Southern converted the line to standard gauge, completing the task on September 30, 1893. It leased the four mile Sandersville & Tennille RR on August 8, 1893.

The AS was leased to the South Carolina & Georgia RR on March 1, 1897, and became part of the Southern Railway System, along with the rest of the SC&G on May 1, 1899. It resumed independent operation on April 25, 1901, when the Southern bought the SC&G outright and annulled the lease on the AS.

Prior to that, the Southern had purchased controlling interest in the Augusta Southern and operated it as an independent subsidiary (independent of the SC&G, that is) until 1917.

On March 25, 1917, the Southern sold its holdings in the Augusta Southern to the receivers of the Georgia & Florida Railway (which used the AS for access to Augusta via trackage rights from Keysville) for $250,000 cash.

The company was operated by the Georgia & FloridaRr beginning April 1, 1917.k It entered receivership and was sold at public auction October 7, 1919, and was purchased once again by the Georgia & Florida and essentially became part and parcel of the G&F. The Keysvillw to Tennille segment of the line was abandoned in the 1930's, and the segment from Hephzibah to Keysville was abandoned in 1964.

Bob Hanson

-- Robert H. Hanson (RHanson669@aol.com), September 07, 1999.