Atlanta and West Point Rail Road

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Atlanta & West Point Rail Road

Reporting marks	AWP
Locale	Georgia
Dates of operation	1847 – 1983
Successor line	Seaboard System
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia

The Atlanta and West Point Railroad (AWP) was originally chartered in 1847 as the Atlanta and LaGrange Rail Road and the section from Newnan to West Point was chartered in December 1849. It was completed in 1854. The AWP name began use in 1857. In 1867, while Lemuel P. Grant ran it, here were the stops available to riders:

[edit] Distances of Depots from Atlanta

#	Name	Miles	Notes
1	East Point, Georgia	7
2	Fairburn, Georgia	19
3	Palmetto, Georgia	25	completed on March 17, 1851
4	Powells, Georgia	33
5	Newnan, Georgia	39	completed on September 9, 1851
6	Grantville, Georgia	51	completed on June 1, 1852
7	Hogansville, Georgia	58
8	LaGrange, Georgia	71	completed in February, 1853
9	Long Cane, Georgia	80	Off Long Cane Rd.
10	West Point, Georgia	86	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 & West Point Railroad.

[edit] Today

The AWP and the Western Railway of Alabama had financial backing from the parent company of the Georgia Railroad, and from 1886 onward the AWP and the Western operated essentially as one railroad under the name "The 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. Through the control of the Georgia Railroad, the lines eventually fell under the control of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which was the result of a merger between the ACL 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), and in 1986 SBD merged with Chessie System to form CSX Transportation.

The former AWP line remains in full service today, though passenger service ended in the 1970s when Amtrak took over most of the nation's remaining passenger trains. The AWP name came to an end in 1983 when it was absorbed into the SBD.

[edit] References

Current (operating) Class I railroads of North America
United States: AMTK, BNSF, CSXT, GTW, KCS, NS, SOO, UP - Canada: CN, CP, VIA - Mexico: FXE, TFM, KCSM See also: List of USA/Canada/Mexico Class I Railroads, List of USA/Canadian Class II Railroads, Class III railroad, Class 2 Railroads in Canada, Short-line railroad, List of United States railroads, List of Canadian railroads, list of Mexican railroads