Montgomery and West Point Railroad
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Montgomery and West Point Railroad | |
---|---|
Locale | Alabama and Georgia |
Dates of operation | 1832 – 1870 |
Successor line | Western Railway of Alabama |
Track gauge | |
Headquarters |
The Montgomery and West Point Railroad (M&WP) was an early 19th century railroad in Alabama and Georgia.
[edit] History
The Montgomery Railroad was chartered January 20, 1832, to build track from Montgomery, Alabama, to the Chattahoochee River at Columbus, Georgia. In 1834, it was rechartered with the route going to West Point, Alabama, instead of Columbus. It wasn't until 1840 when the railroad finally constructed track and even then it only built twelve miles East out of Montgomery. The railroad was sold under foreclosure in 1842 and was then reorganized as the Mongomery and West Point Railroad; the railroad was completed to West Point by April 1851. Three years later the Atlanta and West Point Rail Road was completed connecting Montgomery to east coast markets. The M&WP then built a branch line from Opelika, Alabama to Columbus which began operating in 1856. The railroad was later merged into the Western Railway of Alabama in 1870.