St. Mary's Railroad

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The St. Mary's Railroad was originally founded around 1865 as the St. Marys and Kingsland Railroad under Captain Lemuel Johnson. It received its charter from the state of Georgia, and its first two locomotives purchased were #207 and #308. It later became the Atlantic, Waycross and Northern Railroad. After the death of Johnson in 1918 the railroad was sold to the Southern Fertilizer and Chemical Company in Savannah, Georgia, the sale being complete on January 24, 1918. It was sold again in 1939 to Gilman Paper Company-St. Mary's Kraft Corporation. During one of these sales, the railroad gained the St. Mary's Railroad name.

The railroad purchased its first diesel locomotive--No 500--in 1945, and it was quickly nicknamed the "Goat." Ten years later the railroad constructed a four mile long spur line to service the Kings Bay Army ammunitions storage facility.

The railroad was merged into the Gilman Paper Company on January 11, 1999 and operated initially under the Gilman name. The Gilman Paper Company immediately set the railroad up as a limited liability corporation operating under the name Saint Marys Railroad, LLC. On December 17, 1999, the paper plant and railroad were purchased by the Durango Paper Company (changing its name in 2000 to the Durango-Georgia Company) and the railroad was renamed the Durango Railroad. All federal reporting requirements for the railroad were filed under that name. The company declined to change its markings however, and locomotives and railcars continued to use the Saint Marys Railroad name.

The Durango Paper Company closed its doors in 2002 after two amputations at the plant resulted in nearly $200,000 in fines from OSHA. All employees of the paper plant were terminated, putting the future of the railroad in doubt. The company continues to do business, however, and St. Marys Railroad right-of-way and assets remain intact.

The only connection to other railroads along the eleven mile long right-of-way is to the CSX Transportation interchange at Kingsland. The railroad has always maintained its own locomotives and cars with a fully-equipped facility in St. Marys.

In January 2007, the St. Marys Railroad, LLC was purchased by Birmingham, AL based Service Rail Group, LLC. The railroad continues to be fully operational.