- St. Mary's Railroad
The St. Mary's Railroad reporting mark|SM is a
class III railroad operating in GeorgiaUSA .History
The
St. Marys and Kingsland Railroad was founded in 1865 by Captain Lemuel Johnson. It received its charter from the state of Georgia, and its first twolocomotives purchased were #207 and #308.The SM&K eventually became the
Atlantic, Waycross and Northern Railroad . After the death of Johnson in 1918, the railroad was sold to theSouthern Fertilizer and Chemical Company inSavannah, Georgia with the sale being completed on January 24, 1918. The AW&N was sold in 1939 toGilman Paper Company-St. Mary's Kraft Corporation and became the St. Mary's Railroad. The SM purchased its firstdiesel locomotive #500 in 1945 which was nicknamed the "Goat." Ten years later the railroad constructed a 4 mile spur to service theUS Army 's Kings Bay ammunition storage facility which is now theNaval Submarine Base Kings Bay .The SM was merged into the
Gilman Paper Company onJanuary 11 ,1999 , and operated initially under the Gilman name. The Gilman Paper Company separated the railroad by establishing alimited liability corporation operating under the name of Saint Marys Railroad, LLC. OnDecember 17 ,1999 , the paper plant and railroad were purchased by theDurango Paper Company (changing its name in 2000 to the Durango-Georgia Company) and the railroad was renamed theDurango Railroad . All federal reporting requirements for the railroad were filed under that name. The company declined to change itsreporting marks however, thus the locomotives and rolling stock continued to use the St. Marys Railroad name.The Durango Paper Company closed its doors in 2002 after two industrial accidents at the plant resulted in nearly $200,000 in fines from OSHA. All employees of the paper plant were lost their jobs, putting the future of the railroad in doubt. The railroad continues to operate and the St. Marys Railroad right-of-way and assets remain intact. The railroad has always maintained its own locomotives and cars with a fully-equipped shop facility in St. Marys.
In January 2007, the St. Marys Railroad, LLC was purchased by the
Birmingham, Alabama -basedService Rail Group . The railroad continues to be fully operational with no change in its reporting marks.Interchanges
The only connection to other railroads along the 11 mile route is to the
First Coast Railroad at Kingsland.Links
St. Marys RR Official Website: http://www.stmarysrr.com/
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