- Bay Line Railroad
Infobox SG rail
railroad_name=Bay Line Railroad
logo_filename=Genesee and Wyoming logo.png
logo_size=100
old_gauge=
marks=BAYL
locale=Florida Panhandle and southeasternAlabama
start_year=1994
end_year=present
hq_city=Panama City, Florida The Bay Line Railroad, LLC reporting mark|BAYL is one of several
short line railroad companies owned by the Genesee and Wyoming. It operates betweenPanama City, Florida , andAbbeville, Alabama , with trackage rights on CSX's Dothan Subdivision between Dothan and Grimes,Alabama . The line interchanges with CSX's PA Subdivision atCottondale, Florida , and their Dothan Subdivision at the trackage rights section near Dothan, Alabama. It also interchanges with theChattahoochee and Gulf Railroad inDothan, Alabama .History
[
Atlanta, Georgia via trackage rights on theCentral of Georgia Railway .] The main line was formerly known as the Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railway (ASAB), which ran 82 miles from Panama City, Florida to Dothan, Alabama. The railroad was founded in 1905 by A. B. Steele. Upon completion of the line in 1908, the railroad boasted connections to threeClass 1 railroad s: Louisville and Nashville, Central of Georgia and Atlantic Coast Line.Throughout its history the line's primary business was freight hauling; however, passenger service was available from the line's inception until 1957. The bulk of the freight hauled on the line was made up of wood or wood products. Atlanta was reached via trackage rights over the Central of Georgia Railroad, from Dothan, Alabama, via
Albany, Georgia , and Macon.The railroad was an early adopter of diesel power. By 1947, all steam locomotive power was gone from the line. In that same year, the railroad was granted Class 1 railroad status. This had an interesting side effect of making the Bay Line the first Class 1 railroad in the United States to be 100% dieselized.
After the death of its founder, the railroad was owned by a series of large corporations including Coca-Cola, United Fruit and
International Paper .Rail Management Corporation purchased the line fromStone Container Corporation onDecember 31 1993 . At the start of operations onJanuary 1 ,1994 , the name of the railroad was officially changed from The Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad to The Bay Line Railroad. At this time, the company had 36 employees and approximately 100 miles of trackage. ref|bcd94-72ref|bcd94-63.pdfThe portion of The Bay Line's route from Grimes to Abbeville, Alabama, along with trackage rights to Dothan along CSX, was previously owned by A&G Railroad, LLC. The two companies merged on
June 26 ,1996 .ref|bcd97-56 A&G Railroad, which had been owned byRailroad Services, Inc. , began operations onJanuary 1 1994 .ref|bcd94-106 FromMarch 1 1989 toDecember 31 1993 , the Abbeville-Grimes line was known as theAbbeville-Grimes Railway Company , Inc.On
May 26 2005 , it was announced that all assets ofRail Management Corporation were to be bought by Genesee and Wyoming, Inc. with an effective date ofJune 1 ,2005 . The Bay Line Railroad was included in this purchase. As of 2007, The Bay Line Railroad continues operations as part of Genessee and Wyoming's Southern Region.References
* Robert G. Lewis. "Handbook of American Railroads" (1956 Edition).
* John Sistrunk. "The Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad". Railfan and Railroad Magazine. March, 1988.
* Genesee and Wyoming, Inc. (May 26, 2005), " [http://www.gwrr.com/features/gwi_aquisition05262005.html Genesee & Wyoming Announces Agreement to Acquire Short Line and Port Railroads from Rail Management Corporation] ".
# United States Railroad Retirement Board, " [http://www.rrb.gov/pdf/bcd/bcd94-72.pdf bcd94-72.pdf] " (PDF).
# United States Railroad Retirement Board, " [http://www.rrb.gov/pdf/bcd/bcd94-63.pdf bcd94-63.pdf] " (PDF)
# United States Railroad Retirement Board, " [http://www.rrb.gov/pdf/bcd/bcd97-56.pdf bcd97-56.pdf] " (PDF)
# United States Railroad Retirement Board, " [http://www.rrb.gov/pdf/bcd/bcd94-106.pdf bcd94-106.pdf] " (PDF)
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