Central of Georgia Railroad

Central of Georgia Railway

1903 map of the Central of Georgia Railway
CG Railway logo under one of the historic viaducts in Savannah.
Reporting mark	CG
Locale	Georgia, Alabama
Dates of operation	1895–Present
Successor	Southern Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge	, 5 ft (1,524 mm), civil war era and4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm)
Length	1,944 miles (3,129 km) in 1929
Headquarters	Savannah, Georgia

The Central of Georgia Railway (reporting mark CG) started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constructed to join the Macon and Western Railroad at Macon, Georgia, and run to Savannah. This created a rail link from Chattanooga, on the Tennessee River, to seaports on the Atlantic Ocean. It took from 1837 to 1843 to build the railroad from Savannah to the eastern bank of the Ocmulgee River at Macon; a bridge into the city was not built until 1851.

During the Savannah Campaign of the American Civil War, conducted during November and December 1864, Federal troops tore up the rails and converted them into "Sherman's neckties."

Over the years, this railroad steadily acquired other railroads by either lease or purchase:

In 1888 the Richmond Terminal Company, a Virginia holding company, gained control of the Central. The financial problems of the parent company forced the CofG into bankruptcy, and it was sold at foreclosure three years later, being reorganized as the Central of Georgia Railway on November 1, 1895.

The famous passenger train the Nancy Hanks ran from Atlanta to Savannah, via Macon. Another notable train was the Man o' War, a Columbus - Atlanta route, via Newnan. Both of these trains were named after prize-winning racehorses.