I am trying to find any available information on a line known as the Americus & Atlantic that was begun between Byromville (AB&C), in Dooly County, and Chambliss or Methvin, in Sumter County, Georgia. Sometime in the late teens, construction on this line was begun and track was in fact laid, but the line never went into service. There was even a trestle that crossed the Flint River from northwestern Dooly County into northeastern Sumter County. I have never seen any reference to this line in any of the major books. For a long time, I assumed it was a paper railroad. Today, however, I was taken onto property along the Flint by someone who in the 1950s saw the trestle and even kept some scrap rail that was pulled from the river after it burned and collapsed. He said that in low water the pilings are still visible. There is an obvious cut that runs to the bluff where the trestle crossed the river.

The line is marked and identified on a railroad map of Georgia that dates to the end of the teens or perhaps early twenties. It is identified as the Americus and Atlantic, a ?freight only line?. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

-- Lee Kinnamon (lkinnamo@bellsouth.net), February 03, 2003

Answers

Lee, I turned up a fair number of references to the A&A in my research on the AB&C. They were mostly various entries in the trade journals about the line's construction and so forth. The A&A was also on several maps I found. My impression is that it certainly did exist and did operate, but it was owned by a lumber company and thus might never have been classified as a common carrier. I have a file on the line at home - contact me off list if you want me to make and send copies.

-- Larry Goolsby (lgoolsby@aphsa.org), February 03, 2003.

"Incorporated in 1917, the A&A constructed an 11-mile line from Mata, a place on the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad a mile south of Byromville, to Methvins, a community in eastern Sumter County. The railroad provided freight service only. It was abandoned in 1926."

I found this reference online after trying a different search engine. It shocks me that people around my county and town know nothing about this line. No reference is made to it in any of the local history books. I was told by another local historian who did extensive interviews with an elderly man in that area of the county that the line was never actually operated, according to information given to him during their conversations. I would like to confirm that if possible. If anyone has a guide from 1917-1926 handy and could check the line, I'd appreciate any info. I suppose my next stop is the microfilm machine to check the papers from 1917 through 1926.

-- Lee Kinnamon (lkinnamo@bellsouth.net), February 03, 2003.