Georgia & Florida (1995)

Company History: The GFRR was launched in 1995 by the Gulf & Ohio Railways shortline group to take over operation on a pair of Georgia branches totaling 130 miles from Norfolk Southern. One ran from Albany to Sparks (part of which was former Georgia Northern and the other part was formerly part of the original Georgia & Florida.) The other line ran from Valdosta to Nashville (Georgia.) It was also part of the original Georgia & Florida. The deal included trackage rights on NS to connect the two routes. In the early months, traffic amounted to about 190 cars per week and included beer, fertilizer, grain, peanuts and woodchips. Eight months after the startup, G&O purchased Norfolk Southern’s Live Oak Perry & South Georgia subsidiary and incorporated it into the GFRR. This line ran from Adel, Georgia south 80 miles to Foley, Florida. It doesn’t appear that any of the G&O system locomotives assigned to the GFRR ever received the little “GEORGIA & FLORIDA RR” lettering under the wings logo on the cab like you might see on other G&O properties. Early in 1999, G&O Railways combined the Georgia & Florida with pieces of the Atlantic & Gulf and sold the package to the North American RailNet family of shortlines. They changed the name to Georgia & Florida RailNet.

Successor/Parent History: G&FRN was born in 1999 when the North American RailNet family of shortlines bought a “package” of lines including all of the Georgia & Florida Railroad from the G&O Railways shortline group. They continued to use the GFRR reporting marks that were used under G&O ownership. Three routes radiated south and east from Albany, Georgia. The shortest ran to Sylvester. The second ran to Camilla and Thomasville. The longest ran to Moultrie, Sparks, Adel and on to Greenville, Perry and Foley in the state of Florida. Another parallel line ran from Willacoochee, Georgia south to Valdosta. Total mileage was around 264 (between EJ&E and P&LE in relative length.) The G&FRN’s diesel roster was eclectic to say the least: Six GP40-2LW’s all ex-Canadian National; twelve GP10’s (geeps rebuilt by IC’s Paducah Shops); one GP9; one GP8 ex-Reading that IC rebuilt at Paducah; one GP20 ex-MILW – I believe this was built as a GP9 and upgraded by MILW; and three B23-7’s transferred from Camas Prairie Railnet. North American RailNet sold the G&FRN to the OmniTRAX shortline group in 2005. OmniTRAX changed the name to Georgia & Florida Railway.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.