Atlanta
and West Point Railroad - (en)
The Atlanta and West Point Railroad (AWP) was originally chartered in 1847
as the Atlanta and LaGrange Rail Road and the section from Newnan to West
Point was chartered in December 1849. It was completed in 1854. The AWP
name began use in 1857. In 1867, while Lemuel P. Grant ran it, here were
the stops available to riders:
Distances of Depots from Atlanta
# Name Miles Notes
1 East Point, Georgia 7
2 Fairburn, Georgia 19
3 Palmetto, Georgia 25 completed on March 17, 1851
4 Powells, Georgia 33
5 Newnan, Georgia 39 completed on September 9, 1851
6 Grantville, Georgia 51 completed on June 1, 1852
7 Hogansville, Georgia 58
8 LaGrange, Georgia 71 completed in February, 1853
9 Long Cane, Georgia 80 Off Long Cane Rd.
10 West Point, Georgia 86 completed on May 15, 1854
Trains departed from Atlanta at 12:15PM and arrived there at 8:37AM. West
Point was the connecting point further west via the Montgomery & West
Point Railroad.
Today
The AWP and the Western Railway of Alabama had financial backing from the
parent company of the Georgia Railroad, and from 1886 onward the AWP and
the Western operated essentially as one railroad under the name "The
West Point Route." In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the three
were controlled through joint lease by the Central of Georgia Railroad and
the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (through assignment by its majority
owner, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad). The CofG sold its interest in
1944. 
Through the control of the Georgia Railroad, the lines eventually
fell under the control of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which was the
result of a merger between the ACL and the Seaboard Air Line. All of these
lines plus the Clinchfield Railroad became the Family Lines System in the
1970s, though all the lines maintained separate corporate identities.
Those identities became "fallen flags" when the group was
renamed Seaboard System Railroad (SBD), and in 1986 SBD merged with
Chessie System to form CSX Transportation.
The former AWP line remains in full service today, though passenger
service ended in the 1970s when Amtrak took over most of the nation's
remaining passenger trains. The AWP name came to an end in 1983 when it
was absorbed into the SBD.
