Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway

4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gaugeLength339 mi (546 km)OtherWebsitegwrr.com/agr

The Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway (reporting mark AGR) is a Class II railroad^[1] owned by Genesee & Wyoming. It operates 339 miles (546 km) of track^[2] from the Pensacola, Florida export terminals, west of downtown, north to Columbus, Mississippi, with trackage rights along BNSF Railway to Amory, Mississippi. A branch uses trackage rights along Norfolk Southern from Kimbrough, Alabama west and south to Mobile, Alabama, with separate trackage at the end of the line in Mobile.

History

Predecessor lines

The current AGR is composed of numerous lines built during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which were gradually consolidated into a system that was purchased by the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway and remained under that railroad or its successor's control until 1997, when it was spun off into an independent company.

Pre-1922

The earliest ancestor of the AGR was the Pensacola and Mobile Railroad and Manufacturing Company, which in 1861 constructed 5 miles (8.0 km) of track between Muscogee, Florida and Cantonment, Florida. The railroad was not rebuilt until 1877. In 1874, the Pensacola, Mobile & New Orleans Railroad company took control of the Pensacola and Perdido Railroad, which ran west from Pensacola about five miles to a lumber mill at Millview, Florida on Perdido Bay. In 1892, the system merged with the Pensacola, Alabama and Tennessee Railroad, which connected the Millview and Muscogee branches. Shortly thereafter, the railroad was renamed the Gulf Ports Terminal Railway.^[3]

In 1910, the Gulf Ports Terminal Railway was acquired by Southern States Lumber, which operated 68 miles (109 km) of track to move lumber from forests in Baldwin County, Alabama, to its large mill at Muscogee, and on to the port of Pensacola for export. The combined system had a total length of around 80 miles (130 km).^[3]

In 1911, the railroad was acquired by the Gulf, Florida, and Alabama Railway. Soon after, construction of a line from Cantonment to Pensacola was begun, being completed in 1913. Almost immediately following the completion of this line, another, much longer line was begun, this one from Cantonment north via Atmore and Frisco City, Alabama to an interchange with the Southern Railway at Kimbrough, Alabama. The line, including a large bridge over the Alabama River, was completed in 1915.^[3]

1922–1997

In 1922, the Gulf, Florida, and Alabama Railway was acquired by the Muscle Shoals, Birmingham and Pensacola Railroad (MSB&P), which only three years later was bought by the Frisco (St. Louis – San Francisco Railway). After the acquisition, the Frisco constructed a line from Aberdeen, Mississippi to Kimbrough, connecting the former MSB&P with the rest of the Frisco's system. This line was completed in 1928.

During the middle of the 20th century, the railroad operated as part of the Frisco, moving bulk products south to Pensacola for export and produce products north. Passenger service over the line continued until 1955, when the Sunnyland, operating between Pensacola and Kansas City, Missouri, via Amory, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, was discontinued.

In 1980, the Frisco was acquired by the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN), itself a product of a merger of several railroads in 1970. In 1995, the BN merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the BNSF Railway.

Current railroad

In 1997, when BNSF spun off the route between Kimbrough and Pensacola, the Alabama & Gulf Coast was formed to take over operations. In 2003, BNSF sold additional trackage to the AGR: a line between Kimbrough and Columbus, Mississippi, as well as isolated trackage near Mobile, Alabama formerly part of the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad. As part of this deal, the AGR gained trackage rights on BNSF between Columbus and Amory and on the Norfolk Southern Railway between Mobile and Kimbrough.^[3]

In 2002, the AGR, which had been formerly owned by States Rail, Inc., a short-line holding company, was acquired by RailAmerica.^[2][3] In late 2012, Genesee & Wyoming acquired the railroad as part of its acquisition of RailAmerica.

Fleet

As of December 2020, the AGR fleet consisted of the following:^[4]

Number	Type	Built	Notes
2273	EMD SD40	1973-19	Is variant SD40M-2, rebuilt by Morrison Knudsen in 1993.
3060-3062	EMD GP40	1967–1971
3213, 3309, 3311, 3354–3362, 3373–3375, 3395, 3411–3412, 4223, 4226	EMD SD40-2	1969	4223 and 4226 are leased from Wells Fargo Rail.
3814, 3858	EMD GP38	1969–1970

Route

v t e AGR Amory Subdivision
Legend
BNSF Birmingham Subdivision 612.3 Amory 623.7 Aberdeen Junction 630.9 Hamilton Hamilton Pigment Plant Buttahachee River 636.9 Kolola Springs 636.8 Airport Siding Luxapalila Valley Railroad CAGY Transfer yard 647.3 Columbus and Greenville Railroad 648.2 Columbus 648.8 Alabama Southern Railroad 649.3 Begin track rights to Amory via BNSF Railway Luxapalila Creek 653.1 Whitebury Nouryon Pulp and Performance Chemicals-Columbus Plant 654 AGR Magnolia Subdivision
Note: Not to Scale

v t e AGR Magnolia Subdivision
Legend
654 AGR Amory Subdivision 660.7 Forreston Mississippi Alabama 669.3 Pickensville 679.9 Aliceville 686.5 Sipsey River 694.7 West Greene 699.5 unknown industry off mainline 700.4 Mt. Hebron 705.2 Crossroads of America Industrial Park 705.8 I-20 708.1 Boligee 708.2 NS AGS South District 720.6 Forkland 724.4 (Centralia) Green County Generating Plant 728.9 Black Warrior River 731 NS Gulf States Paper Lead 731.2 Demopolis 731.4 NS Demopolis District 735.5 Stolkey 735.5 Paper Mill Lead (abandoned) 735.6 Green Tree 745.7 Chichasha Bogue 748.7 Meridian and Bigbee Railroad 749.3 Linden 764.2 Magnolia Yard 770 AGR Pensacola Subdivision
Note: Not to Scale

v t e AGR Pensacola Subdivision
Legend
AGR Magnolia Subdivision 770.0 Kimbrough 774.1 NS 3-B South District ← to AGR Mobile Subdivision   776.1 Gulf 779.5 McMillan Yard International Paper Yellow Bluff Mill 785.5 Sheppard 783.7 Alabama River 793.2 Hybart 804.5 Pryor 813.6 Alabama River Pulp Lead Georgia Pacific Alabama River Cellulose Mill 814.2 Fountain Yard and engine house 816.6 Limestone 826.0 Mexia 826.1 Georgia Pacific Rocky Creek lumber mill 830.2 Frisco City 834.5 Megargel 837.5 Goodway 845.0 Koppers 847.0 Huxford 852.5 McCullough 858.5 I-65 862.8 Atmore 863.3 CSX M&M Subdivision 865.2 Alabama Florida 865.7 Pine 873.0 Walnut Hill 887.4 Barrineau Park 888.3 Florida Alabama 888.3 Perdido River 894.4 Perdido River 894.4 Alabama Florida 898.7 898.7 Cantonment 899.7 International Paper Cantonment Mill 899.7 CSX PD Subdivision 907.0 Ensley 907.2 I-10 910.8 Goulding Spur 912.5 Westend 915.5 Pensacola Armstrong Industrial Lead End AGR (Abandoned)
Note: Not to Scale

v t e AGR Mobile Subdivision
Legend
(Abandonded) 852.4 Arkema Axis Chemical plant 858.4 Getty Spur I-65 860.2 Reed Minerals NS 3-B South District 862.8 Saraland 867.4 Chickasaw Creek 867.5 Chickasaw 868.3 Gates Branch 868.5 Terminal Junction NS 3-B South District TASD Port of Chickasaw Kimberly Clark Mobile mill 870.6 Three Mile Creek Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks ← 872.5 AGR Mobile Yard
Note: Not to Scale

The AGR operates on a total of 339 miles of owned and leased trackage in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Its also runs via trackage rights over BNSF Railway between Columbus and Amory, MS and Norfolk Southern Railway between Kimbrough and Mobile, AL. The AGR is separated into the following four subdivisions.^[5]

The following route maps at right were created using actual track charts, timetables and maps with satellite imagery.^[6][7][8]

AGR has many interchanges. Canadian National, CG Railway, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Terminal Railway all have interchanges at Mobile, Alabama. Columbus and Greenville Railway, Golden Triangle Railroad, CPKC, and Luxapalila Valley Railroad all have an interchange at Columbus, Mississippi. BNSF has one at Amory, Mississippi, Meridian & Bigbee Railroad at Linden, Alabama, as well as CSX at Cantonment, Florida. Norfolk Southern also has more interchanges at Kimbrough, Alabama, Demopolis, Alabama, and Boligee, Alabama.^[9]

See also

• St. Louis – San Francisco Railway
• List of United States railroads
• List of Florida railroads
• List of Mississippi railroads

References

External links