Macon and Western Railroad explained

The Macon and Western Railroad was an American railway company that operated in Georgia in the middle of the 19th century. Originally chartered as the Monroe Railroad and Banking Company in December 1833, it was not until 1838 that it opened for business with a [1] gauge line from Macon, Georgia Northwest to Forsyth. It was extended to Griffin in 1842. An economic depression halted building, but when the railroad started building again, it managed only another towards Atlanta for a total of before falling into bankruptcy.[2]

It was bought in foreclosure and the name was changed to the Macon and Western Railroad in 1845.[3] This new railroad completed the line into Atlanta in 1846 by adding 21 more miles (21miles) for a grand total of .[4] Portions of this railroad were destroyed during Sherman's March to the Sea. After the Civil War, this railroad was purchased by the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia in 1872.

The stops available to riders in 1867 were:

Distances of depots from Atlanta

NameMiles KilometersNotes
1East Point, Georgia77miles
2Rough and Ready, Georgia1313milesNow called Mountain View, Georgia
3Forest Park, Georgia1515miles
4Morrow's Station, Georgia1919milesOld Name Morrow, Georgia
5Jonesborough, Georgia2323milesShortened to Jonesboro
6Lovejoy Station, Georgia2929milesOld Name. Now just Lovejoy, Georgia
7Bear Creek, Georgia3434milesNow called Hampton, Georgia
8Fayette, Georgia3838milesNow called Sunny Side
9Griffin, Georgia4444miles
10Thornton, Georgia5050milesNow called Orchard Hill
11Milner, Georgia5656miles
12Barnesville, Georgia6262miles
13Goggins, Georgia6767miles
14Collins, Georgia7272miles
15Forsyth, Georgia7878miles
16Smarr, Georgia8383miles
17Bolingbroke, Georgia8989miles
18Lorane, Georgia9494miles
19Macon, Georgia102102miles

Trains departed from Atlanta at 7:15AM and 8:15PM and arrived there at 2:00PM and 4:35PM.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.csa-railroads.com/Macon_and_Western.htm Confederate Railroads - Macon & Western
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20070419172136/http://railga.com/monr33.html Georgia's Railroad History and Heritage
  3. http://railga.com/macwstrn.html Georgia's Railroad History and Heritage
  4. Preliminary report on the Eighth Census 1860 by United States Census Bureau (Washington DC: 1862), page 222 http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1860e.zip