Reprinted from The Right Way Magazine, Vol. 51, No. 5
Perhaps of greatest importance in the earlier stages of the Central railroad was the building of a connection between Macon, which the Central was still not allowed to enter, and the growing hamlet of Marthasville, originally named Terminus and now Atlanta. Such was the Macon and Western Railroad.
The ancestor of this early railroad was the Monroe Railroad Company, commonly called the Macon and Monroe Railroad. This road was chartered just three days after the Central, on December 23, 1833. This charter provided for the forming of a corporation with a capital stock of $200,000, and empowered the company to build a railroad from Macon to Forsyth.
One charter lapsed, but interested parties had the charter renewed with all its old privileges, and one year later obtained banking privileges for the company. The first rail was laid October 9, 1838 near the western limits of Macon.
On November 22 of that year, the railroad received its first piece of rolling stock, the engine christened “Ocmulgee.” It was brought up the river from Darien and was hoisted up the hill by teams. Track was laid in front and taken up behind until the engine reached the railroad a mile from the river.
The first coach arrived December 3, and on December 10, one day after the track was completed to Forsyth, the first train went over the road with an enthusiastic delegation of Maconites. The new enterprise was declared open for business.
One thing the railroad builders lacked, according to many historians, was financial acumen. Although they did get the road built, they had left themselves open to financial ruin, and in April 1845, after several years of struggle, the railroad was sold under sheriff’s hammer to Jere Cowles of Macon. He interested several Yankee capitalists in the project, and in 1847, after a new charter was formed, the Macon and Monroe railroad found itself owned by outside speculators.
During this period, the name was changed to Macon and Western Railroad Company. The operation which had been discontinued for a year was resumed, and the track was finished to Atlanta. Two dates crop up in history as to the exact date of completion, October 1, 1845, and September 4, 1846.
Later to become part of the Central system, the Macon and Western began operating and expanding their capital until, in 1853, the road was one of the better equipped in the country. The “R. R. Cuyler” and the “Emerson Foote” were two of their well known engines.
The consolidation of the Macon and Western Railroad Company with the Central Railroad and Banking Company was approved by the General Assembly Aug. 24, 1872. The Central board of directors approved Nov. 26, 1872, and the Macon and Western Railroad completed the formal action Jan. 7, 1873.
Thus, the Central of Georgia, after securing entrance over the river into Macon in 1851, had a continuous line from Savannah to Atlanta.
The Right Way
The route between Savannah and Atlanta could very well have been the inspiration for Central’s slogan, “The Right Way.” Considered one of the easiest engineering accomplishments in railroading, the route between the two cities has provided the Central with a fast track for the complete distance.
Especially has the track between Macon and Atlanta been looked upon with admiration. The grades are easy and the curves, where necessary, are broad. However, the remarkable feature of this section of the Central is that “the engineer dragged his chain along the dividing ridge which forms the water shed between the Gulf and Atlantic, and reached his terminal without crossing a stream of water that called for a bridge or trestle.”
This route has recorded few serious accidents. Speeds of almost a hundred miles per hour have been recorded on the line, and it has never suffered a washout. In 1889, when Georgia was hit by record-breaking floods, there were many days when there was only one train arriving in the City of Atlanta, that the train from Macon.
Thus, with a line accomplished to Atlanta, another part of the dream of the railroad pioneers in Savannah came to pass.