Reprinted from The Right Way Magazine, Volume 51, No. 1
History does not record when the idea of a railroad into the interior of Georgia was first born; all history records is that on December 20, 1833, a charter was granted by the Georgia Legislature to the Central Railroad and Canal Company of Georgia for the purpose of laying, building and making railroad and canal communications from the City of Savannah to the interior of the State.
Interest in a railroad was less than enthusiastic in the coastal City of Savannah. Already enjoying the advantage of river connections with much of the inland area, Savannah had no strong incentive to begin the task of constructing an artificial channel of commerce.
Charleston, as she often still is, was the spur in the flank of Savannah. The encroachment of Charleston on Savannah’s commerce domain was responsible for Savannah stirring itself to action. As the Macon Telegraph said, Old Yamacraw was waking up.
In the fall of 1833, the Savannah newspapers and various influential citizens began the tedious task of getting public opinion behind the venture. In October of that year, a group of citizens petitioned the city council to provide money to begin the project. Finding itself owner of land which was rapidly increasing in value, the City felt it could cooperate, and did to the extent of a $500,000 appropriation.
With this action behind them, the council then requested a charter from the State of Georgia. It was issued in Milledgeville, Ga., December 20, 1833. The Central Rail Road and Canal Company was in business.
Surveys Begin
In January of the next year, the city council requested John M. Berrien, who was chairman of the citizens committee agitating for the project, to engage an engineer to survey the country between Savannah and Macon for a possible route. An experimental survey was begun by Alfred Cruger on August 10, 1834. The City of Savannah agreed to bear part of the expenses involved in the survey.
Cruger’s report was made November 8, 1834, and recommended a westward route from Savannah, twelve miles to the Ogeechee River. From that point it would follow the Ogeechee northwest for 80 miles. It would then follow a valley to the latitude of Sandersville, then cross Washington County to the Oconee River. Traversing westward from there, it would reach the Ocmulgee River at Macon.
Cruger chose this route because of the possibility of commercial connections with the various rivers and because of its easy grade. Although the route was circuitous, and the Ogeechee was given to flooding, this route offered much the preferred way from the engineering standpoint.
Construction was begun in December 1835. Soon there were rumblings of discontent concerning the route taken. The question was raised whether a more southerly and direct route would not be preferable. While the controversy raged, the nine miles that would be common to either route were begun.
John Randall was hired to re-survey the area and report on the southern route. His report was favorable to the southern route. Randall incurred the displeasure of the railroad’s management, however, and was soon replaced by L. O. Reynolds who favored the northern route.
Reynolds’ policies proved highly beneficial and profitable to the railroad. He determined that it would be much cheaper to contract the grading to companies along the way. His reasons for choosing the northern route were two-fold: he foresaw more profitable trade in the future; and, the northern route was already inhabited by large plantation owners from whom he could obtain slave labor during the off-season.
The Early Financial Situation
With the railroad under construction, the financial picture must come in for a closer inspection.
Included in the original charter was authorization for issue of capital stock of $1,500,000, in shares of $100 each. The Central Rail Road and Canal Company was to organize when half of that amount had been subscribed.
Early in 1835, the City of Savannah subscribed to 5,000 shares. The Town of Macon, because of its own local problems, did not buy any stock. In the summer of 1835, the public was invited to invest in the growing company, and individuals in Savannah bought 1,849 shares. Other Georgians took about 700 shares. Thus, at that time the company could legally be organized.
The money from the shares was not nearly enough to build the railroad, however, and in December of 1835, the State Legislature authorized the railroad to double its stock and also gave the company banking privileges. This caused an increase in popularity of the railroad stock, and in December 1835, when the company was organized under the name Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, the railroad was in fair financial condition.
Estimated Cost
When Cruger turned in his engineering report, he included the estimated cost of construction of the line and equipment. The total cost, including equipment, was to be approximately $2,200,000. Since the road was to be about 200 miles, the average cost per mile would be approximately $10,000.
Cruger advocated buying four passenger locomotives of 4 1/2 tons at $5,000 each and 12 freight engines at $6,000 per engine. Other equipment included 20 passenger cars at $600.00 each; four baggage cars at $300.00 each; and 180 freight cars at $350.00 each.
The construction was of the following type:
“Cross sleepers were first bedded in the ground and rammed solid, their upper surfaces being level with the grade of road; string pieces, six inches deep and 12 inches wide, were then trenailed flat-wise on the sleepers, and the ground rammed under them, affording a continuous bearing. On the top, and in the center of these string pieces, were placed small lathes or ribbons, three-by-two inches of hard pine; a plate or strap rail of iron surmounted this, three inches wide by 3/4-inch thick. Spikes confined the iron seven inches long, passing through the ribbon into the string piece. Wrought iron splicing plates, 1/4-inch thick, were placed under the joinings of the bars, the spikes passing through them.”
The Early Progress
During 1836, the road was in a state of turmoil because of the engineering disagreements and no little financial trouble. The financial crisis of 1837 was also a great hindrance to progress. In the summer of 1838, with engines running on a track of 26 miles, the grading had progressed almost 70 miles westward. Later that fall, the railroad had 500 laborers at work and contractors were expecting to treble that figure shortly.
By this time, the railroad was operating passenger and freight trains. Cotton had begun to trickle down from Effingham and other counties. Trains were extended as soon as rail was secure.
By 1839, the depot in Savannah was under construction. The City had given a five-acre plot within the city with one restriction: that the land must be used for railroad purposes only. Most of the landowners had donated to the railroad the needed right-of-way. The railroad spelled economic progress for them, in that it not only provided transportation, but also provided income from the services of their slaves.
In the chief engineer’s report of May 1839, the grading was reported completed almost to Sandersville, 133 miles, and rail was laid for 76 miles and progressing at the rate of a mile per week. This report also shows that wrought iron T-rail, weighing 32 pounds per yard, was to be used in the remaining construction.
Crucial Period
The year 1839 looked like the beginning of the end for the railroad. Its financial problems were beginning to have a telling effect, and the railroad encountered its first labor problem.
The white workers on the railroad were mostly immigrants from Europe and the North. Friction developed between them and the blacks, leading to use, by some contractors, of blacks entirely.
Many of the contractors saw that usage of black labor would greatly offset any fluctuations in the region’s economy. The chief engineer’s report pointed out that those people using only blacks were exempt from the financial problems of others. By the fall of 1839, nearly all of the contractors using white labor had withdrawn from the project.
By 1840, work had almost halted on the line. Only three hundred laborers were at work, and there were only two trains operating. In the summer of 1840, this service was reduced to a mixed train for freight and passengers. Speed was reduced from 22 to 17 miles an hour, thus reducing the wear on the rolling stock.
Problems Mount
Cotton, the product responsible for the landowners’ enthusiasm, had taken a decided plunge. Prices were at the lowest level they had ever been, and since the cotton growers were in many cases also the contractors for the railroad, their interest waned considerably.
The weather in 1841 also teamed with the other problems and almost wrecked parts of the operation. Continual rains badly hampered work schedules, and in November 1841, the track was stalled near Sandersville. The road was graded to within 20 miles of Macon.
The railroad was at its lowest ebb. The market price of the stock had heavily declined, and before the end of the hard times, it fell to $20 on the hundred. The railroad was paying its contractors with its own bonds. If the arrangement did not please the contractors, they merely walked off the job.
Although the contractors were holding up completion, the railroad was making further investments in rail and rolling stock. By the end of 1841, the company had bought enough rail to complete the line into Macon, and through the skillful handling of its management, arranged with two contractors to rush up their work and to finish the work of the others.
These two contractors were given an advance of 20 per cent on the former contract rates.
Reaches Ocmulgee River
In October 1843, the railroad reached the bank of the Ocmulgee River, completing a line of 190 miles, at that time the longest railroad in the world under one ownership.
Although beset by many problems, the railroad was constructed within $200,000 of the original estimate. The cost per mile was only about half the average cost of railroads throughout the country. The level terrain and close administrative handling were given credit for this remarkable feat.
Thus, the original plan called for in the charter was accomplished. The railroad from Savannah to Macon had become a reality. However, as the report of the chief engineer in 1843, pointed out, the railroad was not finished, and while 130 years have elapsed, that condition still exists. A railroad may be completed in one sense of the word, but it is never finished if the management is alive to the responsibility to grow and provide modern facilities from time to time as they are developed.
In the following pages, the growth of the railroad will be treated. The railroads, which eventually became part of the Central of Georgia Railway Company system, are not listed necessarily in chronological order or in importance; however, we have tried to give a brief resume of all railroads considered part of the system.