Memphis Branch Railroad The Memphis Branch Railroad and Steamboat Company was chartered in 1839 with the goal of connecting the Coosa River at Rome with the new state railroad, the Western and Atlantic. It changed its name to the Rome Railroad Company in January, 1850, soon after completing a 20-mile rail line from Rome to the W&A at Kingston. In 1868, a charter was acquired by a new Memphis Branch Railroad Company, which was consolidated with the Rome Railroad Company in 1870. Citing two 1871 issues of the Rome Courier, George W. Hilton noted that Rome envisioned itself as the junction of the branch to Memphis of a narrow-gauge New York-New Orleans air line. Poors 1881 Manual reported that the MBRR was sold on August 14, 1877 to William Phillips, President of the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad Company. At the time, Poors described the railroad as a narrow-gauge line with 5 miles of track laid between Rome and a point west, with 17 miles graded from Rome westward. According to Hilton, Phillips expressed his intention to take up the rails for use on his M&NG line. Other sources indicate that the road was purchased in 1877 by the Rome Railroad, which abandoned it in 1885. (See Rome and Decatur Railroad.) The railroad's principal offices were in Rome. 1873 map (22K)   Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. Copyright, Steve Storey. Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home