Savannah & Western Railroad In June and July of 1888, the Central of Georgia consolidated seven of the railroads it owned or leased into the 400-mile Savannah & Western. These were the Savannah and Columbus Railway (which had not built any track, having been incorporated only a month before the consolidation), the Buena Vista and Ellaville Railway, the Columbus and Rome Railway, the Columbus and Western Railway, and three Alabama lines. The result was a main line from Americus to Birmingham, by way of Columbus. As part of its plan to connect Americus and Savannah, the Savannah and Western completed and opened 57 miles of track between Meldrim and Lyons in May 1890. This would be the only track built by the S&W; the rest of its system was acquired by purchase or consolidation. On November 26, 1890, the S&W acquired the Savannah, Griffin, and North Alabama Railroad, a line which ran from the Central Railroad at Griffin to Carrollton. The following year, the company purchased the Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad, a 140-mile line between Chattanooga and Carrollton. Not long afterwards, both the S&W and the Central of Georgia entered receivership. In early 1894, the federal courts separated the Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus from the Savannah and Western and returned it to its original owners. (It was reacquired by the Central in 1901.) The Savannah and Western was sold at judicial sale in October, 1895. It was conveyed to the newly reorganized Central of Georgia Railway in December 1895. The Meldrim-Lyons track was leased to the Georgia and Alabama Railway in 1896. 1890 map (127K) 1892 Central of Georgia system map (736K)   Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. Copyright, Steve Storey. Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home