Chattahoochee Valley Railway The Chattahoochee Valley Railway was constructed by the West Point Manufacturing Company to serve several cotton mills that it operated along the west bank of the Chattahoochee River, primarily in Alabama. Operations began on the standard gauge line in January of 1897. The first section to open was a 10-mile link between the Atlanta & West Point Railroad at West Point, Georgia, and the mill at Riverview, Alabama. The line was soon extended about 7 miles to Jester, Alabama. In 1908 the rails were extended north from West Point to a connection with the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic at Standing Rock, Alabama. Chattahoochee Valley No. 21 has survived and can be seen at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, GA. In 1916 the railroad was extended south to Bleeker, Alabama, on the Central of Georgia between Opelika and Columbus, giving the line a total length of 45 miles. In the same year the railroad reported owning 4 locomotives and 18 cars. The 1921 issue of Poors Manual of Railroads indicated that the company had 5 locomotives, 6 passenger cars, 2 box cars, 4 flat cars, and 2 cabooses. A somewhat different report in the 1920 McGraw Transit Directory noted that the Chattahoochee Valley Railway operated storage battery cars from West Point to Standing Rock and Bleeker, summarizing the equipment as 2 motor passenger cars, 5 trailing passenger cars, and 12 freight cars. In 1932, during the Great Depression, the Chattahoochee Valley abandoned its tracks from West Point to Standing Rock, losing one of its three connections to mainline railroads. In 1974 the tracks between Bleeker and McGinty, near Riverview, were abandoned, cutting the link to the Central and leaving only the Atlanta & West Point as a connection. The entire railroad ceased operations in 1992. About 7 miles of the former railroad bed between Shawmutt and Riverview have been converted into the Chattahoochee Valley Railroad Trail. Reporting mark: CHV (1978 photo by Frankie Grove. Some rights reserved.) The Southeastern Railway Museum also has a Chattahoochee Valley crane car that was used for light maintenance of way service. This is one of several CHV boxcars at the museum. In 1965 West Point Manufacturing Co. and Pepperell Manufacturing Co. merged to form West Point-Pepperell, Inc. Logo on CV 21's tender. Maps and Timetables: 1907 map (316K) 1912 map, West Point (126K) 1918 timetable (28K) 1921 map (73K) 1925 electric car and passenger train timetable (247K) 1929 timetable (188K) 1955 map (132K) 1968 map (176K) See Also: Vintage photos and other info at hawkinsrails.net. West Point Manufacturing Company history at textilehistory.org Suggested Reading: Tom Gallo, Chattahoochee Valley Railway. Images of America Series (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 1999). Cotton mill at West Point. From: Georgia: Her Resources and Possibilities. Georgia Department of Agriculture, 1895. Online at Internet Archive here. From: The Official Railway Equipment Register, Volume 33. October 1917. Complete publication is online at Google Books. From: Official Guide of the Railways, 1906.   RailGa.com. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. © Steve Storey. Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home