Stillmore Air Line Railway Stillmore Air Line Railway passenger train at Stillmore in 1905. Engineer J. C. Edenfield is in the cab and conductor Horace DeLoach is on the engine. (J.C. "Cleve" Edenfield photographs.) Chartered in November 1892, George M. Brinson's Stillmore Air Line opened its first section of tracks from Stillmore to Collins in July 1893. A northern extension to Swainsboro opened in 1896, and by 1901 the rails had been extended north from Swainsboro to Wadley. Brinson had earlier been involved with a proposed Brunswick, Athens, and Northwestern railroad to run from Brunswick to Knoxville via Jesup, Reidsville, Swainsboro, Sandersville, Tennille, Sparta, Greensboro, Athens, Cornelia, Tallulah Falls, and Rabun Gap. It was one of many proposals over the decades for a rail line to Knoxville by way of that gap. In 1906, the Central of Georgia acquired the Stillmore and merged it with the Wadley & Mount Vernon to form the Wadley Southern Railway. Note: At the time, "Air Line" referred to a direct route, or at least a route more direct than that of any competitor.   S.A.L. train at Stillmore in 1905. Behind the passenger cars is the railroad's Stillmore depot, which still stands. (J.C. "Cleve" Edenfield photographs.) Stillmore Air Line Railway train. (J.C. "Cleve" Edenfield photographs.) Maps: 1895 map (72K) 1898 Cram map (61K) 1898 Rand McNally map (171K) 1903 map (196K) 1908 Hammond map (246K) 1898 view of Pete Emmit's sawmill at Corsica, on the Stillmore Air Line about halfway between Stillmore and Collins. (J.C. "Cleve" Edenfield photographs.)   RailGa.com. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. © Steve Storey Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home