Atlanta & West Point Railroad
If I where to tell you the Atlanta and West Point (AWP) was not the actual name of the railroad but more of a marketing name used by both the Atlanta and West Point and the Western Railway of Alabama who rail lines met at West Point, Georgia, what would you say? If you didn’t know better you would probably say that I was full craziness and bumped my head. Well do you really know the real reason behind this? Well I had no clue about this until I sat down to do my little research for this page. That during their entire existence before finally being absorbed in to the Family Lines System, they where under the control of the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company which by itself was under the control of the Atlantic Coast Line.
The railroad operated as semi independent subsidiary with their own motive power that was commonly swapped between the Georgia Group as it was known. The railroad came under the Family Lines banner where it retained its name but lost much of its independence and locomotives were painted in a standard scheme. In 1986 the line was fully merged into the Seaboard System which later merged with Chessie to form CSX. The railroads line from Atlanta to Montgomery still provides a vital link for CSX. For a brief history of the line, click here.
Restored A&WP 290 steaming on home rails
A&WP GP-40 727 in Atlanta, GA
A&WP GP-40 732, in Atlanta, GA
A&WP FP-7 in Atlanta, Georgia
Raymond | 
March 4, 2010 7:24 pm
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By Greg Hodges, April 24, 2010 @ 7:38 am
Nikos & Raymond
I have enjoyed reading the Atlanta rails site. Great work. I am an Atlanta native, but have been gone from the area MANY years now. (reside in Richmond, VA.)
The A&WP RR is a favorite ‘fallen flag’ of mine, as my grandfather was a 40+ employee of that ole line. He retired as an agent at the old Ormewood depot on Memorial Drive, just east of historic Oakland Cemetery, way back in the mid 1960s. The old place fell into disrepair, but I believe that it came back to life as a restaurant a few years ago. Wonderful memories of visiting grandad there when I was a lad. The adjacent tracks that connected Hulsey Yard with the A&WP ‘beltline’ were pulled up long ago. (Grandad would halt traffic on Memorial Dr with a hand held stop sign when an A&WP freight had to cross there.)
The line was always known corporately as the A&WP RAIL ROAD…not ‘railroad’. (Two words)
Ledgend has it that the first time that the Confederate ’stars & bars’ battle flag was displayed publically was off of the rear platform of an A&WP train stopped at the Fairburn, GA depot about 20 miles south of Atlanta. (Indeed, I beieve there is a UDC historical marker about this incident in front of that handsome old depot today.)Fairburn is my fathers hometown and the residence of my late aforementioned grandfather.
My old friend, Bob Hanson, wrote a great book about the WEST POINT ROUTE a few years ago…a great addition to any rail library.
Keep up the great work…always enjoy reading about rail activities there in my old hometown.