Georgia Cannonball

The Georgia Cannonball was the given name of an intercity passenger train operated by the Georgia Railroad. It was a local service which ran on the railroad's main line between Atlanta, Georgia and Augusta, Georgia. The railroad was completed between the two cities in 1845. One round trip was dropped in 1968, leaving a single daily round trip on the route.^[1] The service became a mixed train on July 1, 1969.^[2] Georgia Railroad declined to join Amtrak in 1971, leaving the service as one of the few intercity rail routes in America which was not operated by the new quasi-government agency.^[3][4][5] The final passenger run occurred on May 6, 1983;^[5][6] by then a normal trip between endpoints could take up to twelve hours.^[7]

Georgia Cannonball

Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Georgia, USA
First service	1845 (1845)
Last service	May 6, 1983 (1983-05-06)
Former operator(s)	Georgia Railroad
Route
Termini	Atlanta Union Station (1930) (until c. 1971) Augusta Union Station (until c. 1968)
Average journey time	variable
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	1, 2
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Caboose (1969–1983)
Route map v t e Legend Augusta Union Station Augusta–Harrisonville Yard Grovetown Harlem Thomson Camak to Macon Norwood Barnett to Washington Crawfordville Union Point to Athens Greensboro Buckhead Madison Rutledge Social Circle Covington Conyers Lithonia Stone Mountain Decatur Atlanta–Hunter St. Atlanta Union Station

References

1. Platte, Mark (March 27, 1983). "Disappearin' railroad blues". The Atlanta Constitution. pp. 1-G, 8-G, 9-G – via Newspapers.com.
2. Railfan. Vol. 1. Carstens Publications. 1974. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. Edmonson, Harold A. (1972). Journey to Amtrak. Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 102–104. ISBN 978-0890240236.
4. "Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak" (PDF). Trains. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2021.
5. "Amtrak's beginnings". Classic Trains. June 5, 2001. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
6. Schanche Jr., Don (April 27, 1983). "Buffs Saying 'Bye to Cry: 'All Aboard'". The Macon Telegraph. p. 1B. Retrieved August 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Secrest, David K. (April 6, 1983). "PSC eliminates passenger train routes in state". The Atlanta Journal. p. 2B. Retrieved August 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.