Construction and early years Hannibal Kimball promoted the Bainbridge, Cuthbert and Columbus Railroad to run north-to-south through southwest Georgia in 1869. Although work began on construction in 1870, it was never completed, and in 1872 the project was abandoned amidst financial problems and bond endorsement issues that stirred allegations of impropriety against Kimball. During the 1880s, attempts were made to revive the railroad, with some activity taking place in the middle of that decade, but this too came to nothing. By 1898, the railroad was renamed the Georgia Florida and Alabama Railroad and by 1901, it had been extended north to
Richland.
Tallahassee to Carrabelle In 1906, the Georgia Florida and Alabama Railway purchased the
Carrabelle, Tallahassee & Georgia Railroad (CT&G), which ran from Tallahassee south to
Carrabelle on the
Gulf of Mexico. The CT&G from Carrabelle north was first chartered as the Thomasville, Tallahassee and Gulf Railroad in 1883. Construction began from Carrabelle to the
Sopchoppy River, but it stopped there since the company could not obtain funding to build a bridge over the river. and the lease was revoked in 1931. The Seaboard was reformed after receiving government loans, and it agreed to operate, but not lease the GF&A. In 1944, the court that was overseeing the Seaboard's receivership authorized the company to purchase 90% of the GF&A's bonds. Once under Seaboard ownership, they designated the line north of Bainbridge as their
Richland Subdivision and south of there as the
Bainbridge Subdivision. In 1948, the line was abandoned from Carrabelle to Tallahassee. In 1997, the portion of the GF&A route from Richland south to Cuthbert was abandoned, and in 2002 the
Georgia Department of Transportation acquired the remaining Cuthbert to Bainbridge section. The Georgia Southwestern remains the operator of the line. == Current conditions ==