This 5 ft (1,524 mm)[2] gauge railroad was first chartered as the Memphis Branch Railroad and Steamboat Company of Georgia in 1839. This company built a 20-mile (32 km) line between Rome, Georgia and Kingston where it connected with the Western and Atlantic Railroad.[3] The name was changed to the Rome Railroad in 1850.

Rome Railroad
Overview
HeadquartersRome, Georgia
LocaleGeorgia
Dates of operation1848–1896
SuccessorNashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge5 ft (1,524 mm), converted to 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) in 1886[1]

In spite of this, the railroad was often referred to as the Rome and Kingston Railroad in both the 1860 Census and during the Civil War.[4] This railroad was acquired by the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway in 1896 who finally abandoned it in 1943.[5]

Notable people

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  • Eben Hillyer (1832-1910), physician; president, Rome Railroad

References

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  1. ^ The Days They Changed the Gauge
  2. ^ Confederate Railroads Rome
  3. ^ Georgia's Railroads and Heritage
  4. ^ Preliminary report on the Eighth Census 1860 by United States Census Bureau (Washington DC: 1862), page 222 [1]
  5. ^ Georgia's Railroads and Heritage