Waycross Air Line Railroad
The Waycross Air Line Railroad, chartered in 1887, was an air-line railroad in Georgia. It began operations between Waycross and Sessoms in 1890. In 1901, the railroad had extended as far as Fitzgerald, Georgia, at which time its charter was amended for an extension to Birmingham, Alabama, and it was renamed the Atlantic and Birmingham Railroad. That company purchased the Tifton and Northeastern Railroad and Tifton, Thomasville and Gulf Railway on December 3, 1903, changing its name to the Atlantic and Birmingham Railway. In 1906, the Atlantic and Birmingham Railway was in turn purchased by the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railway, which continued expansion towards Birmingham.
A CSX Transportation freight train in Cordele, Georgia on the former Waycross Air Line Railroad mainline
The Byromville, Georgia station in 1938, operated by the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad
An air-line railroad was a railroad that was relatively straight, following a shorter route instead of a longer, winding route. In their heyday, which was prior to aviation, they were often referred to simply as "air lines".
"Straight as a plumb line": Seaboard Air Line Railway advertisement illustrating the "quickest train service via the shortest route" to Florida, 1902.
"The straight line of your palm is not straighter than the straight line to the palms": another advertisement for the Seaboard Air Line's "shortest, quickest route to Florida", 1908.