Hawkinsville & Florida Southern Railway History

"The Pine Belt Route"

By Robert Hanson

The Hawkinsville & Florida Southern Railway was chartered on May 25, 1896, and began operations over a six-mile segment on July 1 of that year. On July 11, 1896, the H&FS acquired from the Empire Lumber Company 17 miles of line extending from Pitts to Worth, GA, and constructed a 25-mile segment from Hawkinsville to Pitts, completing this line in 1901.

The GS&F Railway acquired control of the H&FS in October 1903, through the purchase of its entire capital stock and $325,000 of an entire issue of $400,000 in First Mortgage bonds.

The line was leased to the Flint River & Gulf Railway (FR&G) on May 1, 1907. The FR&G owned a line extending from Ashburn to Bridgeboro, GA. The FR&G was reorganized on August 8, 1907, as the Gulf Line Railway, and the Gulf Line extended its railroad from Bridgeboro to Camilla on March 1, 1912.

The Gulf Line Railway was purchased by the H&FS on August 1, 1913, giving the H&FS a line of 95.869 miles in length (including trackage rights over the GS&F from Worth to Ashburn), from Hawkinsville to Camilla.

The October, 1913, Official Guide shows one daily passenger train each way between Hawkinsville and Camilla with two other trains making round trips (north and south) originating in Ashburn for Hawkinsville and Camilla.

Never terribly successful, the H&FS entered receivership on July 17, 1930, and Robert B. Peg ram, President of the company, was appointed receiver. Mr. Peg ram applied for abandonment of the H&FS on October 7, 1921, citing a net railway-operating deficit of $136,212.41 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1921. After hearing the testimony, the Interstate Commerce Commission agreed and issued a decision granting the abandonment on October 29, 1921.

The Southern Railway was in the process of consolidating its operating subsidiaries and renumbering equipment into a consistent numbering scheme encompassing the equipment of all subsidiaries. The two locomotives of the H&FS, Nos. 8 and 9, were to have been renumbered 6630 and 6631, respectively. The sad financial condition of the H&FS made it fairly apparent that receivership was inevitable and the renumbering of equipment never took place.

Following the abandonment, the south end of the H&FS, the former Gulf Line Railway between Ashburn and Camilla, was purchased by T.C. Jeffers, and J.N. Pidcock as trustees for the stockholders for the Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester & Camilla Railway Company. The sale included locomotive No.s 8 and 9 combine No. 2, coach No. 20, and other tools, handcars, etc. as were assigned to that section of the railroad. The line began operations on July 1, 1922.

The rails, most of the other equipment, and supplies were sold to the Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Company, thus ringing down the curtain on the Hawkinsville & Florida Southern Railway.