View source for Bay Line Railroad

{{Short description|Class III railroad in Southeastern United States}}
{{for|this company's Class I predecessor|Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad}}
{{Infobox rail
|railroad_name     = Bay Line Railroad
|logo_filename     = Bay_Line_Railroad_logo.png
|logo_size         = 120px
|logo_alt          =
|system_map        = 
|map_caption       = 
|map_size          = 
|map_alt           =
|image             = BAYL 8100.jpg
|image_size        = 
|image_caption     = A Bay Line Railroad box car rolls through [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]], on a [[CSX]] freight.
|image_alt         =
|marks             = BAYL
|locale            = [[Florida Panhandle]] and southeastern [[Alabama]]
|start_year        = {{Start date|1994}}
|end_year          = present
|predecessor_line  = [[Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad]]
|successor_line    = 
|gauge             = {{track gauge|ussg}}
|old_gauge         = <!-- This needs a separate line -->
|electrification   = 
|length            = {{Convert|182|mi|km}}
|hq_city           = [[Panama City, Florida]]
|website           = {{official site|https://www.gwrr.com/bayl/}}
}}
The '''Bay Line Railroad''' {{reporting mark|BAYL}} is one of several [[short line railroad]] companies owned by [[Genesee & Wyoming]] Inc. It operates between [[Panama City, Florida]], and [[Dothan, Alabama]], including a branch from [[Grimes, Alabama|Grimes]] to [[Abbeville, Alabama]], reached via [[Arrangements between railroads|trackage rights]] on [[CSX Transportation|CSX]]'s Dothan Subdivision between [[Dothan, Alabama|Dothan]] and [[Grimes, Alabama|Grimes]]. The line interchanges with [[CSX]] at [[Cottondale, Florida]] and [[Dothan, Alabama]], and with the [[Hilton & Albany Railroad]] at [[Hilton, Georgia]]. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gwrr.com/bayl/ | title=Bay Line Railroad – A Genesee & Wyoming Company }}</ref>

A wide variety of commodities is carried, including aggregates, brick, cement, chemicals, coal, food and feed products, forest products, metallic ores and minerals, steel, and scrap.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwrr.com/operations/railroads/north_america/bay_line_railroad |title=Bay Line Railroad |access-date=26 November 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101202140427/http://gwrr.com/operations/railroads/north_america/bay_line_railroad| archive-date= 2 December 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad|Abbeville–Grimes Railway Company}}
The company's main line between Panama City and Dothan was constructed in 1906–1908 by the [[Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad]] (ASAB).<ref>{{Harvnb|Moody's|1921|p=352}}</ref> The Abbeville branch was constructed in 1887–1893 by the [[Alabama Midland Railway]] and came under the control of the [[Atlantic Coast Line Railroad]] in 1902.<ref>{{Harvnb|Owen|1921|p=71}}</ref> [[CSX Transportation]], eventual successor to the ACL, sold the line to the [[Abbeville–Grimes Railway Company]] (AG) in 1989.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|1991|p=8}}</ref> This company was merged with the Bay Line Railroad on June 26, 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/ReadingRoom.nsf/8fd5532a0c425c5c8525740f005f36d4/31ab3384506c4f5b85256b74006f53b2?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,Bay,Line |title=STB Finance Docket No. 19936 |date=21 June 1996 |access-date=27 November 2010 |archive-date=7 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607135032/http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/ReadingRoom.nsf/8fd5532a0c425c5c8525740f005f36d4/31ab3384506c4f5b85256b74006f53b2?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,Bay,Line |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Stone Container Corporation]] had owned the ASAB since 1987.<ref>{{harvnb|Smiley|1989}}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2015}} Effective January 1, 1994, it sold the assets of the railroad to [[Rail Management Corporation]], which created the new Bay Line Railroad company to operate it.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|1996|pp=40–41}}</ref> [[Genesee & Wyoming]] acquired all the assets of Rail Management on June 1, 2005, including the Bay Line Railroad.<ref name="GWI">{{cite web |url=http://www.gwrr.com/investors/PressReleaseText.asp?compid=64426&releaseID=713859 |title=Genesse & Wyoming to Acquire Assets of Rail Management Corporation |access-date=26 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717050037/http://www.gwrr.com/investors/PressReleaseText.asp?compid=64426&releaseID=713859 |archive-date=2011-07-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2016, the Bay Line Railroad entered into an agreement with the Panama City Port Authority to operate a transload facility at the port’s Intermodal Distribution Center approximately 15 miles from Port Panama City. Choice Terminals provide customers with delivery, storage, inventory management and transloading of bulk products. The Bay Line Choice Terminal features a 20-car rail yard and owns equipment to support bulk transfers. <ref>{{cite press release | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161011006598/en/The-Bay-Line-Railroad-and-Panama-City-Port-Authority-Sign-Agreement-for-Operation-of-New-Choice-Terminal%E2%84%A2-Bulk-Transload-Facility | title=The Bay Line Railroad and Panama City Port Authority Sign Agreement for Operation of New Choice Terminal™ Bulk Transload Facility | date=11 October 2016 }}</ref>

In 2017, the Bay Line Railroad was featured in the Panama City Living Magazine. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://panamacityliving.com/the-bay-line-railroad/ | title=The Bay Line Railroad | date=15 January 2017 }}</ref>

As of 2023, [[Genesee & Wyoming]]’s Bay Line Railroad has a total of 182 miles (44 in [[Alabama]], and 138 in [[Florida]] (includes [[Chattahoochee Bay Railroad]])), and has a maximum capacity of 286,000 lbs. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gwrr.com/bayl/ | title=Bay Line Railroad – A Genesee & Wyoming Company }}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
* {{Lewis-Shortline-1991}}
* {{Lewis-Shortline-1996}}
* {{cite book | title=Moody's Manual of Investments, American and Foreign: Transportation | year=1921 | author=Moody's Investor Service | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9EdAQAAMAAJ | ref={{harvid|Moody's|1921}} }}
* {{cite book |title=History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography |volume=1 |last=Owen |first=Thomas M. |year=1921 |publisher=S.J. Clarke Publishing Company }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Smiley |first1=Tom |year=1989 |title=Modeling the Bay Line Railroad |journal=Prototype Modeler |issue=January/February |pages=20–27}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Trains}}
* {{official site|https://www.gwrr.com/bayl/}}

{{Genesee & Wyoming}}
{{US Class III - Alabama}}
{{US Class III - Florida}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bay Line  Railroad}}
[[Category:Alabama railroads]]
[[Category:Florida railroads]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1994]]
[[Category:Genesee & Wyoming]]