As with many railroads in the region, the A&SAB began in the minds of timber investors and land developers seeking to access the agricultural resources of the Florida Panhandle and South Alabama. Chief among them was A. B. Steele, who created the railroad to build south out of Dothan towards the Gulf Coast.[1][page needed] The company incorporated on February 14, 1906, and opened its 82-mile (132 km) line between Dothan and Panama City on July 15, 1908.[2]Panama City was incorporated the following year at the terminus of the line. Plans were soon made to extend the railroad north to Atlanta, however financial difficulties and pressure from the Central of Georgia railroad put an end to any plans for extension.[3][page needed]
Detail from a promotional matchbook
World War II brought about a considerable increase in traffic on the A&SAB. Several military bases in the vicinity of Panama City ensured the Bay Line would remain a hotbed of activity for the duration of the war. Shortly after the war in 1947, the A&SAB was granted Class I status.[3][page needed] The company offered sleeper and coach passenger train service nightly between Panama City and Atlanta Union Station via Albany and Macon. The trains went over Central of Georgia Railway tracks from Dothan, Alabama, to Atlanta. At some point between 1955 and 1956 A&StA terminated all passenger service --coach and sleeping car service.[4][5]
TOFC service began in 1962 with the construction of ramps at Panama City and Cottondale. Additional expansion came with the construction of a branch line to Graceville in 1971. In 1979 International Paper sold the railroad to Southwest Forest Industries, and the railroad changed hands again with the sale of Southwest Forest Industries to the Stone Container Corporation in 1987.[3][page needed]
Construction of the branch spanning 7 miles (11 km) from Campbellton, Florida, to Graceville was completed on July 14, 1971.[6] Graceville was located at the terminus of the Georgiana branch of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. This allowed for interchange between the two railroads and access to a Southwest Forest Industries woodchip mill located in Graceville that supplied the Panama City paper mill. In addition to the woodchip mill, Gold Kist operated a peanut mill in Graceville.[3][page needed]
The Seaboard System Railroad, successor to the Louisville and Nashville, abandoned the line into Graceville on January 16, 1984.[8] The A&SAB purchased the small yard and wye track in Graceville from the vacating Seaboard and continued serving the city.[3][page needed] Declining traffic prompted the abandonment of the branch by the mid 1990s.[citation needed]
Stone Container Corporation purchased the line between Grimes and Abbeville on March 1, 1989.[7] The primary source of traffic is a woodchip mill near Abbeville, which provides woodchips for the Panama City paper mill. The Bay Line accessed the Abbeville & Grimes branch via trackage rights with CSX between Grimes and Dothan.[1][page needed] The Abbeville branch was included in the sale to the Bay Line Railroad.[7] The A&G was formally merged into the Bay Line on June 26, 1996.[9]
Railroads in italics meet the revenue specifications for Class I status, but are not technically Class I railroads due to being passenger-only railroads with no freight component.
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