 the western & atlantic railroad (w&a) is a historic, government owned railroad that operates in the southeastern united states from atlanta, georgia to chattanooga, tennessee. it was founded on december 21, 1836 as the western & atlantic railroad of the state of georgia. the city of atlanta was founded as the terminus of the w&a. the line is still owned by the state of georgia from atlanta to ct tower in chattanooga, and is leased by csx transportation. this  gaugeconfederate railroads - western & atlantic line is famous because of the andrews raid (commonly referred to as the great locomotive chase), which took place on the w&a during the american civil war on the morning of april 12, 1862. ==establishment== in 1836, the georgia general assembly voted to build the western & atlantic railroad of the state of georgia to provide a link between the port of savannah and the midwest. the initial route of that state-sponsored project was to run from chattanooga to a spot east of the chattahoochee river, in present day fulton county. the plan was to eventually link up with the georgia railroad from augusta and the macon and western railroad, which ran from macon to savannah. an engineer was chosen to recommend the location where the western & atlantic line would terminate. once he surveyed various possible routes, he drove a stake into the ground near what is now forsyth and magnolia streets. the zero milepost was later placed at that spot. in 1842, the zero milepost was moved to a spot immediately adjacent to the current day southern entrance to underground atlanta.http://georgiainfo.galileo.us
4_ft_9_in_gauge_railways_in_the_United_States 5_ft_gauge_railways_in_the_United_States Georgia_(U.S._state)_in_the_American_Civil_War Georgia_(U.S._state)_railroads History_of_Atlanta,_Georgia Non-operating_common_carrier_freight_railroads_in_the_United_States Predecessors_of_the_Louisville_and_Nashville_Railroad Predecessors_of_the_Nashville,_Chattanooga_and_St._Louis_Railway Railway_companies_established_in_1836 Railway_lines_in_Atlanta,_Georgia Tennessee_railroads