Great Walton Railroad

Named for the county in which it operates, the Great Walton Railroad is a 10-mile freight shortline operating between the Walton county seat of Monroe southward to a CSX Transportation interchange at Social Circle, Georgia. Commodities shipped include clay, feldspar, grain, machinery, fertilizer, woodchips, plastics, pulpwood, and silica. For a season, the shortline rostered at least five first generation Geeps painted in a Southern Railway inspired paint scheme. A shop is maintained north of Social Circle. Along with nearby Hartwell Railroad, the shortline is owned by Benny Ray Anderson.

The line between Social Circle and Monroe was originally constructed by the Walton Railroad beginning in 1880, but in 1884 the railroad was consolidated with the Gainesville, Jefferson & Southern Railroad and later leased to the regional Georgia Railroad, which operated the route as a separate division, the Monroe Railroad, until 1917. The Georgia Railroad was merged into the Seaboard System in 1983, and CSX Transportation in 1986. The CSX branchline was sold first to the Georgia Eastern Railroad in February 1987, who then immediately sold it again to form the Great Walton Railroad.

From 1989 to 2008, the Great Walton leased from Norfolk Southern 25 miles of former Central of Georgia branchline between nearby Covington and Machen, Georgia. This line was later transferred to the Squaw Creek Southern, and then to current lease operator CaterParrott Railnet.

The Great Walton also operates two nearby shortline segments: This first is a former Norfolk Southern line between Toccoa and Elberton, Georgia, together with what remains of the out-of-service Hartwell Railroad into its namesake town. The second line is the former Central of Georgia (Norfolk Southern) trackage between Madison, Athens, and Center, Georgia, organized as The Athens Line, LLC. The Madison to Athens segment is out of service.