Georgia

ROME, Ga. – The Rome Railroad was founded on Dec. 21, 1839, as the Memphis Branch Railroad and Steamboat Company of Georgia. The line’s 20-mile route between Rome, Ga., and Kingston, Ga., was completed in 1849. The following year, the company changed its name to the Rome Railroad Company. “From Rome, cotton and other commodities were shipped down river on the Coosa to Gadsden, Alabama and other points,” reads a historical marker in Kingston. The route was sold to the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway in 1894, which by that time leased the Western & Atlantic Railroad, which passed

ATLANTA — The city’s mass transit system has posted its first operating profit in nine years, it announced today. For fiscal year 2005-06, MARTA finished in the black by $19 million, The Associated Press reported. Officials has expected an $18 million loss. "It’s a very positive picture going into the future," AP quoted Richard McCrillis, MARTA’s interim general manager, as saying. "MARTA has its financial picture together."

For decades, an aging relic has stood as the icon of this city’s railroad past. Now, thanks to donations from some area businesses, the 76-year-old Gainesville Midland steam engine No. 208 has a new coat of paint.