The Albany, Florida and Northern Railway (AF&N) was chartered in 1889 and built a railway between Albany

Albany, Georgia

Albany is a city in and the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. It is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan area and the southwest part of the state. The population was 77,434 at the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the...

 and Cordele, Georgia

Cordele, Georgia

Cordele, also known as The Watermelon Capital of the World, is a city in Crisp County, Georgia, United States. The population was 11,608 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Crisp County...

, beginning operation in 1891. The following year the line was leased to the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway

Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway

The Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway was a historic narrow gauge railroad located in the U.S. states of Georgia and Alabama.It was founded in 1888 to take over operations from the Americus, Preston and Lumpkin Railroad which ran from Louvale to Abbeville...

 (SA&M), who was responsible for obtaining the charter to begin with. When the SA&M entered receivership in 1892 and was sold under foreclosure

Foreclosure

Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...

 in 1895, the AF&N was spun off as a separate independent company, the Albany and Northern Railway

Albany and Northern Railway

The Albany and Northern Railway began life in about 1895 on a stretch of railway from Cordele to Albany, Georgia. The line had originally been built around 1890 by the Albany, Florida and Northern Railway . The AF&N was leased then to the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway in 1892...

.