Short Lines of Georgia Past and Present

Thought I would start a thread on short lines in Georgia past and present. According to the Georgia Department of Transportation March 20th 2008 there are 24 operating short lines in Georgia. I will compose a list and post it later today I hope. I will all so post links or information about them as well as some pictures I have and hope to add pictures as I take more.

Hers a list of operating short lines in Georgia. One I do not know if you would say it is operating and I will cover this later.
The Athens Line
Chattahoochee & Gulf
Chattahoochee Industrial
Chattooga & Chickamauga
First Coast Railway
Fulton County Railway
Georgia Central Railroad
Georgia & Florida Railway
Georgia & Midlands Railroad
Georgia Northeastern
Georgia Southwestern
Georgia Woodlands
Great Walton Railroad
Golden Isle Terminal (Colonel’s Island Railroad Co.)
Heart of Georgia
Hartwell
Louisville & Wadley
Ogeechee
Riceboro Southern
Sandersville
Savannah Port Terminal (Savannah State Docks Railroad)
St. Mary’s
St. Mary’s West Railway
Valdosta Railway

The first link is not only a VERY GOOD source for short lines but just about any railroad that ever was in or ran through Georgia. One of my favorite sites!!!!!!!!

http://railga.com/index.html

http://www.cagy.com/cckyrail.htm
http://www.awtransport.com/
http://www.georgiarailroad.org/chatindustrial.html
http://www.gnrr.com/
http://www.omnitrax.com/rail_gfrr.aspx#
http://www.omnitrax.com/rail_fcr.aspx
http://www.georgiarailroad.org/valdosta.html
http://www.georgiarailroad.org/gacentral.html
http://www.sandersvillerailroad.com/
http://www.georgiarailroad.org/gamidland.html
http://www.gwrr.com/operations/railroad ... western.be
http://www.georgiarailroad.org/greatwalton.html
http://www.georgiarailroad.org/hog.html

Here is the Georgia Department of Transportation rail map
http://www.dot.state.ga.us/travelinging ... ap_PDF.pdf

Louisville and Wadley Railroad

The Louisville and Wadley Railroad was chartered on August 24, 1872 to build a 10-mile line from a Central of Georgia connection at Wadley north to Louisville, GA. The line was completed in 1879, and the line had to be continuously subsidized to keep it out of receivership. Passenger service ended in 1953. It was sold to the Central of Georgia in 1898. In 1961, the Central sold it to a new company which operated it as the Louisville and Wadley Railway.

The Georgia Department of Transportation still has the Louisville and Wadley Railroad as having 10 miles of track even thaw service to Louisville was discontinued in 1971 due to bridge failure over Boggy Gut Creek just northeast of Wadley. Most of the track is either gone or over grown. The L&W does have many box cars that they lease under the L&W name. When I took these pictures in 2006 Southern 1004 was still operational and sitting on the L&W Y track near where it runs into the now Norfolk and Southern main line all so there was a L&W Box car on the Y. I am guessing Billy Gibson was still using 1004 to move his L&W box cars around.

SW1 built in 1950 and had an engine change in 1960

Georgia Central

One end of Georgia Central is in the city I live Macon, GA. I was down there today snapping a few shots. It connects with Norfolk and Southern here in Macon. Here is a cup and past from railga.com the best site for information for past and present railroads in Georgia. Here is the link.
http://railga.com/gc.html

[The Georgia Central operates on the former Macon, Dublin & Savannah Railroad (Macon to Vidalia), as well as former Seaboard Air Line Railway tracks from Vidalia to Savannah. It is owned by Rail Link, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming.
In 1998, the Georgia Southwestern Railroad leased from the Georgia Department of Transportation 67 miles of rail line between Vidalia and Rochelle. Part of this route had been previously operated by the Georgia Central. It is now operated by the Heart of Georgia Railroad.]

Is GC still serving the Dry Kaolin plant? I thought I had read somewhere it was no longer producing

Awesome topic and great information! Great pictures, too! I thought I'd add a link to where I had posted a bunch of links, both current and historical.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... a&start=38

ashley2771 wrote:Is GC still serving the Dry Kaolin plant? I thought I had read somewhere it was no longer producing

I well try and check on this and report back.

Sarge wrote:Awesome topic and great information! Great pictures, too! I thought I'd add a link to where I had posted a bunch of links, both current and historical.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... a&start=38

Thanks an I have been keeping my eye on that thread.

I had the pleaser of riding the SAM shortline (Savannah, Americus and Montgomery) with my 3 daughters on March 25, 2006. The excursion runs from Cordele to Archery Georgia and runs on part of the HOG (Hart Of Georgia short line). It stops in Plains Georgia the home of our 39th president Jimmy Carter who all so is a rail fan. It ends at Archery the childhood home Of Jimmy Carter. The SAM shortline is run by the state of Georgia and pulled my HOG engines on weekends when the line is not used for freight. The round trip is about 64 miles and is an all day affair. My daughters are just about grown ages 19 to 22 at the time and it is not to often we do something together any more. This made it real special for this big rail fan! My mother, little sister and nephew all so went. This is the line my friend has his 1949 Bud sleeper car that we are turning in to a private car. Here is the SAM shortline web address. If you get a chance you would really enjoy riding this line!
http://www.samshortline.com/georgia/sam/






Some of the train crew

Engine at the rear of the train

Depot at Plains, GA

Plains, GA

My oldest daughter and I

My youngest daughter and I

My mother and sister

Inside the cab

Inside the train car we rode in

My middle daughter and my mother

In Archery GA at Presidents Jimmy Carters childhood farm and general store.

I am hoping in the next couple of months to ride the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway that runs on part of the Georgia Northeastern Railroad short line. Check out links below.
http://www.gnrr.com/
http://brscenic.com/

Make sure you book yourself an open-air ticket; the view out the converted LIRR coaches (2929/2975) cannot be beat -- the windows are all cut out, so it's a wide open panoramic view.

(or you can ride in the 697, which is a converted box car ... just remember, the freight doesn't complain about the ride!)

Either way, you'll have a blast. I've volunteered for the train crew since 2003, and enjoy every trip I go on.

- litz

Thanks but the fact I am up in my years and my 82 year old mother will be going all so this time of the year it is HOT here we will be in a AC car. I always walk around to the different cars to get some pictures and video. This will be my 6th tourist railroad ride. In 2001 I rode in the cab of a 1925 Baldwin steam locomotive for the round trip up in PA at the New Hope and Ivyland.

Hope to chase some other short lines in Georgia when it cools off this fall.

The two best cars of those with AC are the 105 and 106; these are ex-FEC/ex-BAR/ex-VIA coaches, very nice inside.

Best view is probably out of the 549 (an ex-NJC commuter coach).

Wandering around the cars is not only allowed, it's encouraged. We have equipment ranging from 1924 to the 1960s.

We also offer cab rides, if you want to sit up in the business end of a 1950s diesel ... however, that would (obviously) not be air conditioned ...

- litz

- litz do you work all the time or what days do you volunteer? Might wait till the mid to end of Sept. when it is a little cooler. When I come I will have the hat on that is in the above pictures and if not to hot my hickory striped overalls.

I would love to ride in the cab but do not want to leave mother alone that long.