Allatoona Pass This 170-ft. deep, 100-ft. long rail cut was dug in the 1840s to allow trains of the Western & Atlantic Railroad to pass through a ridge of the Allatoona Mountains. It was the scene of a bloody battle in October of 1864 when Confederate troops attempted to sever Union supply lines by taking control of the rail line. After an intense attack in which 1,500 men on the two sides were killed or injured, the defenders held the pass and the Confederate forces withdrew. The railroad was later relocated a short distance west and in the late 1940s Lake Allatoona filled the valley east of the pass. Today the Corps of Engineers maintains a small park at the battle site. Visitors can walk through the cut on a trail along the former rail bed. (Old Allatoona Road in southeastern Bartow County). Allatoona Pass, looking north, in 1864. Photograph by George N. Barnard. More info on Allatoona Pass from roadsidegeorgia.com. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. Copyright, Steve Storey. Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home