Odds and Ends
Rail Excursion and Tourist Lines
• Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, Blue Ridge. Passengers take a 26-mile round trip along the scenic Toccoa River between Blue Ridge and McCaysville. The route follows an old Louisville & Nashville line. (241 Depot Street in Blue Ridge). Here's a description of a trip on the train by railfan Randy Golden.• SAM Shortline, Cordele. The popular SAM Shortline excursion railroad runs from I-75 at Cordele to Plains.
• Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Chattanooga. TVRR operates special excursions over Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway lines in northwest Georgia.
• Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, Stone Mountain. Vintage FP-7 diesels circle the base of the 800-foot granite monolith over a five-mile route built in 1962. Stone Mountain Park is located 16 miles east of Atlanta on U.S. Highway 78 and is open year-round, 6am to midnight.
Railroad Museums
• Southeastern Railway Museum, Duluth. Extensive collection of railroad equipment on display. SRM website.
• Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, Kennesaw. Houses the famed Civil War locomotive General as well as locomotives built by the Glover Machine Works of nearby Marietta.
• Roundhouse Railroad Museum (Central of Georgia Shops), Savannah. This National Historic Landmark site is now the State Museum of Railroad History.
• Tallulah Falls Railroad Museum, Rabun Gap. Exhibits tell the story of the Tallulah Falls Railway which once ran through Rabun Gap. Also, an operating narrow gauge train built by students of the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School.
• Roosevelt Railroad Museum, Griffin. A railroad mtorcar pulls visitors over Southern Railway tracks traveled many times by FDR on his way to and from Warm Springs. Also steam engines and other exhibits.
See also Steam Locomotives on Display.
Rail-Trails
• Silver Comet Trail. Named for Seaboard's Birmingham-Atlanta-New York passenger train, a streamlined member of the railroad's famous "Silver Fleet." The trail winds through much of Polk, Paulding, & Cobb counties on the abandoned Seaboard rail bed.
• McQueen's Island Trail. A 6-mile trail on Central of Georgia's old Savannah-Tybee line.
• Moultrie Trail, Moultrie. Also known as Tom White Linear Park, this 5-mile trail was built on an abandoned rail line on the south side of Moultrie. (South Main Street in downtown Moultrie. Lower Meigs Road to Municipal Airport).
• S&S Greenway. A planned 7-mile bike and pedestrian trail from Statesboro to Brooklet on the bed of the long-abandoned Savannah & Statesboro Railway. In 2006, Georgia DOT provided $300,000 in Transportation Enhancement funds for the trail.
Tunnels
Georgia doesn't have as many railroad tunnels as some states, but it does have one of the oldest (1849-50), another that continues in use on a busy rail line, as well as a tunnel that now has a bike trail through it. Continue on to the tunnels page.
Bridges, Trestles, and Viaducts
Since the 1830s many thousands of railroad bridges, trestles, and viaducts have been built to carry trains over Georgia's streams. Continue on to the bridges pages.
Railroad Office Buildings
Several interesting old buildings around Georgia once housed railroad company offices. Here's a sampling.
On April 12, 1862, a band of raiders under the command of James J. Andrews stole the Western & Atlantic Railroad locomotive "General" at Big Shanty, now Kennesaw, Georgia. Andrews and his men intended to race north to safety while burning railroad bridges along the way. They didn't make it.
• The "General," Kennesaw. The General has been preserved and is on display at the town where Andrews stole it. Website.
• The "Texas," Atlanta. The Texas also remains in existence. It can be seen at the Cyclorama in Atlanta's Grant Park. Website.
• The end of the chase, Ringgold. Two miles north of Ringgold a monument marks the spot where the chase ended.
• The details. Several websites tell the story of Andrews Raid, so there's no need to repeat it here. In particular, check out andrewsraid.com and ngeorgia.com.
Street Railways
• Americus Electric Car No. 2, Americus. The first trolley in town became a kitchen for local prisoners, then a lake cottage.
• "Toonerville Trolley" St. Marys. This curious little vehicle traveled on the St. Marys Railroad before being incorporated into a house.
• Inman Park Trolley Barn, Atlanta. Victorian-era maintenance building for Atlanta's first streetcar line.
Train-Watching Sites
• Folkston Funnel Train-Watching Platform, Folkston. Up to sixty trains a day come through the southeast Georgia town of Folkston.
• Manchester Train-Watching Platform, Manchester. Located on an important CSX rail junction, Manchester has a platform for viewing the rail action.
• Dalton area train-watching. Info on rail action in Whitfield County, from Dalton/Whitfield County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
• Cartersville train-watching. Friendship Plaza in downtown Cartersville is a fine place to see a few of the 50 trains that pass through here each day. (Info from Cartersville/Bartow County Convention and Visitors Bureau.)
Other
• Allatoona Pass, Cartersville area. Dug in the 1840s for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, it was the scene of a bloody Civil War battle.
• Summerville turntable, Summerville. In Summerville's downtown Dowdy Park, excursion trains of the Tennessee Valley Railroad are using a newly installed turntable. Built around 1916, the turntable was moved from Alabama to Summerville with the assistance of federal Transportation Enhancement funds in 2002-2003. (At the other end of the state, Savannah's Roundhouse Railroad Museum also maintains an operating turntable.)
• Samuel Spencer statue, Atlanta. Memorial to the first president of the Southern Railway, sculpted by Daniel Chester French in 1909.
• Zero Milepost. This stone milepost marks the southern end of the Western & Atlantic Railroad and the beginning of Atlanta.
• Coaling towers. Massive reminders of the days of steam.
• Interlocking towers. Like coal towers, only a few are still standing.
Railroad Nicknames
• Nicknames of Georgia Railroads, including some that are less than complimentary.
Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. Copyright, Steve Storey.
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