Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX Georgia Road Weekend

Good evening everyone. Although I was hoping to nab the Lackawanna and Illinois Terminal heritage units this weekend, it didn't work out. As my consolation prize, from Friday to Sunday, I caught what I could on the GSX Georgia Road that goes from Atlanta to Augusta.

1: Friday evening I traveled to Madison, GA after work to catch a glimpse of Q460-26 picking up and dropping off cars. Only reason I traveled was due to the SD50-3 leader. The track in the foreground is the ex-Central of Georgia now Cater Parrott Railnet line.

2: Saturday morning I caught the westbound intermodal Q198-28 in a spot I frequent, but decided to stand in a different location at that same spot.

3: Saturday evening, after waking from a nice nap, I turn my radio back on and within 20 minutes, dispatch is talking to a new crew on a westbound empty coal train E220-28.

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4: The final catch of the weekend, and first catch of March is the very short (17 cars) L197-01 shot from a different angle than I normally shoot from.

Thanks for viewing!

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Thank you for posting. Cater Parrott website (http://cprailnet.com/) mentions service to Newborn. Have they dug the line from Shady Dale (Machen) to Newborn out of the weeds?

John in Macon

DocJohn Wrote:
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> Thank you for posting. Cater Parrott website
> (http://cprailnet.com/) mentions service to
> Newborn. Have they dug the line from Shady Dale
> (Machen) to Newborn out of the weeds?
>
> John in Macon


They have not. The rails are still in place to Newborn, but would definitely need to be replaced and the roadbed would need to be graded again. They are actively running trains on the line in Madison as they are serving the woodchip plant that reopened and interchanging the cars with NS in Machen/Shady Dale.

Towards the bottom of this thread, you'll see my chase of the NS G07 from Machen to Monticello.

As usual Van, thanks for posting the info on the Georgia Road. Nice set of photos. Are the last three photos from the Rutledge and Social Circle area?

Didn't Respondek once operate out of Madison with a tunnel motor? When did this service change operators? Also, a few weeks ago I went thru Madison. Looks like there was a blue switcher along with a road unit parked near the ex CofG depot.

Jay

garr Wrote:
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> As usual Van, thanks for posting the info on the
> Georgia Road. Nice set of photos. Are the last
> three photos from the Rutledge and Social Circle
> area?
>
> Didn't Respondek once operate out of Madison with
> a tunnel motor? When did this service change
> operators? Also, a few weeks ago I went thru
> Madison. Looks like there was a blue switcher
> along with a road unit parked near the ex CofG
> depot.
>
> Jay


Jay, the last three photos are all in Covington. The 2nd one is just east of General Mills, the 3rd one shows the old Covington depot in the background, and the 4th one is right before the Alcovy Trestle, a little further east of the location in the 2nd photo.

Respondek did operate the Madison-Machen turn. They used a Great Walton GP9 and operated under the Squaw Creek Southern banner. Link here to my post from 2013: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,3213108,3213108#msg-3213108

At the end of 2013, the transfer from Respondek to CPRN occurred and the power went from the GP9 to a pair of SW1500's, which you seen one of, and a GP40 as seen in the attached photo.

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Thanks. Now that I see your photo of the former WC GP40 I remember seeing the nose of it behind the SW.

Thanks for the location info. I will have to take my camera(actually my wife's as my camera is an old Canon F1 film camera) with me next time I am over that way. Has the traffic increased any on the Georgia?

Jay

Hard to imagine that Machen-Newborn will ever be returned to service.

garr Wrote:
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> Thanks. Now that I see your photo of the former WC
> GP40 I remember seeing the nose of it behind the
> SW.
>
> Thanks for the location info. I will have to take
> my camera(actually my wife's as my camera is an
> old Canon F1 film camera) with me next time I am
> over that way. Has the traffic increased any on
> the Georgia?
>
> Jay


Traffic has not increased, unfortunately. The standard 4 scheduled trains + many locals are all we have. We'll get an occasional bone in the form of a coal train or grain train but that's about it. When the Fitzgerald Sub gets a curfew, we'll also see a train or two from that.


ctillnc Wrote:
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>Hard to imagine that Machen-Newborn will ever be returned to service.
>

I share the same sentiment. I do not see it operating again. However, with all of the farm land between Machen and Newborn, I wouldn't be to surprised if some large business strikes a deal and opens up with the need to use rail. I don't think the feed mill in Newborn will open up again, though.

Have you seen any coal trains for the Georgia Power Harlee plant in Milledgeville lately? I was in Milledgeville around 3 weeks ago and was talking with someone who said the former Georgia RR tracks are getting rather rusty. I did not have time to check them out myself.

Jay

Last I heard, the plant closes completely next month. Final delivery of coal may already have occurred.

garr Wrote:
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> Have you seen any coal trains for the Georgia
> Power Harlee plant in Milledgeville lately? I was
> in Milledgeville around 3 weeks ago and was
> talking with someone who said the former Georgia
> RR tracks are getting rather rusty. I did not have
> time to check them out myself.
>
> Jay

I spoke with a CSX employee a couple of weeks ago while waiting on Q198 (he was about to hop on the rails and ride behind him) who mentioned the final delivery to Harllee was in December and that all the equipment had to be off the plant property by the end of the day 12/31/2014. The coal train I have pictured in this thread has GA Power (GALX) marked cars. I assume they were coming from one of the steam plants in the Savannah area.

I followed the line on Google Maps and saw only one customer of significant size between Milledgeville and Camak. I think part of the line is doomed. Milledgeville-Macon was abandoned in 1985.

Yes, I have to agree. Traffic volume may even be too low for a sale to a shortline. Maybe the operators of Georgia Woodlands or Georgia Eastern would be a potential suitor.

If only the Macon Road would have been located a few miles to east when constructed, it could have possibly seen some of the kaolin traffic that NS dominates in conjunction with the Sandersville.

Jay

Jay, you're right. Everything about the Georgia Railroad for the last 15 years (and longer) has been of the "If only...", "Why...", "What if..." vein. It's stuck between the Abbeville and the Fitzgerald and is basically redundant, 'twould appear. I guess it's handy as an occasional detour route, but one day one of those trestles (Yellow River or Alcovy River)and that's when things will become interesting (and likely sad).

Now that you mention the trestles, the Georgia is a well engineered line. The first mainline trestle westbound from Augusta is what, the Oconee River? And have there been any line relocations on the mainline?

Being a safety valve for the Manchester and Abbeville may be the saving grace along with the future Savannah Port traffic if it appears.

Jay

It was engineered by none other than J. Edgar Thomson himself (of later PRR fame). Yes, it's fairly well engineered. What I was alluding to is the fact that those two trestles aren't getting any younger. As for Savannah traffic, it seems to flow south to Waycross and then north or west. I don't see a role for the Georgia in any increased port traffic as long as that line of CSX logic holds. The Georgia isn't getting PTC, which is a bit of a telling sign, in my opinion.