Eastern Railroad Discussion > Austell, GA traffic

Good afternoon everyone,
I am heading down to Alpharetta, GA later today to see some family. In addition, I am planning on stopping by Austell for a few hours Saturday afternoon/evening. What is traffic like in Austell? I would also like to see some of the PRB coal trains from BNSF, and was curious as to what the frequency of those trains is like.

Have a good n' safe weekend!

Justin S.

I'm willing to say the NS line between Austell and Atlanta is the busiest in Georgia and amongst the busiest in the entire southeast. About 60 trains a day run through town, including a pair of Amtrak.  Because of the high volume of trains, there shouldn't be too many lulls in traffic.  As with the BNSF powered Scherer coal trains, they're still averaging 2-3 loaded trains a day with an equivalent numbers of empties.  However, there's no predictable time when they show up.

Andrew

If the average is 60, then it probably has more trains than Folkston which, based on my visit last month, has fallen off somewhat.

ctillnc Wrote:
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> If the average is 60, then it probably has more
> trains than Folkston which, based on my visit last
> month, has fallen off somewhat.

Yes, Folkston's traffic is down a bit.  It averages about 50 trains a day now.

Andrew

ctillnc Wrote:
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> If the average is 60, then it probably has more
> trains than Folkston which, based on my visit last
> month, has fallen off somewhat.

Traffic is lighter at Folkston.  Most noticeably the lack of coal trains.  Last Friday I was there the entire day and did not see either a loaded or empty hopper train.  According to a recent article in Trains, the power plants have large coal stockpiles due to a warm winter.

RFandPFan Wrote:
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>
> Traffic is lighter at Folkston.  Most noticeably
> the lack of coal trains.  Last Friday I was there
> the entire day and did not see either a loaded or
> empty hopper train.  According to a recent
> article in Trains, the power plants have large
> coal stockpiles due to a warm winter.

Plus, most of the Florida bound coal trains are now going via the Tallahassee Sub.  Therefore, those trains wouldn't run through Folkston.

Andrew