Eastern Railroad Discussion > Alpharetta/Atlanta,GA Railfanning Locations?

Heading to Atlanta (Alpharetta) over Thanksgiving. Anyone have any good railfanning locations within about a 15-20 minute drive time? Prefer something not in the middle of any "not friendly" neighborhoods. Thanks in advance!

You are in between NS and CSX in Alpharetta. Best bet is to drive south on 400 to ATL and drive around yards.

Only railroad near Alpharetta was abandoned in 1921. http://railga.com/roswell.html  

If you aren't comfortable in unfamiliar neighborhoods, the best bets on the northside of metro are the Chamblee-Doraville vicinity for NS and downtown Marietta for CSX.

If you like NS go to Austell.  If you like CSX go to Marietta or Smyrna.  If you like to take risks, go around downtown and the yards to the northwest.

Suwanee, Duluth and Buford are all safe but not as busy in the late morning to early afternoon. Best time is early morning as the northbounds are getting out of Atlanta and the south bounds start to arrive with the southbound Amtrak Crescent in the mix. Also in Duluth is the Southeastern Ralway Museum, and this is only about 25 minutes away form you.

I'd vote for Austell...


Jay

Kennesaw on the CSX is pretty good too, and the railroad museum there has "The General" on display.  

Kennesaw is especially nice if you enjoy listening to trains. Serious engine action on the uphill grade.

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Follow-up question: Smyrna and Marietta, where are the best places to park safely without being on private property? And what about the Confederate Cemetary next to the tracks in Marietta? Is that a good location? Lastly, is the Duluth depot accesible, such as would it be a good spot to sit for hours and wait?

EDIT: Also important, what are the train levels at roughly? And best times to go?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/16 12:09 by ross.

ross Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Follow-up question: Smyrna and Marietta, where are
> the best places to park safely without being on
> private property? And what about the Confederate
> Cemetary next to the tracks in Marietta? Is that a
> good location? Lastly, is the Duluth depot
> accesible, such as would it be a good spot to sit
> for hours and wait?
>
> EDIT: Also important, what are the train levels at
> roughly? And best times to go?

There are a number of great suggestions in the prior posts. There are plenty of parking options in Smyrna and Marietta. There are trails, or really broad sidewalks, beside the tracks in both towns. Also plenty of restaurants with outside dining within site of the tracks. View the satellite images on google or Bing for both towns before going. Just north of Marietta along Kennesaw Avenue at Elizabeth is the interchange point with Georgia Northeastern. There is usually a loco or two parked in the small yard. To find the yard, turn on Tower Rd off Kennesaw Ave. then turn left after going under the railroad bridge.

Go a little further north to Kennesaw, Acworth, and Catersville for other good options along CSX. Traffic levels will decrease north of Catersville depending on which line you follow, Chattanooga or Knoxville, along  Hwy 411.

Austell is also a great, safe location. The NS mains from New Orleans and Chattanooga merge in the middle of the small town. There again are,plenty of,parking spots and locations to shot photos from. 

Depending on on where you are in Alpharetta, drive time to Marietta is just under an hour with Austell a little over an hour.

If you really want to hit the mother lode in volume and options, an hour and a half drive to Dalton will give you both CSX and NS. The freight depot downtown is at Hair Junction where the lines cross. It has a computer with CTC display showing the position of nearby trains and I believe a scanner is also tuned in. Again, plenty of parking and a safe area.

Duluth is not in my stomping grounds, so no help there.

Volume at any of the locations I mentioned above is fairly heavy. I have not spent as much time trackside since 2005 when the volume was around 45-60 trains a day along CSX on the Smyrna to Catersville segment. My guess is that the CSX count is in the 35 range today. 

Search TO as far as 1 year back for Dalton Georgia or just Dalton to see some nice photos of,tha action there. 

Jay

 

Closest to Alpharetta would be NS:   Downtown Norcross, plenty of parking and places to set up a chair, safe and places to eat or drink; in Chamblee look up the address for the Frosty Caboose. Parking lot next to Piedmont Division offices, crew change point, switching activity along running track for the yard at Chamblee/Doraville and one a bit further north an Winter's Chapel Road. Ice cream and Vintage Pizza right there.  Further north between Norcross and Duluth the N. Berkely Lake Rd crossing.  Just north of there off Buford Highway is the Southeastern Railroad Museum, worth a visit.  Someone mentioned driving around the yards in ATL.  Dicey area, no place to park, can't see much except from bridges and hard to safely park nearby and walk out on those.  Not recommended based on your location and safety concern.