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Eastern Railroad Discussion > Old ladies still kicking in South GeorgiaDate: 11/13/17 12:39 Old ladies still kicking in South Georgia Author: smitty315 A few times this year work has sent me to a little town called Sparks in south Georgia about 20 miles or so north of Valdosta on I-75 exit 41. I did take some time to do a little railfanning just to see what is around the NS has a line running through Sparks parallel to HWY 41. There is another town south of Valdosta about 5 miles of I-75 Exit 11 called Clyattville, GA. I have been through this area many times on the way to or from Jacksonville, FL but never stopped to take a look around. There are three nice little locomotives, one in Sparks and two in Clyattville that are less than 10 minutes from the interstate. It is kind of interesting sometimes what can be found if you just stop and look around for a little bit. If you're in that area and you have a few minutes to kill it's worth checking out.
Photo 1 (Brian Woodruff Photo) - This GP9, according to what I found online is ex-C&O GP9 6152. It is now owned by Reames & Sons and they use it to shove and switch gravel hoppers at there facility which is right on the NS main line just north of Sparks. It isn't as shiny now as the 2007 photo but it still looks great and it's nice to see an unmodified GP9 still in service that's not a GP16, BL20-2, etc. You can see it from the road but it is a little difficult to get to. I got a good look at it from a nearby church parking lot when it was shoving cars but did not have my camera or a charged phone at the time. Most of the time it is sitting in a spot on the north side of their property and any pic you can take without trespassing is from the road looking across a cotton field. I did talk to one of their sales guys who came to our facility as we are almost across the street. He was pretty friendly and of course I had to ask him about the locomotive. He had an interesting story on how they obtained that locomotive that he was happy to share. Photo 2 - Valdosta Railway 1200 is a rebuilt SW1200. I have seen it shown as an SW1200r and an SW1200-3. It was originally SSW 1062. Photo 3 - Valdosta Railway 2207 is currently shown as a GP7u and was originally ATSF GP7 2264. Both times I was through Clyattville, 1200 & 2207 were sitting behind a small building that is owned by the railroad. There is a sign out in front of the building with a G&W version of the Valdosta Railway logo. It's just south of the intersection between Madison Hwy and Clyattville Lake Park Rd. These two locomotives appear to spend most of their time switching out cars at the huge Packaging Corportation of America facility. As you can see, these two to are a little more accessible for photos. Date: 11/13/17 13:27 Re: Old ladies still kicking in South Georgia Author: boejoe I realize photo #1 is now ten years old but it looks so 'un-real", almost like it was a model posed outside. Great shot.
Date: 11/13/17 13:58 Re: Old ladies still kicking in South Georgia Author: smitty315 boejoe Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > I realize photo #1 is now ten years old but it > looks so 'un-real", almost like it was a model > posed outside. Great shot. Here's another pic taken by G. Gerard in 2015. The logo below the window is almost faded out but the paint still looks great. They picked the right color and type of paint for sure. I wonder if it still has the dynamic brakes. On a bit of a side note. I checked and all three of these locomotives were caught by Google's street view cameras. The GP9 is in it's usual resting spot. The two VR locomotives are near that building I mentioned. 1200 is in the same spot as my photo and 2207 is shown just a little north of the nearby crossing. Railfanning via Google Street View. LOL Date: 11/13/17 15:00 Re: Old ladies still kicking in South Georgia Author: JR24 Yes, my first thought was whether photo 1 was HO or O scale.
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