Eastern Railroad Discussion > A Busy Afternoon At The Historic Bremen Diamond

With the heat index in the upper 90's I wasn't planning on going out Tuesday afternoon. But when I heard the NS Georgia Div. North Atlanta dispatcher issuing a track authority on the “C-Line” to the UP #7494 that was leading a south bound coal drag out of Cedartown to North Bremen all of a sudden it wasn't so hot. Now, nothing that special about the UP #7494. But when a non NS unit leads a coal drag south into the Bremen Diamond one heads west from Villa Rica to capture that event. Turns out there was a fair amount of activity in Bremen with the Carrollton local G66 and Douglasville local A25 both working the siding and storage tracks on both sides of the diamond on the busy east/west mainline.

First a view of the recently completed Bremen Rail Park platform and surrounding area. This photo shows the completed park platform with an operating scanner, rest rooms, ceiling fans and very comfortable seating with tables. The park also includes a replica clock from the late 1800's that was a part of the original station located at the diamond area. Included are three information plaques that detail the history of the clothing manufacturing industry from that period that sprung up after the second railroad the Chattanooga Rome & Columbus Railroad (CR&C) crossed the east / west tracks of the Georgia Pacific Railway creating the diamond.

..more to follow...

Phil Maton
Villa Rica, GA

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#1. A view of NS G66 with the #3281 in the lead from under the shade provided by the Bremen observation platform.
G66 is on the Alabama East End mainline shoving a cut of cars to the west past the east bound signal. This was there second attempt with a bit of a running start from farther to the east as there second unit was dead.

#2. While G66 had the mainline lied up I headed north to Buchanan to catch NS 708 (Mt.Vernon IL.- GP Wansley)
running under the old wooden bridge just north of town.

#3. By now G66 had cleared up and headed south on the C-line to Carrollton and with A25 tucked away in the east end of the siding at Sewell, NS 105 rolls over the diamond and west bound through town.

….more to follow....

Phil Maton
Villa Rica, GA

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#4. NS A25 Douglasville local heads west on the main to clear the east bound signal and will then shove back east over the diamond into the Bremen / Sewell siding.

#5. A rare photo here with south bound NS 708 holding on the Georgia Division C-line North Bremen signal while NS A25 shoves east on the Alabama Division mainline into the siding.

#6. With the mainline clear NS 708 heads south over the diamond and US 78 hi-way.

….more to follow....

Phil Maton
Villa Rica, GA

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#7. With three head end units the UP #7494 leads NS #1096 & #9733 past the Bremen observation platform.

#8. After the 108 coal loads come the two DP units.

#9. DPU's NS # 9724 & #7542. The track to the right is the connection track to the east end mainline.

Note: Georgia Power Plant Wansley has a loop trestle so the power configuration will be the same on the north bound empty move. The train will remain I'D as 708 empty until a new crew is assigned. Then I'D as 709. This usually occurs at the Cedartown depot.

Phil Maton
Villa Rica, GA

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Once again, a premium post with great images. Thanks
Rich S

great photography

Very nice with excellent captions.

When I was there in the early 80's there was a small steel shed on the north side that actually had a dispatcher setting in it with a CRT display. And hot enough that the door was propped open, you could walk right in and watch and listen to the action and catch the lineups from the dispatcher sitting right there.
Day I was there was truly memorable as it was the first - and last - time I caught a full brace of ex-Southern SD45's running 'hammerhead' wide open headed north (east) with the 'BREMEN' sign beside them, and putting out an 60-cylinder exhaust plume that would have made any steam fan envious. Enlargement of that photo still hangs in my office. No more than got clear of that shot than a unit coal train with RCE mid-train helpers was headed south with brand-new NS SD50's over that curving and winding line to the south.
Yup, if anyplace deserves a hangout shelter, it's Bremen.

Good stuff, Phil

Thanks for sharing.

Do you know if NS has any capacity related projects in store for the Bremen area? Do you see anything which needs to be done?

Nice shots Phil. Really like the 3rd shot. Checked out that bridge when we were there last week. Just no trains running. Now I know what it will look like when I do. Ben

ts1457 Wrote:
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> Thanks for sharing.
>
> Do you know if NS has any capacity related
> projects in store for the Bremen area?

No I do not know of any.

Do you see
> anything which needs to be done?

Oh yeah, figure out a way to eliminate using the 11,040ft Bremen/Sewell siding as a storage track for loads and empties
for/from Carrollton and Douglasville Georgia. The two storage tracks west of downtown are not long enough to handle the
added number of cars going to industries in both cities. The LOADS are no longer blocked for the cars to these two cities. As a
result either G66 or A25 end up sorting out cars using the east/west mainline. On Tuesday G66 had to wait 4 hours before
they could begin the task of sorting out their loads.

Build or extend a non signaled siding south of Bremen on the C-Line starting southward at the tank farm toward Bowden JCT.
Then let G66 and G67 do the sorting there instead of tying up the East End main and siding tracks!!!

Phil Maton
Villa Rica, GA

NSSpike Wrote:
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> Oh yeah, figure out a way to eliminate using the
> 11,040ft Bremen/Sewell siding as a storage track
> for loads and empties
> for/from Carrollton and Douglasville Georgia. The
> two storage tracks west of downtown are not long
> enough to handle the
> added number of cars going to industries in both
> cities. The LOADS are no longer blocked for the
> cars to these two cities. As a
> result either G66 or A25 end up sorting out cars
> using the east/west mainline. On Tuesday G66 had
> to wait 4 hours before
> they could begin the task of sorting out their
> loads.
>
> Build or extend a non signaled siding south of
> Bremen on the C-Line starting southward at the
> tank farm toward Bowden JCT.
> Then let G66 and G67 do the sorting there instead
> of tying up the East End main and siding tracks!!!

Thanks, sounds like a plan to me. You would think that NS would be thinking along those lines with the problem it has been experiencing in keeping its railroad fluid.

Jack

Great shot there of the sb coal train coming across the east end.
-DJS

Reminds me of Deshler, OH.

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Great shots! You've reminded me of my childhood trips through Bremen on the way to Mississippi. I saw a couple of trains there over the years.

In case someone wonders, there is no historic connection between the Georgia Pacific Railway of the late 19th century and the Georgia Pacific corporation known for wood and paper products. The "new" GP was founded in Georgia in 1927 under a different name, built up operations in the Pacific Northwest, moved its HQ there in the 1950s, and then moved its HQ to Atlanta in 1982.

The founders of the Georgia Pacific Railway had visions of crossing the Mississippi River and continuing to Texarkana for a connection with the T&P. Never happened.

Nice shots. Looks like a great location for many various action shots.
Brian Stevens