HI:

Could anyone give me information about the CofG Atlanta to Chattanooga Route during the time period in the id fifties?

Passenger trains? Freight trains?

Operations in the Chattanooga area? What was the name of the yard located at Chattanooga? Any coal originated on the CofG?

Thanks for your help.

David

-- David Lundy (dlundy20@hotmail.com), August 01, 1999

Answers

During the last four years commuting from Newnan to Carrollton via Hwy 16, I've been fortunate to witness some Coal Unit Train action west of Newnan on the old C-Line. Earlier this fall I was treated with catching two Dash-8s in NS paint pulling empties back up the line crossing over the bridge over Hwy 16 just north of Whitesburg. I can affirm Jacks statement about trains being long and slow even to this day. One day back in 1997 while traveling through downtown Carrollton, I was stopped by the Plant Yates unit train at a grade crossing and it was traveling exceptionally slow. By the time i saw the rear end device on the last NS coal gondola, over 35 minutes had past and there was a long line of cars behind me. I'm considering modeling the C-Line east of Newnan through Senoia someday in N Scale. If anyone has any information on what type of locomotives were used on the locals running through to Griffin, any unique type of operation to accurately model the area, Iw ould appreciate it.

Jon

-- Jonathan Vanover (gp40-2@usa.net), December 20, 2000.

As far as a CofG yard in Chattanooga, the line terminates at Shipps Yard, which (today) is owned by NS, but was then a Southern yard (I think). Shipps is more or less the very south end of Debutts Yard, and also served the TAG Line and local industries on the south end of town. If something I've written is wrong, someone please correct me! Most of my info on this came from some old USGS topographic maps.

-- Matthew Sadler (mws@kf4lhp.net), November 13, 1999.

Jack obviously knows his stuff. During the last heyday of that line in the mid-1960s, 89 and 90 were the Columbus-Cedartown trains. Trains 29 and 44 were the Griffin-Cedartown trains, and 36/37 were the locals between Griffin and Columbus. The schedule provided for some interesting meets at Raymond, the junction near Newnan where the Columbus line hit the Griffin-Cedartown line. Don't forget that the Man O' War also traveled this route, coming off the A&WP at Newnan via a trackage rights arrangement and traveling to Raymond on the Griffin line before heading down the Columbus line, which was actually known as the Greenville District. Development of Georgia Power's Plant Yates and Plant Wansley on these lines greatly turned their use towards unit coal trains in later years. Hopefully, we'll see an answer from Dave Payne, who is the real expert on the C-lines and can probably point out the 219 or so things I'm mistaken about.

-- Rob Richardson (RichDent10@aol.com), August 07, 1999.

I haven't seen a response, so I'll have a go at it.

Central of Georgia did not actually have a Chattanooga to Atlanta line. It was Chattanooga to Griffin on C of Ga.'s Atlanta-Macon line. I suspect, but don't know for sure, that the Central did not handle much Atlanta-Chattanooga freight.

As for passenger trains, the Chattanooga-Griffin local was discontinued in 1950, I believe.

Freight service was a couple of scheduled trains each way between Chattanooga and Cedartown, the crew change point. South of Cedartown, I think one pair of trains operated to and from Columbus and the other to/from Griffin with connections to/from Macon. The line probably had some local freight trains, too, but I don't have any documentation on that.

Central had a small yard in Chattanooga, but I don't know much about what went on there.

I believe Central originated some coal in Alabama, and in earlier times in Northwest Ga. Around 1950 Georgia Power built a power plant on the line near Newnan, so the Central did get some coal from connections at Chattanooga.

If anyone has any elaborations or corrections, please jump in.

I can say from personal experience that the freight trains on this line in the fifties and early sixties were very interesting, long and slow with usually about 4 diesel units of the RS-3, GP7, GP9, and past 1960, GP18 varieties. On rare occasions, an F3 would put in an appearance. I loved those wood cabooses.

Jack

-- Jack Wyatt (cjwyatt@wavegate.com), August 04, 1999.