Seaboard Air Line
Greenwood, SC to Tucker, GA
Introduction
This is a portion of our self-guided tour of today's CSX, ex-Seaboard Air Line, main line from the Atlantic Ocean port of Wilmington, North Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia. The Introduction to the over-all tour is here. This segment will stretch from the northern portion of Maxwell Yard in Greenwood, South Carolina, to Tucker, Georgia, gateway to the Atlanta Terminal. However, the completed portion only extends from Maxwell Yard to Athens, Georgia, a distance of a little more than 85 miles.
Please note that the entire Wilmington - Athens sections are now finished, so you can do a continuous tour of about 368 miles. That's a lot of miles, and you can very easily do a full week-end trip along this route. Heck, if you really want to explore and see some trains, you can spend a full week along here.
When you take your tour you're going to see trains, some great countryside and meet some nice folks. So let's get going.
Contents And Navigation:
Contributors To This Tour
Peter Furnee, CSX logo
Train Gifs. All train gifs used within this tour are from the Ed Bindler's train gifs site, which is here.
Tony Hill, Webmaster. All text, Greenwood - Athens
Help
If you'd like to contribute to this, or any other tour, please contact me at webmaster@frograil.com, and let me know what you'd like to do. We'll work together: You supply the data/info, and I'll do the HTML stuff and upload it. You'll get a chance to review the fruits of your efforts before the general public sees the finished product, so you can let me have your corrections, additions and changes.
Supplemental And Back-Up Data.
The Railroad -- Geography. You're in the Piedmont here, and there are no flat-flat-flat areas and no mountains -- just the foothills. This is good, because it's not boring, but bad, because it can be hard to get trackside in many areas. There are few stretches of dramatic grade to be overcome, just as there are few long tangent stretches for high speed railroading. All in all, this is a workmanlike road that moves trains from Monroe/Bostic/Hamlet to Atlanta and vice versa. You won't see 4 trains per hour, but you'll see enough to make it interesting and enjoyable.
The Railroad -- Traffic. It's impossible to precisely tell you how many trains to expect during a given period of time. You'll see coal/empties, general freight, and locals virtually every day. Add in unit grain trains and other seasonal/intermittent movements, and you can probably expect to see 1 train per hour along this route. Traffic west of Athens is slightly higher than that to the east.
Photography Ratings: I'm now including photo ratings for crossings. Please note that these ratings are my opinion of the photographic field available for pictures, rather than a subjective rating of photogenic/artsy characteristics of the site. All four quadrants of the crossing are evaluated, clockwise, from NE to NW. Each is rated from 1 to 4, with 1 being excellent and 4 being non-existent, either because of a severe drop off, wall of trees, private property, etc. An example would be NE4, SE1, SW3, NW3. This would be a fairly poor location except for AM shots from the southeast quadrant, which should be pretty wide open.
Mapwork: Much of the tour is not easy if you have no detailed map for back country roads. In fact, for much of the tour, you're going to be on very, very secondary roads. It is easy to get lost and confused. I definitely recommend you get a DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, study it before your trip, and copy pertinent pages for your field work. You can find information here about Railfan Maps that are available.
Abbreviations. Some phrases are used repeatedly in this tour, so I've developed some standard Frograil abbreviations. The use of these abbreviations begins in the Elberton area, and continues for the remainder of the tour:
AG. An at-grade crossing.
NAG. A not-at-grade crossing. Unless I mention otherwise, these are usually not worth the time and trouble to drive to them.
NARL. Not a railfan location. This is because of any number of reasons, such as lousy photo ops, dangerous, no shoulder on a NAG bridge, etc. As a general rule of thumb, it is wise to avoid NARL's.
WEBMASTER'S NOTE: I do not recommend, or even condone, walking along the tracks, as this means trespassing or exposing yourself to danger. You will have to be creative, in some instances, to avoid trespassing while getting to the detailed locations included herein, but you will either have to be creative or not visit those sites. At no point in this tour guide, or in any other part of Frograil, is it recommended that you trespass or expose yourself to danger. If you are a fool and have a leg cut off (or worse), don't come crying to me: You have been warned. Trains are big, powerful, and often surprisingly quiet. Don't end up being a statistic.
Greenwood, SC - Tucker, GA -- Railfan Sites
The Tour
Greenwood -- West End Maxwell Yard. We ended the previous segment of our Wilmington - Atlanta tour at the north end of Greenwood's Maxwell Yard, so this is where we'll begin our Greenwood - Tucker segment of the tour. We're on the SC-225ByPass overlooking the north yard throat of CSX's Maxwell Yard. This point is about Mile Point SG 424. Go west on SC-225ByPass to Maxwell Road/SC-10, and take a left to go south. Remember that, irrespective of what the compass may indicate, the railroad is timetabled east (Richmond, Virginia) to west (Atlanta). Throughout this tour segment, therefore, we'll be traveling railroad east to west.
Continue south on SC-10 to Burnett Road and turn left to drive to the tracks. Parking is a little difficult, so you should park away from the crossing and hoof it. Do not park on CSX property. The photo ratings are as follows: NE1, SE4, SW4, NW2. Obviously, this is at best an afternoon location, and the reason the southeast quadrant is a "4" is because this is the site of the "Maxwell Yard S.C." offices. It is clearly private property. If you just want to watch trains, the northeast corner is quite good, but you'll definitely be looking into the sun most of the day.
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Greenwood -- Salak. Salak is a name conjured up from "SAL" (Seaboard Air Line) and AK, which was the Atlantic Coast Line's designation for its Spartanburg - Greenwood - Augusta line. These two previously separate lines were joined at this junction after the ACL/SAL merger. The redundant ACL line from downtown Greenwood was eliminated, with all trains coming out of or thru Maxwell Yard. While most "rural" junctions are buried deep within pine forests and railroad property, Salak is remarkably accessible.
From the south end of Maxwell yard at Burnett Road, go south on SC-10, and in about 1 mile, you'll approach Briarwood Road on the left. However, before you get to Briarwood (maybe 100' from the actual intersection), park next to the tracks in a large, open area. Do not park close to the tracks or any structures. Walk on the shoulder of the road to Briarwood, and then via Briarwood over the crossing. To the north is the actual junction, which takes everything out of Maxwell and sends it to Augusta or Atlanta. You'll notice that south of Briarwood, the 2 tracks are completely separate, non-connected lines. The "southern" track (farthest from SC-10) goes to Augusta, and the "northern" track (closest to SC-10) heads on towards Atlanta. The latter is the track we'll be following to the southwest.
Photo ops at the Briarwood crossing are NE1, SE2, SW4, NW2. A bonus to the location is the shady area on the northeast quadrant. You can get well back from the tracks and enjoy non-scorching conditions. However, when it is hot, you'll definitely want some industrial strength bug repellent. Also be advised that track speed on the Atlanta line is 45mph, so be prepared, as they can be on you fast.
OK, it's time to head towards Abbeville, but you've got a major decision to make at this point: Do you want to go cross country, or do you want to drive directly to Abbeville? Between Greenwood and Abbeville, we'll follow some secondary, tertiary and (I swear!) quaternary roads. I mean we're talking about really, really narrow, curving dirt roads (but not nearly as bad as those along the New River Gorge in West Virginia!). Depart Greenwood with plenty of gas, snacks and time. [Note Well: If you're going to go with us cross country, there is a 3-ton limit bridge beyond Curltail Road. I went over it (fast) in Betsy II (6,500#), so be warned. If you've got a very heavy SUV or motor home, or are pulling a big rig, you'll have to alter this tour if you want to go cross country.]
To go the easy way, go back towards Greenwood on SC-10, and take a left onto Tranquil Road, which will become Grange Road north of Chinquapin Road. It will end at SC-72, and you can turn left and whiz directly to Abbeville. Once in Abbeville, continue on SC-72 until you go under the tracks, and then pick up the tour at Abbeville -- Monument Company.
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Greenwood -- Lorenzo Road. Continue southwest on SC-10, and it will go up and over the ex-SAL Atlanta line. This is on a nice, wide bridge with good sidewalk area, but the cut is deep and the trees preclude almost any decent pix. This is not a railfan location. [Webmaster's Note: From here on, the following abbreviations will be used: NAG = a crossing that is not-at-grade. NARL = a crossing that is not a railfan location. NARL's are usually NAG crossings, and you can save a lot of time and frustration by ignoring them and driving on.]
Continue on SC-10 until you get to Lorenzo Road on your right. Note that the railroad on your left along here is not the SAL; it's the Augusta line, which separated from the line we're following back at Salak. Lorenzo will go over the tracks and offer rather good viewing and lighting. The bridge is wide enough to be reasonably safe. The tracks come in on an attractive curve from the southeast, go under the bridge, and continue straight to the west. The cut is quite wide, and photos to the west (AM shots) are rated as W1, and those to the east (PM shots) as E2, as the cut is somewhat closer to the east.
Greenwood -- Curltail Road. OK, now the good times begin. Just to the west of the Abbeville/Greenwood county line (not noted by any road signs, unfortunately), the paved portion of Lorenzo Road ends. Actually, that's not a big deal, because the road is rough up to this point (how -- and with what -- did they pave Lorenzo Road? It's rough as heck.). Actually, the dirt road is probably no rougher than the paved portion. Anyway, the road continues as a narrow, curvaceous road. Suddenly, and without warning, Lorenzo Road ends. It extends for a short distance into an obviously private area, but there is another dirt road that leads off to the left, and this is the road we'll follow. I have no idea what the name of this road is. About 1/2 mile later, there's supposed to be a road coming in from the south (probably what started out as New Zion Road at SC-10 well to the southeast). However, no such road appears on the ground, contradicting both MapQuest and DeLorme.
To add insult to injury, even the next identifiable landmark is incorrectly identified either on the ground or on MapQuest. You're in the Sumter National Forest, and Forest Road 506, according to MapQuest, goes to the west. On the ground, you'll notice the plastic, trail-like sign identifying the road as FR-506A. If you know anything about Forest Roads, you know there can be an FR-506, 506A, 506B, 506R, etc. Incidentally, FR-506A gives a great access point for hiking and horseback trails, and it also gives us a real landmark for our tour, and we can now assume that we know where we are. [To access the hiking and horseback trails, drive down to the end of FR-506A, where there is a loop turn around and parking in the area. Be aware that the trails are not well maintained, and a detailed map and compass will be necessary. There are no hiking trails, per se, but you can hike the bridle trails, as you'll certainly not meet a lot of traffic along the way. You probably don't want to try this trail network in other than cold weather, as the trails are very overgrown and buggy in warmer weather.]
OK, we'll continue on what started out as Lorenzo Road (and may eventually become Beulah Church Road -- you certainly won't see any street signs!). You'll come to a sign to the off-highway-vehicle (US Forestry Service OHV Trails) area to the left. This road to the left is Curltail Road. Take it, and continue to bear to the left. There is at least one sign indicating that this is FR-505. You'll pass the OHV main area, as well as zillions of trails for horses, OHV's and intrepid hikers.
Keep going until you're convinced that the road will take you nowhere, and you'll suddenly come to a railroad crossing. This is the Curltail Road crossing, and the photo ratings are as follows: NE1, SE1, SW1, SW2. As you can see, this is an excellent photo location. It's very wide open and quiet (except for the lunatics on their 4-wheelers -- and there are a lot of them on good weather weekends), and it's a great place to watch trains.
This remote place, and others like it around the country, are the reason why we Combat Railfans are willing to go over hill and dale to get to obscure crossings. Get out the lawn chairs and scanners, open up the coolers, and sit back and let the Hamlet - Atlanta parade come to you. Those guys zooming by on SC-72 don't know what they're missing.
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Abbeville -- SR-1 120. Continue on across the tracks, and you need to bear to the right, and then right again at the next intersection. This is actually the end of Curltail Road. The road you've just turned onto is Herron Drive, but the only sign you'll see is for 505E. About 1/2 mile northwest of this last intersection, 505E goes over a nasty, narrow, wooden, 3-ton limit bridge. Less than a mile later, go north (right) on LR-1 120. You'll shortly reach a crossing, and it's a good one: NE2, SE1, SW1, NW2. It's quiet, wide-open from the south, and is a pretty good place to relax and let Mr. CSX entertain you.
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Abbeville -- East. Continue north on SR-1 120, and McNeil Road will come in on your right. Continue to bear to the left, and you'll notice lots more houses and "civilization" as you enter the outskirts of Abbeville. The road will be named Secession Avenue, and Edwards Drive will cross the tracks. This is an at-grade crossing, but is decent only from the north, and is not a railfan location. Continue west on Secession to a left on Barnett (?) Street. This will take you one block to Barnett, per se, and then bear very sharply left, over the tracks, and up to the Abbeville ___???___ Company brick mill building. The middle word on the side of the building is obscured by shrubs and trees. This is ostensibly an inactive crossing, as the mill is closed, but the locals all use it, so consider it an active public crossing.
The ex-mill is out of commission, and here are the photo ratings of the crossing: NE2, SE2, SW1, NW4. This isn't the best photo location, but on a gloomy day, you could very nicely work the mill into a north-to-south picture.
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Abbeville -- Monument Company. For those coming via SC-72, continue southwesterly into town and go under the railroad tracks. Take the first right onto Maple Street (which may be signed as Hammond Street in this location), and then take an immediate right to go up into the moribund monument cutting business. Be careful in the area, because there are some unexpected holes and low places.
For those taking the cross country tour, continue west on Barnett Street, cross the tracks south on South Main Street, and then take a right to parallel the tracks on an un-named road west to Brooks Street. Go south one block to a right onto Maple Street. Maple will take you to the main drag, SC-72, and you should cross SC-72 and then take an immediate right to go up into the moribund monument cutting business. Be careful in the area, because there are some unexpected holes and low places.
This takes you up to track level and the eastern end of the Abbeville yard. This is a clean, quiet area to see what goes in and out of the east end of the yard. Photo ops are definitely S1 to both east and west, depending on the time of day. MP SG 439.16.
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Abbeville -- Church of God. From the monument business, go back to SC-72, take a left, and go under the tracks. Take your first left after the tracks onto Whitehall Street. Note that just north of Whitehall Street is plentiful life support -- gas, food, grocery store. On Whitehall, pass the Church of God, and turn left to go by the west side of the church and approach the tracks. This is Walnut Street. The south end of the church property has a large parking area adjacent to the tracks. This is a south facing location, so photos are out for most of the day, but it's a great place to sit with friends and watch the Atlanta - Greenwood action.
Obviously, this is not a Sunday location, and during hot weather, you're looking directly into the sun and there is no shade.
[NOTE: In February of 2006, Conrad Cheatham sent the following information (almost verbatim): SC-72 is being 4-laned from Abbeville to Elberton. The railroad bridge over SC-72 in Abbeville has been replaced. SC-72 is now 4-lane from Comer to US-29. As such you can still shoot along the SAL but need to look for places to park. In the afternoon Hull siding is a good location.]
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Abbeville -- Station Area. Continue west on Walnut Street, which bends 90° to follow the tracks towards the station. This road and the station area are railroad property; however, there is a large parking area well away from the tracks, and a very nice covered picnic shelter. If you stay in the parking lot and picnic shelter, you'll probably not be asked to leave, although I wouldn't spend more than an hour on CSX property.
The SAL station is a classic, but I don't know how to get pix of it from the south side, as there are several yard tracks in front of it. You'd have to blatantly and stupidly trespass to get the shot, and cars will be between the camera and station much of the time, anyway. Also at the site is a beautiful SAL caboose. Somewhere in this area (probably west of the station -- MP SG 442.0), the Monroe Subdivision ends, and the Abbeville Sub begins. The Abbeville Sub goes southwest to Tucker, which is the beginning of the Atlanta Terminal Sub.
You should note that the crew change point that used to be the Abbeville station was moved to Maxwell Yard in Greenwood during late 2003.
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Calhoun Falls -- Mud Creek Road. Between Abbeville and Calhoun Falls, there are no at grade photo locations, and none of the NAG's are considered to be decent railfan locations. Additionally, Shady Grove Church Road has been cut at the Little River (not shown on MapQuest or DeLorme -- it's a nasty surprise), so if you're trying to get trackside cross country, you've got to make a major backtracking effort -- for nothing. While I consider myself a Combat Railfan and all that, I'm not stupid. I spent well over an hour trying to railfan Abbeville - Calhoun Falls, and definitely recommend you get back on SC-72 in Abbeville and drive all the way to Mud Creek Road on the outskirts of Calhoun Falls.
Pass up Moonlight Bridge Road, which has a lovely name, but the crossing is another NAG/NARL.
Mud Creek Road offers an honest-to-goodness at-grade crossing with decent photo potential. Once over the tracks, an immediate left onto Simpson Street Extension will parallel the tracks all the way into town. Photo ratings for the crossing itself are NE2, SE3, SW1, NW1. MP SG 450.8.
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Calhoun Falls -- East End Siding. Continue west on Simpson Street Extension, and you'll see a tall signal mast announcing the eastern end of the Calhoun Falls passing siding. This is the start of double track westbound. The photo fields are not good, as the ratings are only NE3 ,SE4, SW4, SE3. Mud Creek Road to the east and the next couple of locations to the west are better.
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Calhoun Falls -- Mid Siding. A little further west on Simpson Street Extension will get you to a better photo spot. Take the second left from the east end (name of street unknown), cross the tracks and park. Obviously, if a train is in the siding, you can't use this location, and if one comes while you're there, you'll have go down to SC-72 to get out of the area. Ratings are NE1, SE2, SW2, NW3.
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Calhoun Falls -- Kershaw. Probably the best place in the area to watch trains, as far as photography is concerned, Kershaw Street is a little further west on Simpson Street Extension (which has changed to simply Simpson Street somewhere along here). When you get to Kershaw Street, take a left, go over the tracks and park. There is an industrial-area road (probably Abbeville Road) going east and west from Kershaw, and the photo fields are wide open. Additionally, if you continue further west on Simpson, the views from the north of the tracks are also excellent. S1, N1.
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Calhoun Falls -- West End Siding. Continue west on Simpson Street, and before it ends, go south across the tracks and follow the streets paralleling the tracks towards the southwest. It's easier to drive it than write about it. You'll finally reach a point where the street swings almost 90° to the south -- away from the tracks -- and the remnants of a small yard/industrial area are directly in front of you. Park and walk over to the tracks. This is the west end of the Calhoun Falls passing siding. There are decent photo ops from mid-morning to mid-afternoon from the south, but no access from the north. I'd rate it as a S2/3, N4. The SC-81 overpass in the west can be worked into morning shots nicely.
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Georgia
Heardmont -- Introduction. If you thought the area between Greenwood and Abbeville was hard to get thru (let alone get trackside!), you've not seen anything yet. Simply put, without a helicopter, you cannot follow the rails between Calhoun Falls and Elberton. The Richard B. Russell lake is huge, and it goes all over the place. The CSX main, of course, is oblivious to all that, and whizzes right along, but no roads do. To get around this problem, we're going to go far to the west, head north, and then backtrack eastward. This is time consuming, but there are some interesting places to watch trains at the end of the detour, and it's well worth our while to get up there. What we'll do is drive all the way to the end of civilization, and then head back westward to continue the tour.
From Calhoun Falls, head west on GA-72, go across the main channel of the lake and into Georgia, and finally take a right on Pearl Mill Road. That's about 10 miles, altogether. Go north on Pearl Mill several miles, and you'll reach a fork. The fork to the left goes over the tracks (we've re-found the CSX, hurrah), but we want to take a right and will now be going east/southeast. This is Heardmont Road. In less than 2 miles, you'll reach "Heardmont". Actually, Heardmont is more complicated than that. As soon as you cross the tracks on Heardmont Road, you can take a right onto the dirt road paralleling the tracks. Remember that Heardmont isn't a town or even village, but is rather just kind of an amorphous area out in the middle of nowhere.
After about 1/2 mile, Heardmont Road will veer to the north, and the road straight ahead is Old Dan Tucker's Grave Road. There is a distinct granite markerstating that Dan's grave is in 3 miles. Continue along the tracks on ODTG Road. At about the point where the ODTG marker says you've got 1 mile to go before the grave site, that road veers to the north, and another dirt road continues trackside. However, this latter road is very narrow, and I didn't take full-sized van Betsy II down there. On the other hand, both MapQuest and DeLorme show this road as paralleling the railroad for at least a few miles to the east, and there are 2-3 "crossings." If you've got a Jeep or a small, classic SUV, try it, but not in your Navigator or Lexus. What is really interesting is the fact that, should you continue all the way down this road as depicted by MapQuest and Delorme, you're just about 1 1/2 miles from Calhoun Falls, and it took us about 18 miles to get here!
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Heardmont -- ODTG 1 Mile. At the point where the Old Dan Tucker's Grave -- 1 mile marker is, we turn around and once again begin the tour of the CSX (ex-SAL) from Greenwood to Tucker. This particular location is a pretty fair railfan spot. Incidentally, this area is a good place to have a compass handy -- directions can be extremely confusing, even on a sunny day. From the north, the viewing is excellent, but the south is only fair (S3, N1), so I'd suggest moving further west to the next location.
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Heardmont -- ODTG 2 Mile. Going back the way you came, you'll come to an intersection and the sharp-eyed will see another granite marker pointing to ODTG -- 2 miles. Actually, the distance from the last location to this one is much less than a full mile. This is a crossing [SG 461.1], and a darned good photo location, at S1, N1. An added bonus here is the big cedar tree right between the road and the tracks. In hot weather, its filtered shade really makes a difference.
This is a good railfan location. I think you could meet some pals here, break out the lawn chairs, open up the coolers, and crank up the scanners. There's no reason on this earth why you shouldn't enjoy a day away from the masses, crowds, and stress. Shoot, if it rains cats and dogs all day, it's still better than the masses, crowds and stress.
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Heardmont -- Heardmont Crossing. Remember when we came up from GA-72, and Heardmont Road crossed the tracks, and we elected to take a dirt road further east? Well, here's that crossing presented as a point on our tour. It's a very good afternoon location, at NE2, SE2, SW1, NW1. There is parking, and not so much traffic as to be a bother (but if you're here during a summer weekend, there can be a lot of traffic).
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Pearl. Continuing back to Pearl, we get to the wye where we veered right (east) to follow Heardmont Road. Now, instead, we'll stay to the left (on Pearl Mill Road), find a place to park, and explore the area of the tracks. Photo-wise, the crossing itself isn't particularly special, at NE2, SE2, SW3, NW3, but there are two railroad items worthy of mention. Just to the east of the crossing is a defect detector, "Heardmont", at MP SG 462.6, and just to the west is an intermediate signal.
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Middleton. Cross the tracks on Pearl Mill Road and continue northwest for about 1/2 mile. Take Middleton Church Road to the left, and enjoy a lovely drive thru the country, until you cross the northwest tip of one of the fingers of Russell Lake. There's a boat launch to the right as you go thru the area, and the railroad goes thru just south of it. You'll be disappointed in the lack of decent railroad photo ops at first, but be of stout heart. Just south of the boat launch area and railroad is a dirt road leading off to the left. Take this dirt road and follow it right to the tracks. At the end of the road, you'll be treated to an excellent (S1) view of the tracks both east and west. The north side, at N3, is pretty tight, but who cares? You've got great southern exposure all day long. This is a lawn chair, cooler, and scanner location. Sit back and relax, but be advised there's no shade in the area.
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Elberton -- Crosstie Drive. Continue down Middleton Church Road to the crossroads of Middleton. Take a right on Old Middleton Road, cross the tracks (NAG/NARL) and continue all the way into the outskirts of Elberton. Old Middleton will swing down to very closely follow the tracks, and you can take a right on Crosstie Drive, cross the tracks, and then continue east or west on Crosstie. Both the short drive over the tracks and the east-west road paralleling the tracks on the south of the tracks are labeled as "Crosstie Road."
Elberton is not your ordinary town, and at this location, you'll begin to see why. The industries south of Crosstie Drive are granite cutting businesses. You'll see huge chunks of beautiful granite everywhere, and you'll also see chunks that have been sliced and diced. These are large stonecutting businesses. In fact, you haven't seen anything yet!
Elberton bills itself as the granite capital of the United States, and it's probably accurate in its assessment. There is granite everywhere: On the ground, on the back of semis, and in railroad gondolas. This is a rock junkie's paradise. If you get behind a beat up, slow moving truck, chances are it's full of cut pieces of granite. There's a granite museum that is worth a visit if you've got the interest and time.
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Elberton -- SW Norman. Get back on Old Middleton Road and continue west into Elberton proper. You'll cross the tracks at a mishmash of cement plant, stone cutting plants, and semi-moribund railroad tracks. The latter are those of the former Elberton and Eastern, and the northernmost remnants of those tracks are used as a storage track for gondolas full of granite blocks. Old Middleton becomes Rogers Road south of the SAL main, and you should find a place to park (easier said than done). Walk back to the main line, and this is the rather meager photo rating: NE4, SE1, SW4, NW4. As you might suspect, the poor photo ratings are because you're in the middle of a bunch of industrial/commercial plants, and you cannot trespass to get your shots. Note, however, that the southeast quadrant is very productive, and is on private property. NOTE WELL: You'll only enjoy good photo ops from the southeast if you get permission from the Baston Monument Company. Otherwise, you'll be trespassing.
The southwest end of the Norman passing siding is about mile point SG 470, although I do not have a precise mile point for you.
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Elberton -- Deadwyler Street. To get into Elberton proper, continue on Rogers Drive over to GA-17, take a right, and enjoy some real life support for a change. GA-17/GA-72 has restaurants, gas, and grocery stores. It also offers crossing after crossing of the ex-SAL main: Pecan, Willow, Locking, Roosevelt, etc. Eventually, as you approach downtown Elberton, and the intersection of GA-17/GA-72 and GA-77, you'll see Thomas Street going north. Take this right turn and go up to Deadwyler Street, which parallels the tracks. Between Thomas and McIntosh (one block to the west), you'll see a freight siding, a spur, and an old freight-station-like building. Viewing is very good here, and the ample crossings in the area mean you'll have more than adequate warning of an approaching train.
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Elberton -- Station Area. Continue west along Deadwyler Street to the main north-south road in town, which is SC-77. Immediately before the crossing is the beautiful ex-SAL station. The structure is on the National Register of Historic Structures. While very attractive, the area is not particularly well-suited for picture taking. A far better area is just to the west.
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Elberton -- Railroad Avenue. Take a right onto GA-77 and go over the tracks. The crossing itself is very busy and noisy, and is NARL. However, turn left onto Railroad Avenue and you'll see the SAL freight station ahead and to your right. The area north of the tracks is excellent for photos, as are several areas south of the tracks. If you shoot from the south, however, you'll want to be careful to avoid trespassing. That said, there are lots of places south of the tracks. This area is, by far, the best area in town for photos, meeting fellow railfans, and just enjoying life trackside.
Webmaster's Note: As you leave Elberton to continue the tour, let me give you a serious warning. When you get back to GA-72 you'll be on a busy road, and you'll not be able to toodle along at 35mph, which would be ideal for doing this tour. It can be difficult to check out all the sites you'll want to see if you're using MapQuest at a large resolution. If you've got print-outs in the 300 meter range, you'll zoom by roads way before you even realize it. I had difficulty in this part of the tour, and would have had to completely re-do the tour all the way thru Carlton to hit all the sites I had earmarked. Maybe you could check out some places I missed and let me have the results, so I can update the next several miles of tour. For example, as you leave Elberton, you'll see a few roads leading up to the area of the tracks, and I hope you'll be able to explore at least some of them.
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As you continue west on Railroad Avenue, you'll cross the tracks from north to south, and there are plenty of photo sites all along here. In the northwest part of town you'll re-join GA-72/GA-17 to head once more southwest towards Atlanta. Just before GA-72/GA-17 split, Brewers Bridge Road goes to the north and is AG, but is NARL. The split itself is a little confusing, just be sure to bear to the right to go under GA-17; the Abbeville sub will hug the highway for a few more miles from this point.
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Ethridge. When the railroad "disappears" from your right, you'll shortly come to a road on your right -- Sweet City Road. Take this right and drive up to the overpass of the tracks. While NAG, this is definitely a railfan location, as trains coming up the hill from Oglesby are attaining the summit of "Oglesby Hill" at this point.
Frograil thanks Ron Wolfe for the information concerning this location. Ron also reviewed text for this entire tour and has made helpful suggestions.
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Oglesby. you'll have a few miles whereby you'll not be able to get trackside. You'll get to the top of a hill and look down upon a 3-bridge scene. The upper bridge is the westbound lanes of GA-72, the road you're driving. To the left is the lowest bridge, which carries the two eastbound GA-72 lanes. Slicing perpendicular to, and between these two bridges, is the CSX mainline. The area of these bridges is Oglesby, and is on virtually every map you'll see. However, other than the bridges, there's no there there -- it's a bust as a railfan location. That said, if you are a real photographer, and are willing to do some tromping thru the bushes, I think you could get some very interesting scenic rail photos at Oglesby.
You can make a U-turn to head back east on GA-72, and MapQuest shows a crossing via Edna Road; however, what must have been that road has been cut for many years, and you can't get anywhere near the tracks. Edna does not appear on DeLorme.
Immediately west of Oglesby the railroad and highway diverge again, and you'll have a few more miles before you'll be trackside again. After crossing the Broad River, you'll come to the "Smiths Store" area, and can take Berkeley Road left to a NAG/NARL, but there is a road (Broad River Road?) that leads north from Berkeley before the crossing. The maps show a road south from this road (White Oak Trail?) that crosses the tracks, and then meanders south back to Berkeley Road. I did not observe these roads or the crossing, so would appreciate any feedback you might offer.
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Carlton. Go back up to GA-72, take a left, and drive into Carlton. I found it difficult to reconcile map info with what's on the ground in this community. I may give you info slightly out of synch with where you think it should be, but you'll be easily able to see everything I describe, so don't sweat the details. This area is where you really must slow down to examine the railfan scene. After breezing along at 60mph on GA-72 from Smiths Store, I literally passed Carlton before I even realized I'd done so. This is not like "Welcome to Atlanta" -- it's more like zooming past the single "Frog Pond" sign up on NC-24/27 where I live. Because of this, I didn't observe the Lexington Road crossing, but there are plenty of spots along South Railroad Avenue that offer wide open, excellent viewing.
From here all the way to the eastern edge of Athens, the railroad becomes much easier and enjoyable to fan, as it will be right next to GA-72 all the way. In fact, South Railroad Avenue extends from Carlton most of the way towards Comer.
On South Railroad Avenue, besides having several good railfan locations, you'll be able to easily hear the defect detector at "Howie", which is just to the west, at MP484.6. As you continue west on GA-72 or South Railroad Avenue, you'll see the detector itself.
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Carlton -- Old Fork Cemetery Road. Just past the Howie defect detector, you'll see a very minor road, Old Fork Cemetery Road, going at a very sharp angle back to the southeast. This road is not shown on any map that I've found, so it was probably re-named during the 911 conversion. Take this left and park just before the tracks on the west. The photo ratings are NE1, SE2, SW3, NW1. Beyond the crossing, the road becomes a dirt road, and it extends for quite a ways. It's a good place to let the dogs and kids get out and run around, as there is very little traffic. The crossing is at MP SG486.34, and the southwest end of the Howie passing siding is just southwest of this point, at MP SG486.5.
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Carlton -- Sims-Kidd Road. A mile and a half from the end of the Howie siding, Sims-Kidd Road provides pretty good access at NE3, SE4, SW1, NW1. This is definitely an afternoon location, because the tracks are virtually east-west here. The crossing is at MP 488.0, and there is plenty of parking. A weed whacker would be a good idea in the area.
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Comer -- Madison Street. As you head further west on GA-72, you'll enter the town of Comer, where you'll have plenty of excellent railfan locations. I'll give you just two: A quiet one, and one a little busier. On the east edge of town, turn left to go south on Madison Street. There is parking north of the crossing (SG 489.0). The photo ratings are NE2, SE2, SW1, NW1. There is some traffic on Madison, but for a town street, it's not particularly noisy. Again, a weed whacker would be helpful in some places in the area.
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Comer -- Downtown. Cross the tracks via Madison, and take an immediate right to parallel the tracks into the downtown area. Photo ratings in town are anything but humble: NE1, SE1, SW1, NW1, but you will have to move around a little, depending on sight lines and the sun. This is definitely a lawn chair and cooler location. Enjoy yourself.
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Colbert -- Station Area. Between Comer and Colbert on GA-72, you'll hug the tracks, and there are several crossings, some of which are pretty good for train pix. However, the Colbert station is worth waiting for, and I'd suggest you just go on into Colbert. Take a left onto any street downtown, and get to the station area. At the 4th Street (?) crossing, you'll cross the tracks, and the station will be to your left. It is now the city hall, and apparently also houses the police station. Take a left and park east of the station. It's hard not to love the photo possibilities: NE1, SE1, SW1, NW2.
There is a significant, graded drainage ditch north of the tracks, but there is a sidewalk north of that, so shots from the north are unobstructed. Shots from the south are excellent from east of the station and west of 4th Street. This is an excellent railfan location, and you'll want to break out the lawn chairs and fire up the scanners -- better have a cooler in the summer, although there is some shade.
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Hull -- Baptist Church. Continuing southwest on GA-72, you'll enter the town of Hull. Take a left to go south over the tracks via Old Elberton Road. Immediately past the tracks, take a left into the driveway-like Patton Road, and enter the church parking lot. (Note: Do not fan this area Sunday morning or Wednesday evening.) All things considered, this is a fairly quiet location. Photo considerations are not great, but this is an excellent place to meet friends, swap railfan lies, and watch the CSX Hamlet - Atlanta parade. Horns blow and blow, so you'll not be taken by surprise. This is the last quiet spot before we enter the Athens area, and the railfanning changes dramatically west of here.
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Athens -- Voyles Road. Beyond Hull, you enter the Athens area. Until now, at least from Carlton to Hull, railfanning has been drop dead easy. Now, it gets tough, so we'll give you one more location before you enter the city.
Shortly before US-29 (renowned as a great railfan highway), take a very sharp left onto Voyles Road. The crossing is not really a railfan location, but Silgan and other plastics companies in the area have spurs into their plants, and there are apparently some storage-in-transit tracks, also. It is not uncommon to see a single unit working these tracks, and if you keep abreast of your scanner traffic, you'll see the switching unit get out of the way of road freights...and then jump right back in.
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Athens -- North Avenue. We now enter Athens proper. Athens isn't just a "college" town, it's the home of the immense University of Georgia. There are tens of thousands of students, and the university is getting bigger and bigger all the time. More on this later. You'll want to study your maps before venturing beyond Voyles Road. Just southeast of Voyles Road on GA-72, bear left onto Old Hull Road. Ignore any railroad tracks and other streets, and just keep going on Old Hull Road. You'll pass US-29/US-129, and should take the 2nd left after them onto Fourth Street. This will wander southwest, until you should take a left on First Street. From here in to the center of Athens, there is little land that is flat. Indeed, the closer you get to the North Oconee River, the hillier it becomes. That makes railfanning difficult, but we'll prevail.
After crossing the ex-SAL tracks on a NAG/NARL, take a right on Odd Street, and follow your railfan nose to a T with Martin Luther King Parkway. Take a right onto MLK, and you'll very shortly come to a major Athens intersection: MLK Parkway and North Avenue. Over the X-shaped intersection sails the CSX on a very picturesque bridge spanning the intersection and the North Oconee River.
If you take a left onto North Avenue, there is an apartment complex to your left as you go up a significant hill. I didn't go into the area, but it appears that good shots out over the road and of the bridge would be possible from it. There is a steel fence that has vertical members every 6-8 inches or so, so that shouldn't be a problem. If you want to hang around, however, you'll want to check in with the office to let them know who you are and what you're doing. This would be an afternoon location for the best shots, as the bridge would be difficult to work into the photo while shooting eastbounds.
From this point until we leave Athens behind, we'll be driving in a city, and have to exercise more care in our driving than we did cross-country. As alluded to earlier, there is an additional, significant problem concerning driving in Athens: Students. They are everywhere, in every part of town, not just in the University area itself. When school is in session, the entire town is crawling with students, and they seem to live somewhere other than the real world. They jay walk, cross roads on a diagonal, wander about reading a book, etc., etc. Just be tolerant and consider them in the same vein as cats and dogs who don't know better, so we have to look out for them. Many of the streets close to the tracks in the northern part of Athens are populated with tiny houses that students rent, so be particularly careful as we now continue thru the city.
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Athens -- SAL Station Area. Continue southwest on North Avenue, up the hill and past the apartment complex, until you get into the downtown area. Take a right onto College Street* to go several blocks north to the tracks. College goes under the tracks on a truly nasty 9'0" underpass, and unless you're driving a sedan or pickup, you do not want to go thru that thing. Betsy II is a full size van with a high top, and we definitely decided not to go thru. This isn't a problem, as the station sits in the southwest corner of the "crossing".
Take your pix of the south side of the station from Ware Street, but you'll not be able to get pix from the north, as you'd have to walk directly across all main and yard trackage to get there. Even if you did so, there almost certainly would be standing cars blocking your view. The station is used by MOW, signal, etc, folks, and the entire area is off limits to fans. The building is quite large, and is very similar to that found in Monroe, NC, which we visited many miles ago. Interestingly, if you remember that building, you have the same problem, in that you cannot get shots from the north.
There is usually a single unit in evidence in the station area, unless it's out working.
For those of you trying to visit every timetable spot on this route, you should be aware that the crossing of the NS and SAL is a little to the east of the station and yard. The NS line is now leased by Benny Ray, owner of the Hartwell and Great Walton. You cannot get there without trespassing, and it's in a hilly, treed area, so even if you were to trespass and hoof it in there, you'd probably not be able to get any decent pix. NS seems to have very little traffic coming down from Lula and the Piedmont Division. (Doug Harris has provided some of this information for us.)
*[A note is in order about downtown Athens. If you take a left onto College Street from North Avenue, you can go 4 blocks to Broad Street, which is the main east-west street thru town. At Broad, you are at the far north of the University of Georgia campus. There are restaurants, bars, and all kinds of interesting shops in the area. I personally recommend Gandolfo's Deli on Broad, and DePalma's Restaurant, a few steps east of the deli. Go to the deli for lunch only, while DePalma's offers both lunch and evening dining. Both are superb. There are several other good restaurants in the area, including the Porterhouse Grill, but I just thought DePalma's was the best.]
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Athens -- Pulaski Street. Go back down College to Dougherty Street, take a right and then go 3 blocks to Pulaski Street. Take a right to go north on Pulaski, and this will take you to the tracks. Pulaski is definitely one of those narrow streets infested with zillions of students, so be careful. Just before crossing the tracks, park to the left at the L. M. Leather, Sons parking lot. This firm is apparently no longer in business. Photo ratings are NE4, SE4, SW1, NW4, but the excellent access from Leathers on the southwest makes this a pretty good urban location for both east- and westbounds. You can walk west along the building and get fairly well back from the Pulaski Street crossing.
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Athens -- Wynburn/Tracy. Continue north on Pulaski to a T at Cleveland Avenue. You can take a right to go back towards College Street in an attempt to get north of the yard and station, but you'll be disappointed, so take a left to continue the tour. Cleveland will end at Barber. There is an AG crossing here, but it's NARL, so take a left onto Barber, and then take your first right onto Nantahala Avenue. Take a right onto Wynburn Avenue, go over the tracks, and park in the large lot on the left. At the tracks, Wynburn Avenue becomes Tracy Street. This area is the Goldkist Industrial Park, and there is a spur leading from the CSX main into the area. The spur is used, but apparently not very heavily. The map shows a connection from this point all the way east and north to the NS, and this would appear to be the interchange point between the two railroads. However, Doug Harris informs Frograil that the spur is NOT connected to NS, and probably has not been for several years
Viewing at the crossing is quite good, at NE2, SE1, SW1, NW1. Note that the southeast quadrant is very heavy kudzu in the summer, so use your discretion about wading into it. The crossing itself is MP SG506.48. A word of caution: There is a cement plant just inside the industrial park, so you can expect a lot of noise, traffic and dust during the week.
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Athens -- Hiawassee Avenue. Go back down Wynburn to a right onto Boulevard Street. Go 3 blocks to a right onto Hiawassee Avenue. (Ignore Chase Street, which crosses the tracks on a NAG/NARL.) This will dead end at the tracks, but you should park on the street well before the area of the tracks. North of the tracks is a large, derelict industrial building. The photo fields here are N4, SE4, SW1.
The interesting thing about this area is that they are actually building a small subdivision of starter (or rental) homes on the southwest side of the tracks. There is a new short street, and it appears that there will be a grassy area for photos, with both morning and afternoon shots possible. One can only imagine the noise level as 20-26 freights a day blast thru here at 35mph. That said, the builder of those homes has contacted me and assured me that the homes are all owner occupied, the residents love the trains, and fans are welcome to park in the alley next to the tracks.
Another interesting thing is that the single track coming from the east thru Athens becomes double track immediately east of Hiawassee, at an interlocking called "NE Fowler Junction". Besides being a passing track of 9,815', this side track also provides entrance to the CSX Gainesville Midland Subdivision, which runs up to Gainesville and a connection with the NS Piedmont Division. We'll drive to the area of the junction itself, but will not be able access it, because of private property limitations.
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Athens -- Fowler Junction. You can go back to Boulevard Street, take a right and then another right to go north on Satula, which the maps show as ending at the tracks, but the street is well over and away from the tracks. To get trackside would involve some serious trespassing on utility-owned property. Therefore, continue west on Boulevard, and wend your way over to GA-15/Prince Avenue. Take a right to go north. You'll shortly go over the Athens Perimeter Highway/US-29/GA-10, and then the CSX ex-SAL main line. Fowler Junction is clearly visible on your right, but don't dawdle thru here, because this is an extremely busy intersection. Because of the traffic, noise, and lack of safe space on the overpass, I don't recommend this as a railfan location. The land north of the junction and parallel with the GM Sub is owned by the Athens Country Club, and I somehow doubt that they'd be thrilled to have railfans tromping across the golf course to get close to the junction and tracks. The actual interlocking for the junction is at MP SG507.8.
The GM Sub itself is in excellent condition, and I saw a unit grain train "parked" at Fowler Junction on one occasion.
Here's the best I can offer, but it's not much. Take your first left past the overpass onto Homewood Drive. Take the first left off Homewood to enter a large community shopping center (all kinds of life support!). Get over to the extreme left side of the parking lot, and drive back towards the railroad overpass and park. There is a chain link fence between the south edge of the property and the area of the tracks, but there is an unlocked pedestrian gate at the actual bridge abutment. That will give you access to the lip of a concrete wall trackside. However, the cut is fairly deep and narrow, the overpass is very noisy, and the junction itself is well to the east, on the other side of the overpass. Unfortunately, there is no place in the Fowler Junction area that is a railfan location.
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Athens -- Vaughn Road. Get back on Homewood Drive, turn right to go south on Prince Avenue, and then get on the Perimeter Highway west/southbound, and briefly enjoy being able to drive 65mph for a change. The thrill won't last long, however, as you'll take the first exit to go north on Tallassee Road. You'll go over the tracks on a NAG/NARL, and will notice lots of covered hoppers at a plant just to your right. This is a Pilgrim's Pride feed facility, and is a good railroad customer, but the entire area is completely off limits to railfans. Further north on Tallassee, you'll see a church on the left, and immediately beyond that is Vaughn Road.
Take a left and drive southwest towards the Middle Oconee River. Past Creekwood Drive, the maps show a road that goes south and over the tracks. There is such a road, but it is clearly posted as a private drive. Remember this road, but don't take it. You'll come to a crossing just a short ways from this road, and should park on the right before you go over the tracks. Photo ratings are NE4, SE3, SW1, NW2. There is a huge metal culvert that has been dumped on the northwest corner. If that gets moved, the view from that quadrant will be very good.
All things considered, this is the best place in the Athens area to fan, because it's very quiet, the viewing is decent, and there is a little more rail traffic west of Athens than there was to the east of the city. Be aware that the speed limit in this area is 60mph, so a train can be on you in a hurry, and you'll get no warning from the west. For trains coming from the east, there is a defect detector that is visible about 1/2 mile from the crossing. This is apparently accessed by railroad personnel via the private road mentioned earlier. The detector is "Athens" at MP SG509.9.
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Athens -- Middle Oconee River. Continue on towards the river, and the road will dead end. You can walk up to the level of the tracks, but there's a lot of brush and smilax, and the viewing is hampered by the brush. However, if you're willing to use a weed whacker and lopping shears, you could fairly quickly clear out a decent photo line. Besides, you can fish in the river, and walk up to the tracks to catch a train. The river is little more than a wide stream, and there is no above-track superstructure on the "bridge". Other than fishermen, there's no one else in this area, so it's very quiet.
Do not be in this area during hunting season.
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Well, we must leave the tour at this point, at least until I can get back down there and continue it on to Tucker, and then begin the Atlanta Terminal segment. If you're too impatient to wait, why not write it up yourself? You do the basic text, and I'll do all the HTML and Web stuff. Contact me here.