NGRC Atlanta Update 3

To continue to the Atlanta tour, here are some pictures of the garden railroads I toured last Friday.

JD & VR Railroad | Jim and Marylou Foley | Atlanta, GA

JD & VR Railroad: This lovely railroad had a double track running around a small pond and was very well integrated in and with the garden.

JD & VR Railroad: You can easily run two trains at once and could probably operate a third one as well, if you're careful.

JD & VR Railroad:  One train running was a PRR coal unit train.

JD & VR Railroad: Train coming out of the tunnel by a remote water tower.

JD & VR Railroad: View from the back side looking toward the village.

JD & VR Railroad: Access from the layout to the storage area is provided using these beautiful stainless steel bridges.

Appomattox Railroad System | James and Angela Robinson | Riverdale, GA

Appomattox Railroad: There are a number of detailed buildings, like this sawmill and mine shaft.

Appomattox Railroad: I really liked this barn-like distillery.

Appomattox Railroad: An overview picture showing many of the buildings and trestles in the background.

Appomattox Railroad: A view of the main depot and siding tracks.

Papa Railroad PRR | Michael Carney | Peachtree City, GA

Papa Railroad PRR: This large railroad uses Digitrax DCC for complete control of all trains on all sections of track, as well as dozens of signal lights and crossings. Here the signal light warns of an occupied block ahead.

Papa Railroad PRR: A monitor near the track provides an overview of the system and indicates which blocks are occupied by trains (red) and which are open (black).

Papa Railroad PRR: My favorite part was seeing two PCCs providing back-and-forth service on a commuter line.

Papa Railroad PRR: Plenty of bridges, tunnels and other features as well.

Papa Railroad PRR: One more picture of a PCC heading out over a bridge. Track in the foreground in the freight mainline.

Elk River Railroad | Norm and Ann Lundin | Newnan, GA

Elk River Railroad: This railroad has three loops that cross over each other.A passenger train is running on the upper track while a BN locomotive idles below.

Elk River Railroad: A Santa Fe A-B-A consist idles next to the village.

Elk River Railroad: An old icing facility on a siding. The roof may be caving in, but it just adds character.

Elk River Railroad: Passenger train is crossing over the lower track.

Alpine Adventure | Jeff and Mary Ann Folk | Newnan, GA

Alpine Adventure: This railroad models the Bernina Express train of the Rhaetian Railway in Switzerland, including the famous Brusio spiral viaduct.

Alpine Adventure: The train cars are models of the actual cars in use today.

Alpine Adventure: Another view of the train showing the locomotive.

Alpine Adventure: The Express pulls out of one of the twin bore tunnels.

Bonus train! Just by chance, we came across this indoor railroad suspended from the ceiling when we stopped for lunch on Friday in Newnan, GA.

NGRC Atlanta Update 2

Here are some more pictures of the garden railroads I toured around Atlanta last week. These are from the Thursday tour, and we only made it to four railroads as a lot more driving was involved than Wednesday. But all four of these railroads were great and definitely worth the trip. Thursday also included a stop by Trainz.com for a tour of their facility which was fun.

Pick-N-Grin Railroad | Jesse and Kim Murrah | Sugar Hill, GA

Pick-N-Grin: This amazing railroad is built on, into and next to a natural rock outcropping, which strongly influenced how the train could be laid out. And while the setting may have been rural Georgia, seeing the Rock Island (a Chicago-based line in the Midwest) still seemed totally appropriate.

Pick-N-Grin: Because of the change in elevation, multiple curved trestles and bridges are required to keep the track at a relatively modest grade.

Pick-N-Grin: At one end, tight return loops are hidden behind a hillside and tunnels.

Pick-N-Grin: Not one but two streams run through it, with a lovely waterfall on one of them. I also really like these bridge piers—I'm now thinking I may want to incorporate stone into the piers on my railroad, rather than just using plain concrete.

Pick-N-Grin: Campers on vacation enjoy some live music.

Pick-N-Grin: And I really enjoyed this scene as well. The attention to detail here is amazing.

Frog Mountain Railroad | Dennis and Ellen Bass | Snellville, GA

Frog Mountain: Freight train passes a passenger train stopped at the depot.

Frog Mountain: A beautiful canyon cuts through the middle of the layout, with a road bridge overhead.

Frog Mountain: Not the most common location for a wedding. Is this a metaphor for taking a leap of faith?

Frog Mountain: They had a second, small train loop running next to the driveway with a watermelon train! The watermelons are hand painted pecans—another idea I'm going to have to borrow.

Mount Jefferson Garden Railway | Terry and Ginny Manning | Lilburn, GA

Mount Jefferson: I think my eyes wondered over this entire layout and I'm sure I missed things. There was an amazing amount of details layered in. The main feature was this wonderful zoo.

Mount Jefferson: And there was also an outdoor animal preserve that was encircled by a safari train. 

Mount Jefferson: Holsteins are always a nice addition to a garden railroad. So much detail for such a simple scene—the multiple cows, the fence, the windmill, the signage, the feed trough and water barrel, the old tractor, and even a dog house.

Mount Jefferson: This new addition on to town doesn't even have train service yet—but it will.

Mount Jefferson: I think this was my favorite of all the structures in town.

Mount Jefferson: And this backyard scene with quilts on the clothesline was perfect.

Flat Top & Mystic Valley Railroad | Joe and Debbie Fotschky | Duluth, GA

Flap Top & Mystic Valley: The more I looked around this railroad, the more I realized just how much work had gone into it. There is a very high focus on realistic detail, and an incredible amount of effort was spent building some of the features. To the right of the double-track railroad is a highway made from poured concrete. Some side roads were also concrete and others were gravel. Note the utility poles running along the railroad.

Flap Top & Mystic Valley: Here the rail line cross the road, with another crossing next to it for a short industry spur. Note the detail of the inset road crossings.

Flap Top & Mystic Valley: The layout runs the full length of the backyard, and the the layout progresses from a small town to a more rural setting to a mountainous setting. Here the train passes a farm. The horses are safely corralled, but the cattle seem to be free range.

Flap Top & Mystic Valley: The two tracks have independent tunnels, each with a different approach. While the wood trestle is very nice, the poured concrete viaduct is amazing.

Flap Top & Mystic Valley: Train emerging from the tunnel on the outside track.

Flap Top & Mystic Valley: Another fun scene, an off-leash dog park that somehow has far more dogs than people!

The General and the Texas

I'm going to take a brief break from garden railroads to talk about the General and the Texas. If you aren't familiar with these two locomotives, they were involved in the Great Locomotive Chase on April 12, 1862. Long story can be found on Wikipedia and many, many other sources. Short story: Small group of U.S. soldiers led my a civilian successfully infiltrate Confederate occupied territory, steal a fast locomotive (General) along with a few boxcars of explosives in Marietta, Georgia and take off for Chattanooga with the plan to blow up a few railroad bridges on the way. The conductor of the hijacked General pursues the stolen locomotive using a hand truck, then using a locomotive (Yonah), and then a another locomotive (William R. Smith), and then a third one (Texas) and finally catches up with and captures the U.S. Army soldiers, due in large part to some truly stupid moves by their civilian commander. Many of the captured U.S. soldiers are executed. The soldiers who survive are the very first recipients of the U.S. Medal of Honor and those who were executed are eventually awarded medals posthumously.

None of the four locomotives involved were that unusual, but are famous because of this one incident on one day back in 1862. After the war, all went back into service on railroads. Two of the locomotives had rather inauspicious ends -- the Yonah was likely turned into a stationary boiler in Atlanta around 1873, and the William R. Smith likely had a similar end. In time, as the story of the Great Locomotive Chase became more familiar, the value of the two surviving locomotives was recognized and both were eventually preserved. There have even been custody fights over both locomotives as their value has increased over time. Both have gone through multiple changes and restoration processes.

I'm familiar with the story and I've seen both locomotives before, but this week was a special treat as I had the chance to visit the General on Wednesday at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw. And then on Thursday I attended a wonderful presentation at the NGRC about the details of the chase, presented as first-person accounts from the perspectives of the two main characters, with costumes no less! And then on Saturday I visited the Texas at the Atlanta History Center. The Texas was recently restored at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, N.C. (where I saw it two years ago) and returned to Atlanta last year. It's not yet open to the public but I had the opportunity to get up close during a behind-the-scenes tour. Enjoy the pictures!

The General is in a gallery that doesn't quite allow a full side view.

View from above showing the loaded tender.

View of the General's cab.

The Texas in its new home at the Atlanta History Center. It's new home has glass on three walls, providing lots of natural light and allowing the locomotive to be viewed from outside.

Here's a view from the other side. Note the access ladder on the side which will allow visitors to climb into the cab.

The Texas was restored to look mostly like it did around 1886, rather than what it looked like in 1862. By 1886 it had been assigned number 12, and had been converted to standard gauge.

The Texas was a much smaller and simpler locomotive than the General. Compare this cab view with the one above.

Detail view of the steam gauge.

A close-up showing some of the shiny new brass parts. This locomotive has been lovingly restored and probably looks better today than anytime since it first rolled out of the factory in 1856. 

Close up view of the headlight.

Here's a picture of the Texas while it was undergoing restoration in the Spencer shops at the North Carolina Transportation Museum, when I visited in April, 2016. Note that it was numbered 49 at this time, which it was given in 1866.

A rear view of the Texas during renovation.