Elizabeth and I arose and went down for breakfast then returned to the room for our morning preparations before going down to the bus and taking our usual seats. Once everyone was aboard, we left Gainesville en route to Talmo.
Talmo Gainesville Midland station built circa 1900. Talmo is the name derived from the Cree language, meaning home of the Tallahassee. Talmo calls itself "The Jewel of Jackson County".
Western Maryland "Northeastern" caboose 1820, ex. Tennessee Central 82, exx. Louisville and Nashville 998, exxx. Louisville and Nashville 6998, exxxx. Louisville and Nashville 55, nee Western Maryland 1820, built by the railroad in 1936.
The bus then took us to Pendergrass.
The old Texaco station.
Pendergrass Gainesville Midland wooden combination depot which has been used as a community center. Pendergrass is named after J.B. Pendergrass, a local physician and the town was chartered by an act of the Georgia Legislature on December 30, 1920.
The third stop of the day was Hoschton, pronounced 'Hooshtown' and is named after Russell A. Hosch.
Gainesville Midland Hoschton wooden combination station built in 1883.
Hoschton Depot 1883 plaque.
City of Hoschton fire plaque. In just three months and one week, the depot was rebuilt.
We then were driven to Jefferson.
On the way there we passed Gainesville Midland 2-8-0 116, nee Central of Georgia 1215 built by Baldwin in 1907. At some point, 1225 was renumbered 205 and was sold to the Gainesville Midland Railroad and renumbered 116. The locomotive was donated to the City of Jefferson in 1959 by the Seaboard Airline Railroad, which had just purchased the Gainesville Midland Gainesville-to-Athens line.
Jefferson Gainesviile Midland station built in 1906. The town was founded in 1900 and named for Thomas Jefferson. It is the county seat of Jackson County.
Next the bus took us to Colbert and we found a caboose as well as the station.
Atlantic Coast Line combination caboose 759 built by the railroad in 1967.
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Colbert Seaboard Air Line combination station in 1892. Colbert was originally called Three Forks but the name was changed to Colbert in 1905 in honour of the Colbert family, early residents.
Seaboard Air Line "Through the Heart of the South emblem".
We then were taken to Comer.
Comer Seaboard Air Line combinaton station is now a police station. Comer was incorporated by an act of the Georgia Legislature on January 1, 1893 and was named after A. J. Comer, a pioneer citizen.
We proceeded to Elberton.
Elberton Seaboard Air Line brick station which serves as a museum for the Elbert County Historical Society. Settled in 1780, Elberton was designated the seat of the newly formed Elbert County. It was incorporated as a town in 1803 and a city in 1896. Like the county named for Samuel Elbert, it is known as the Granite Capital of the World.
The National Register of Historic Places plaque.
Southern Railway bay window caboose X622 built by the railroad, year unknown.
The Elberton wooden station is used by the Hartwell Railroad. The Hartwell Railroad dates to 1878 whhen the company was chartered to build a three foot narrow gauge railroad between Hartwell and Brownsville in Hart County. The ten mile railroad was completed in 1879 and in 1898, was reorganized as the Hartwell Railway. Southern Railway gained control of the line in 1902 and had it converted to standard gauge then sold the line in 1924 to a group of local businessmen. The Hartwell Railway line today is operated by the Great Walton Raiload based in Social Circle. The Hartwell now operated 48 miles of the former Norfolk Southern line between Toccoca and Elberton.
The Depot Emporium sign on the depot. We stopped for lunch and today decided to try Zaxby's, which was very good. I had a chicken sandwich and Elizabeth had a salad.
Our first stop of the afternoon was Royston.
Royston Southern Railrosad station is a bicycle shop and also a Lions Club.
The Royston Southern Railroad signpost.
Southern Railway freight station, which was orginally a combination station.
Royston Train Depot sign.
Through the bus window as we passed through Bowersville was Hartwell Railroad SD7 454, nee Bessemer & Lake Erie 454, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1953.
The Hartwell Railroad engine shop.
Hartwell Railroad coach 102, nee Delaware Lackawanna and Western M.U. Motor Unit 2xxx, built by Pullman/General Elctric in 1930.
The Hartwell Railroad bridge.
Down a road and also through the bus window was Hartwell coach 101, nee Delaware Lackawnna and Western M.U. Motor Unit 2xxx, built by Pullman/General Elctric in 1930.
Hartwell Southern combination station built in 1885 as a business. Hartwell was founded in 1854 as the seat of the newly-formed Hart County and was named for Revolutionary War figure Nancy Morgan Hart.
One of the murals in Hartwell, painted by the University of Georgia's student mural team, Color the World Bright, led by Joseph Norman.
A steam train mural on a wall, not part of the project.
Roosevelt then drove all of us to Lavonia.
Southern Lavonia Station, a long brick combination station built in 1910. The founding of the town of Lavonia came as a result of the expansion of the railroad in northeast Georgia and was named for Lavonia Hammond Jones, the wife of a railroad official.
A grab shot from the bus of Hartwell Railroad GP35 136, ex. Gateway Western 136, nee Richmond Frederickburg and Potomac 136, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1965.
We made our way next to Martin. Each station varied greatly in appearance and it was always interesting to see each for the first time.
Southern Martin wooden combination built circa 1875. Martin was incorporated in 1891 and named for John Martin, a Rhode Island man who became Governor of Georgia in 1782.
Today's adventure continued in Toccoa.
Railroad Union House built in 1930.
Southern Toccoa station built in 1915 which is a stop on Amtrak Crescent (New York to New Orleans) and houses the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce and Welcome Center. The adjacent rail line was built as the Altanta and Richmond Air Line Railway and reached Toccoa, the last Georgia stop, in 1873. The railroad was later renamed Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railway and in 1894, became the Southern Railway.
Norfolk Southern ET44AC 3634 built by General Electric in 2016, AC446CM 4169 built by General Electric in 1996 and SD40-2 3462 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1978.
Toccoa Falls College and The Southern Rail station information board.
Historic Toccoa Depot Rehabilitation plaque.
The Train Depot circa 1915 plaque.
Toccoa Amtrak station sign.
We next went to Tallulah Falls.
This 1913-1914 stone combination depot replaced the 1882 depot which burned down in 1912. The Georgia General Assembly incoroparated Tallulah Falls as a town in 1885 and took its name from a nearby waterfall which today is submerged beneath the waters of Tallulah Falls.
Tallulah 1882 Tea House, Coffee and Baked Goods sign. The two of us, along with most of the other conventioneers, enjoyed some refreshments and we had an ice cream cone each.
Tallulah Falls Railway and depot historical board.
The penultimate stop on this second day was at Demorest.
This wooden combination depot, curently under restoration, used to house a glass shop. The town was platted in 1890 as a temperance town and named after Williamm Jennings Demorest, a prohibition advocate. It was incorporated as the City of Demorest in 1889.
The last stop was Cornelia and we made an extended visit here.
Cornelia, home of the Big Red Apple. Donated by the Southern Railway, the Big Red Apple was molded in Winchester, Virginia and shipped by rail to the town. The concrete and steel apple is seven feet high, 22 feet in circumference and weighs 5,200 pounds. Silvia Fort (Fraser) was the first Appleblossum Princess and pulled the ripcord to unveil the monument at the dedication cermoney in 1926.
This plaque was on the side of the station.
Southern Railway Cornelia wooden combination depot which houses museum. The 1965 film "The Great Locomtive Chase" was filmed along the Talluah Falls Railroad that ran from Cornelia northward along the rim of the Tallauh Gorge to Franklin, North Carolina. Cornelia was orginally called Blaine and under that name, had its start in the early 1870's when the Charlotte Air Line Railroad was extended to that point. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated that place in 1887 as the town of Cornelia.
Cornelia Depot information board.
Norfolk and Western offset caboose 518514 built by International Car in 1969, and is painted as Southern Railway X2680.
Tallulah Falls Railway caboose X5. The Tallulah Falls Railroad was formed in 1881 and known as the Rabun Gap Route, this short-line railroad began in Cornelia, Georgia and was completed to Tallulah Falls in 1882. Crossing the Tallulah River in 1903, the railroad arrived in Clayton in 1904. It was then extended to Mountain City, Rabun Gap and Dillard before reaching its terminus at Franklin, North Carolina. in 1907. The 58-mile line, which crossed 42 wooden-truss trestles, transformed Rabun County's economy by opening isolated communities to the outside world for the first time. The "Old TF" served as the location for Walt Disney's 1956 movie "The Great Locomotive Chase". Plagued by chronic financial woes and several spectacular accidents, the Tallulah Falls Railroad ceased operation in 1961. The caboose was used on the Tallulah Falls Railroad to haul freight from the Cornelia Veneer Plant from 1942 until 1961.
Johnson Rail Services SW1 117 ex. Laurinburg and Southern 117, exx. Chattahoochee Locomotive 8128. nee Union Railroad 465, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949.
An unknown Plymouth switcher.
The longest bus ride of the four days was this one back to Gainesville. Elizabeth and I took Doug to Cheddar's Stratch Kitchen, who had never been to this chain before, after which we returned to the Fairfield Inn for the night.
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