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Clarksville, Tenn., Railroads: An Introduction
Standing on 10th Street in downtown Clarksville, it’s hard to imagine that this was once a bustling transportation hub around the turn of the 20th century. Passenger trains no longer pass through the city and freights trains are seldom seen. But, the tracks are there and they are still in use. The old depot, known by locals as the L&N Station, still stands, but it no longer serves weary travelers stepping off a train from Louisville, or passenger ready to being a trip.
History
Marietta Confederate Cemetery
MARIETTA, Ga. — The Daily Intelligencer newspaper of Sept. 15, 1863, reported what was no doubt startling news. “The up train had on board the 10th Tennessee Regiment, 1st Tennessee Battalion, and the 50th Tennessee Regiment, and we regret to learn that some ten or fifteen were killed, and about thirty or forty wounded,” the newspaper wrote. “They were clearing the wreck when our informant left, and we have been unable to learn any further particulars.” The dead soldiers were transported to Marietta and buried beneath an oak tree on land donated by Jane Glover, the wife of the city’s
CSX
Athens trestle a music landmark
ATHENS, Ga. — To most passersby, the old, abandoned railroad trestle off Poplar Street near Dudley Park probably wouldn’t garner much of a reaction. But, to music fans, especially those of Athens native R.E.M., the trestle is a landmark. Gracing the back of the band’s 1983 album “Murmur,” the bridge is best known today as the Murmur Trestle. The trestle was built in 1883 and served the Georgia Railroad and later CSX Transportation, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. The bridge hasn’t been in use since 1998. “To R.E.M. fans, the trestle represents a piece of R.E.M.’s history,” one fan told
History
Roundhouse museum provides window into Savannah’s railroad past
SAVANNAH — For more than a century, Savannah was an important city for the Central of Georgia Railroad. Starting in 1851, the railroad built a roundhouse, machine shop, blacksmith shop and other facilities here to service locomotives and rolling stock. The facility — built on the site of the Revolutionary War’s Siege of Savannah in 1778 — was completed four years later. Founded in 1833 as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company, the railroad was originally built to connect Macon and Savannah, thereby allowing Georgia products to reach the port city of Savannah. The railroad, like much of the
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Bridge piers offer a link to Civil War
EMERSON, Ga. – In order to complete the Western & Atlantic Railroad, engineers had to overcome a number of natural obstacles. That resulted in a 1,447-foot-long tunnel through Chetoogeta Mountain and a bridge over the Etowah River south of Cartersville. The bridge over the Etowah River was completed in 1847, about three years before the Atlanta-to-Chattanooga rail line opened. The bridge’s stone pillars are all that remain of the once-formidable structure. During the Civil War, James J. Andrews, who led a group of Union soldiers with the intent of destroying the Western & Atlantic Railroad, identified the bridge as a
History
Marking the anniversary of the Andrews Raid
KENNESAW, Ga. – North Georgia saw its fair share of battles during the Civil War, but “the most extraordinary and astounding adventure of the war,” as one Civil War-era newspaper put it, typically doesn’t garner more than a few words in most history books. The Andrews Raid, also known as The Great Locomotive Chase, took place 148 years ago today. Led by James J. Andrews, a group of Union spies planned to steal a train locomotive and destroy the Western & Atlantic Railroad, a vital link between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tenn. The route of the Andrews Raid can be easily
History
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