Officials in Kingston, Ga., want a former railroad Wye, the site of a daring Civil War escapade, to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The wye, where the Western & Atlantic and Rome railroads joined, was built in 1849, according to a report in The Daily Tribune News of Cartersville, Ga. The tracks were removed in the 1970s, about the time that the city’s historic train depot also burned, the newspaper reported.
Though tracks are no longer in place, the former railroad roadbed was not removed. Similarly, the depot’s foundation also remains.
On April 12, 1862, 20 Union spies on a stolen Western & Atlantic Railroad locomotive spent 64 minutes in Kingston waiting for traffic on the railroad line to subside. The spies, led by James J. Andrews, planned to destroy the Western & Atlantic Railroad by burning bridges and tearing up track.
The plan failed, but the event is today known as The Andrews Raid or The Great Locomotive Chase.
Kingston is a small town located in Bartow County, about 60 miles north of Atlanta.
