DeFeo to Lecture on Transcontinental Railroad and the Evolution of the Nation’s Standard Gauge

Todd DeFeo (Courtesy of The DeFeo Groupe)

SMYRNA, Georgia — Todd DeFeo, publisher and editor of Railfanning.org, will present a lecture on May 3 on the “Transcontinental Railroad and the Standard Gauge.”

The talk is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at the Smyrna Public Library in “historic” downtown Smyrna.

The presentation will examine how the growth of the national rail network helped drive the adoption of a standard track gauge across the United States, including on the Western & Atlantic Railroad line that connects Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tennessee, and runs through Smyrna and Northwest Georgia.

DeFeo, a member of the Friends of the Smyrna Library board, has spoken at the library multiple times on railroad history, including talks on the Atlanta Northern Railway and the Western & Atlantic Railroad. He has also presented “Death on the Rails,” which was later featured in two episodes of the Railfanning Review Podcast.

DeFeo previously led two acclaimed bus tours for a Smithsonian Institution-affiliated museum in Georgia.

“I could have listened to him all day. I wanted him to talk more,” one tour participant later said.

DeFeo’s research, much of it included in his books and on Railfanning.org, has rewritten railroad history, bringing to light long-forgotten tales and preserving them for a new generation.

For more information, visit Railfanning.org.

Railfanning Review Podcast

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