Todd DeFeo

Great Locomotive Chase participant Franklin Alexander Crawford later kept history alive at the Cyclorama

January 28, 2025 Todd DeFeo

Franklin Alexander “Van” Crawford is one of the lesser-known participants in the Great Locomotive Chase, even if his role was minor.

People & Places of the Western & Atlantic Railroad: ‘Uncle Joe’ Renard

January 24, 2025 Todd DeFeo

Joseph F. “Uncle Joe” Renard was a “pioneer engineer” on the Western & Atlantic, and when he died in 1905 at 68 years old, he was said to be among the best-known railroad men in the state.

Oddities on the Georgia Rails (Part I)

January 22, 2025 Todd DeFeo

In mid-December, Todd DeFeo, publisher and editor of Railfaning.org, presented “Oddities on the Georgia Rails” to the Georgia Archives.

Sanford Bell, an unknown stalwart of the Western & Atlantic Railroad

January 21, 2025 Todd DeFeo

I’ve grown particularly fascinated by the people who worked on and shaped the Western & Atlantic Railroad.

The 1960s political quandary tied to leasing the Western & Atlantic Railroad

January 16, 2025 Todd DeFeo

As the calendar turned to 1967, Georgia lawmakers faced a political quandary: the impending lease of the state-owned Western & Atlantic Railroad.

A new lease of the Western & Atlantic Railroad

January 14, 2025 Todd DeFeo

In 1963, in advance of a new lease of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, Georgia officials hired a New York engineering firm to help determine the value of the line.

Waiting on my train to crash

December 12, 2024 Todd DeFeo

Railroad operations were often less than smooth affairs.

An explosive relationship

December 10, 2024 Todd DeFeo

In mid-November 1910, John Vinson Reynolds motored an Atlanta Northern Railway trolley around 1:40 p.m. when he rounded a curve near the Ashby Street Crossing in Atlanta.

Weird stuff happened on railroads

December 9, 2024 Todd DeFeo

We are between two major holiday travel periods, and when we think of travel today, we often think of chaos.