History – Railfanning.org

A Chat GPT pencil sketch portrays the 1918 Hammond Circus train wreck.

When the Circus Train Met Disaster: The 1918 Ivanhoe Collision

May 27, 2025 Railfanning.org AI-Assisted

On a warm June night in 1918, the sleepy community of Ivanhoe, Indiana, was the backdrop of one of the deadliest railroad disasters in the county’s history: The Hammond circus train wreck.

A graphic of the Rockmart, Georgia, Royal Palm train wreck, including newspaper images.

Dec. 3, 1926: 19 Killed in Rockmart, Georgia, Train Collision

May 6, 2025 Railfanning.org AI-Assisted

A head-on collision between two Southern Railway passenger trains, the Royal Palm and the Ponce de Leon, near Rockmart, Georgia, on Dec. 3, 1926.

A Chat GPT sketch with a newspaper clip superimposed.

The Time Saboteurs Derailed a Western & Atlantic Train

April 16, 2025 Railfanning.org AI-Assisted

On a November evening in 1891, tragedy struck when a Western & Atlantic passenger train was derailed between Atlanta and Smyrna, and sabotage was likely to blame for the wreck.

A view of the Kennesaw, Georgia, train depot.

A Look Back: Engineer Killed in 1923 Kennesaw Derailment

April 7, 2025 Railfanning.org AI-Assisted

Shortly before Christmas in 1923, the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway’s southbound Dixie Limited passenger train derailed after passing the station in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Why Are There No Trains on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge?

November 21, 2024 Todd DeFeo

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opened 60 years ago today, on Nov. 21, 1964, connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn and forever changing the histories of both boroughs.

Spotlight on the Sandersville Railroad

August 10, 2024 Todd DeFeo

The Sandersville Railroad has been in the news recently for a case before the Georgia Public Service Commission.

A brief look at Atlanta’s third Union Station

April 26, 2024 Todd DeFeo

Atlanta’s third Union Station stood from 1930 until 1971. It was replaced by a parking lot.

A Look at Cardiff’s Butetown Branch Line

September 3, 2023 Railfanning.org Digital Library

The Butetown branch line is a roughly one-mile-long rail line in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff.

A Closer Look at the Camp Creek Train Wreck of 1900

July 31, 2023 Railfanning.org Digital Library

June 23, 1900, was a rainy evening, as Southern Railway locomotive number 7, with a few coaches and a Pullman sleeper car in tow, journeyed from Macon, Georgia, to Atlanta.

A Closer Look at the 1944 Stockton, Georgia, Train Wreck

June 30, 2023 Railfanning.org Digital Library

An Atlantic Coast Line Railroad train disaster in south Georgia on August 4, 1944, claimed the lives of 47 people.