Rail Blog – Page 2 – Railfanning.org

News Wire

[ July 10, 2025 ] Smyrna Public Library to Host DeFeo for Railroad History Presentation on September 7 Miscellaneous
[ July 9, 2025 ] The Southerner Returns: Dunedin Railways and Great Journeys New Zealand Celebrate Success of Special Rail Experience World
[ July 2, 2025 ] Union Pacific Celebrates its 163rd Birthday with Commemorative Lincoln Locomotive Union Pacific
[ July 1, 2025 ] Amtrak Mardi Gras Service Returns in August Amtrak
[ June 25, 2025 ] DeFeo to Present ‘An Angry Mob and a Hollow Tree’ at Customs House Museum on July 6 Miscellaneous

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.

1940 Cartersville, Georgia, Collision: ‘I Never Saw a Crowd of People so Shaken’

December 2, 2024 Todd DeFeo

Despite numerous safety upgrades throughout history, railroading has always been a dangerous profession, and it still is today.

What makes a railroad town?

November 12, 2024 Todd DeFeo

I’ve been working my way across Georgia, trying to define what makes a railroad town.

A common link between railroads and the media

September 21, 2024 Todd DeFeo

In speaking about railroad history, I often talk about communities’ love-hate relationship with railroads.