Western & Atlantic

Get Ready: Eating and Drinking the Western & Atlantic is Coming!

June 18, 2025 Todd DeFeo

To appreciate the Western & Atlantic is to appreciate the local communities where the rail line runs, delving into the people and the places that made — and make — the line unique.

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.

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.

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.

Carson: ‘We Don’t Like Taxes … and We Definitely Don’t Want to be Tied Down to a Particular Route’

November 1, 2024 Todd DeFeo

In addition to voting on the next leader of the free world this presidential election, voters in the Atlanta suburb of Cobb County will also decide whether to implement a 30-year 1-cent Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.