Cordele, Ga., opens viewing platform for busy, three-railroad diamond

CORDELE, Ga. — An average of 80 trains a day cross the diamond in the south central Georgia community of Cordele, making it one of the busiest rail crossings in the Southeast. Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, and the Heart of Georgia Railroad, a Genesee & Wyoming short line, all use the crossing. “The activity rivals that of Folkston and Manchester, Georgia” says avid railfan and private car owner Nelson McGahee. Todd Tait of GS&F T-TRAK, an informal regional modeling group, adds: “It’s the best place in the Southeast to watch trains from multiple railroads with plenty of southern hospitality.”

Recognizing the attraction for the railfan community, Cordele has opened a viewing platform in its Railway Park, providing a better and more comfortable spot for photographers and rail enthusiasts to watch the action. Plans for an observation platform began as far back as the 1980s. It was an item on the Main Street agenda for years but proposals lay dormant until 2019. The desire for a tourism project led to the decision that trains and railroads were the city’s niche.

“The railroads were — and still are — what makes Cordele different,” explains Monica Mitchell, the director of Cordele Main Street, a downtown promotional group. “That’s why Cordele exists.”

Two major railroads —the Savannah, Americus & Montgomery and Georgia Southern & Florid — drove local economic development, so much so that the town was named for Cordelia Hawkins, daughter of the president of the SAM.
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