Locust Grove, GA new railfan platform

[MattW]

Today I finally made it down to Locust Grove's new train watching platform when it was open (I tried in November, but it wasn't open yet). It's certainly a great thing for the city! It's large, with a few picnic tables, and the side facing the tracks has a relatively unobstructed view both directions. There's a live scanner feed, but the main road is fairly busy and I had better luck going back to my car between trains and using my Ham Radio and mag-mount antenna to listen for activity (warmer too ). One bonus I discovered, was that the railing in between the trackmost part of the concrete and the actual pavilion part is about 10 inches wide and 8-10 feet long per segment and at a perfect height to use while standing, each segment easily long enough for several railfans to put books or radios or even lunch! The city is a nice little town, with a generally safe feeling and there are plenty of stores either walking distance or a short drive away. It's less than a mile from I-75. Parking is very convenient being right next to the platform!

Some railfanning tips:
Road Frequency is 160.950.
A good timing mark for southbound trains is when they call the signal at Grove, you'll have just under 10 minutes until it shows up.
There's another signal just two miles before that's another good mark.
There are two defect detectors in range on each side of the city to listen for.

Today's pics:
http://s226.photobucket.com/user/Zatnik ... 7.jpg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; My first southbound.
http://s226.photobucket.com/user/Zatnik ... 3.jpg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Then one showed up right as I was about to leave.

[tahawus84]

thanks for the review. didnt know there was a platform there. I will have to check out on my next trip down south

[MattW]

I was back down there Monday so I have some new information. I was actually storm chasing, and used it as a known public stopping location where I could park and check the radar real quick!
Anyways, they've added a black fence around it, but it's low enough that it shouldn't interfere much in pictures from the platform. But what I do like is that has better demarcated the RoW so presumably, anywhere in the fence is legal. There's about 10 feet of space between the platform and fence on the track side. The benefit there is if you have a tall enough tripod, you should be able to get right up to the fence and keep some of the foreground clutter out of the way, such as the electric box. Also, I finally saw a northbound so the warning signs for a northbound approaching are the defect detector at mile post 195 or so (timetable says 198?? maybe I just misheard) and a signal less than a mile south. Trains at the defect detector are 7-8 minutes away, and by the time they call the signal at 188.6, you better have your camera ready because you have about 30 seconds!