Georgia Southern Railway (fka Georgia Midland)

mterrell wrote:These are great pictures. Do they still go to Metter on Monday's? I still haven't been able to catch it going there.

Last time I was in Register I saw a hopper on the siding...I returned a few days later and it was gone. Let me know if you see any loads marked for Allied Metals and I'll keep an eye out for them.

Thanks. They go to Metter anytime during the week when the need arises. If it's on a Monday it's usually because they received some Metter cars at Dover over the weekend or the Metter customers have released cars to pull over the weekend or on Monday. But they like to be able to make all pulls/spots in one day at Metter for convenience of course.

In other GASR news they're halfway now in the 3 year lease on the Midville line with the HOG. And from what I've been told the HOG will take back over operations of the line after the lease is up. I can't help but think it's because maybe........just maybe.......the plan is already in place to rehab the line between Kirby and Vidalia by then???

From what I can tell, they still do go down to Metter. I wonder how long they'll be willing to keep that up? It seems to me that one or two cars a month would not be profitable. I certainly don't want to see service end, of course. It's a shame that with the business that was on the wye down there gone (concrete), where they used to tie up, with RR Donnelly not using service (and I don't think they'll be there too long since they produce mailers for NetFlix; who knows how long that will last). I wish I could have seen Metter in its heyday. I wish their econ dev would get on the stick and try to get some industry back in there. Interestingly enough, one day I drove the back road behind Donnelly; that wye track goes all the way back, right up to the road back there. I can't recall if the crossing was paved over or not, but I do recall seeing some track on the other side of that back road.

Haven't seen anything in Register in a while. They still do go to the concrete plant by the WalMart DC. I spoke to someone at Great Dane; there will be no rail spur to their new plant on AJ Riggs. Guess that wouldn't do for a trailer company! They would certainly never ship out, although I could see them getting materials in there.

Haven't seen much of anything at Bulloch Fertilizer of the "secondary".

Interesting news on the Midville line. Back in October, I got off at US1 from I-16 and drove up to Swainsboro. I see that the line from Midville down to Kirby is used. It would be nice if they rehabbed the rest down to Vidalia. I'll have to check with GA DOT and see if I can get some intel.

Lastly, back to the Midland/GA Southern, I saw something really interesting at about 1pm today. I was on Grady St by the Hospice, and heard the horn. So I drove over, and saw the 2024 shuttling three gons at Grady where the main and spur to Howard's using gravity to come around the front end. So I figure they're taking off for Dover. Not sure why they'd have to do that and where they'd be shoving them from as the gons usually come from teh concrete plant off 301S. Anyway, I chased it a bit; it crossed E. Main heading over to Northside, so I went over there to wait. Waited; it didn't come. Then I saw it doing something unusual between Main and Northside. It was shoving more cars; another three gons and three centerbeams that apparently had been tied up somewhere inbetween. The three gons were still trailing. It eventually pushed up a few car lengths short of Northside; enough to trigger the lights and gates, but they never crossed.

This is when it got interesting. It apparently pushed up far enough to clear a switch between Hill and Oliff St., and then backed down a siding that I don't think has been used in a long time (and wasn't aware of; you can't see it for the grade). I drove around on Zetterower and Mulberry, but couldn't identify the business with the siding. It's here, although the satellite view is fuzzy: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=kirby+ga& ... CBsQ_AUoAg

I can't for the life of me figure why they would push six cars while backing down three on a short siding. My surmise is this: they had three gons (and the gons all had very fine gray stone in them) to deliver off Mulberry. So they come down, 9 cars in tow, drop six on the long stretch between Oliff and Hill. They pull the three up to Grady, tie them down, run up the spur, use gravity to get them behind, and then pull them back. They have to push the six back to get to the switch to drop the three. They then back out of the spur, the six are still trailing (centerbeams are at the end), and then deliver the centerbeams to Howards after maybe dropping off the three gons at Bulloch F?

I have to tell you; I love this little short line.

I'm wondering how long the "frequent" trips to Metter will last as well. With Allied Metals getting a scrap gon or two to load every once in a blue moon (matter of fact, we delivered one at Dover late last night for Metter) and Southern States being the only other business in town receiving just a few cars a year, I wouldn't be surprised if Pioneer (GASR's owner) is already talking about making Register the end of the line. I really thought that Allied would receive/ship cars left and right after they started up, but I guess Newell is giving them a run for their money.

The crossing north of the wye in Metter is paved over. I remember years ago when it wasn't and the track was still in place on the other side for several yards before disappearing in the bushes. Somebody told me that there was a lumber company many years ago that received rail service further down but I've always known the track to end or disappear in the bushes just north of the crossing. NS (and then Ogeechee) would use this track past the crossing as room to switch a grain elevator just south of the crossing.

I was very fortunate to see Metter in its heyday back in the early '80s. I could see NS spending a couple of hours at least switching cars all over town although sadly I never witnessed them in action...only after they were finished and headed back to Dover.

Yup, Great Dane won't be using rail service. However, GAF will be building a plant not too far away from Jimps Road that will. The switch is already in place and they will be receiving tank cars of pentane to be used in making insulation products. This will definitely be a shot in arm for the Dover line, although if GAF would just build that plant in Metter....................(there I go with that wishful thinking again).

The Midville line is still hanging on. Rayonier at Kirby is keeping it alive by loading lumber. The old Swainsboro Recycling scrap yard is still loading a few cars although I noticed they've dropped off a bit the past few months. Midville Warehouse (grain elevator) loads a few cars during the harvest season and that's all for the old G&F line.

The gons you were talking about in Statesboro are the rock/aggregate hoppers loaded with limestone for Bulloch Fertilizer and Tillman & Deal. T&D is the place with the spur between Hill and Oliff St. They also run the grain elevator in Register.

To see the GASR switching in downtown Statesboro is interesting indeed!

Yeah, I saw GAF there in the old WMT shoe distribution center. That would be great if they also located in Metter! After seeing your post, drove over AJ Riggs and saw the switch. Guess they'll run around the cars down by Newell.

Still don't get why WMT doesnt' use the line. It would be that hard to extend it over their service road, although it would definitely be difficult to get it around the parking lot there. I guess they'd have to come in behind Briggs, etc.

Does Newell get any rail service at all? That would seem to make sense.

Been a busy week here in Statesboro. Heard them taking that gon down to Metter Tuesday, heard them coming back up yesterday, and heard them again today (Th). I'm glad the line will remain intact to at least Gateway

When I first saw the Wally World Dist Center being built years ago I knew for sure they would get rail service. Then I saw Briggs building their plant right across, and I was wrong again. The Georgia Midland tried to get Briggs to ship their parts to one of their warehouses on the other side of town in old boxcars but wasn't successful.

It is odd indeed that Newell in Statesboro doesn't use rail service. Their facilities in Savannah, Augusta, and Atlanta do.

After my last post our local freight out of Savannah (G25) had two more gons for Metter. Keepin' hope alive for the Metter line!

I heard it going to Metter the other day but wasn't able to go "chase".

Yesterday I caught some good action on the line, though. I saw a tanker sitting alone downtown in Statesboro so I tried to go find the action and ended up down by the WalMart DC. 2024 was taking a large load to Southern States out there and dropped them off. It picked up the same amount of empty cars on the main line to take back right after that - I got some good video of it coming in and out if anyone is interested, and a few pictures. My question is - when Southern States finishes unloading all that gravel, how do the empty cars get from the siding to the main line? 2024 just pulled ahead of the switch, let the 12 or so cars slide right into the siding, hooked up to the empty ones behind it on the main and took back off. I've only ever seen them go there to drop off or pick up, not to do both in one trip. An interesting thing is when they were sliding the cars onto the siding, I heard another train horn (sounded about a mile away) and thought for a second another engine was nearby but I guess it was the college kids with their trucks.

When was the last time they used that siding right there going into that cotton place behind Southern States?

On the way back, it stopped at the siding in front of the WalMart DC to drop off 5 empty cars. First time I've seen them drop off cars there too. After driving over the track there, I saw that "new?" siding in front of the DC. I'm not sure what the company is but that's good that the line is going to get more service. It doesn't look like new track but it does look like a new siding, if that makes sense. Old rail but I don't ever recall seeing a siding there. What are they providing? Or is this the GAF you mentioned?

Upon returning to Statesboro it *left* the empty cars sitting on the line, retrieved the tanker car and took off to Dover. Very interesting - I don't think I've ever seen them leave that many cars in Statesboro overnight. So right now there's a lot of product on the line - a few at Howard, the empty cars in downtown, the 5 empty ones on the siding and the soon-to-be-empty ones at Southern States off 301.

I think the spur at the Southern States cotton place hasn't had a car on it in years. Every once in a while we'll give the Dover line a few grain hoppers at Southern States in Statesboro (according to waybill), but I believe they get spotted at their place right off of Hwy 80 seeing as how the one south of town just deals with cotton and not soybeans, corn, etc.

The way they spot/pull the rock hoppers at Reeves Construction near the cotton place is interesting indeed. They cut the engine off just north of the crossing and leave the loads a good ways back on the mainline. Then they pull the empties from the spur and place them on the mainline south of the crossing. Keeping the engine there with the empties, the switch is lined back to the spur and the airbrakes on the loads are then bled off one by one until gravity takes over and they start rolling toward the switch. As they start making their way into the spur a crewmember starts applying the handbrakes on a couple of cars to control them until they get them spotted. They also perform a similar move near Claude Howard Lumber.

The siding right off of the Gateway entrance was put there to serve another potential rock unloading facility but then they backed off from building there for some reason. Funny thing is, I was told that the "customer" paid for the siding to be put in, so something drastic must have happened for them to change their mind. The spur for the future GAF place is just north of there.

For the life of me I can't think of why they would leave that many cars for Dover in Statesboro if they took the engine back to Dover. Trackwork in their yard at Dover?

mterrel, I'd love to see that video. If you can email it to me at [email protected] I'd appreciate it. Do you have a youtube channel? I'm going to start one for railroad.net I think. How do you get back there? I thought those were private roads. Once I went way to the back of Gateway, but could not see any of the railroad.

Funny, I chased that same train that afternoon. You might have seen a tan 99 Malibu; that's me.

I heard it come down in the morning but was busy. When I heard it on the way back (around 3pm or so) I went out. Saw it taking the empties across the frog crossing downtown, pulled around Grady and saw the single tanker car parked on the "secondary". Wasn't sure what he would do next, so I headed off to DQ for a Blizzard. Very quickly I heard the horns coming towards Northside, so I left DQ to head down to the crossing. The 2024 went by with the tanker car; no empties. I cut across Zetterower to 301 to watch it there, but it never crossed; from there I saw it backing the tanker down a siding at Southern States. Who knew they were getting cars there? I thought that place was long disused. What I assume happened is the number of empties it had precluded it from bringing them along with the tanker to back the tanker down without fouling a crossing. He must have gone back to get the empties after dropping the tanker. I suppose he could have picked up the tanker, rehooked the emptiy gons, then left the gons before Northside, but it was easier to just hook em up once.

Oh sorry, I've always misused the name Southern States when referring to what is really Reeves Construction! When I watched it unload there, I just turned down the road that has the sign for Southern States' cotton gin and just pull off to the side on the dirt. I don't know if it's a private road or not (doesn't look like it to me?) but I've never had a problem watching from there. You can't see down the siding/main very far but you can definitely see 2024 drop off the new cars (w/ gravity) and hook up to the old ones to take it back. When I saw the new GAF switch, I turned by the gas station in front of the WM DC and you can see it on the right (the 5 empties are on the siding on the left of the crossing).

I didn't see the tanker backing down at Southern States. I made the assumption 2024 left town because I heard it and checked Howard and Bulloch Fertilizer and couldn't find it, so I thought it had headed back to Dover leaving the empties there in Statesboro. I returned this morning and noticed the empties were gone! So you're right, it did grab the empties and head back. Wow, I didn't know Southern States had any service currently.

I will post the video to my YouTube and email you a link.

the Southern States facility in Statesboro near Hwy. 80 has been getting cars since at least 2010... fertilizer maybe. That facility does a lot of peanut business, but I doubt they are hauling peanuts. Tillman, Brannen, and Minick Ag Supply across Hwy. 80 also gets carloads of fertilizer

Busy day for the GASR yesterday; I heard it quite a bit down by WalMart, including later in the evening around 7pm. Very unusual.

Mterrel reports (and will likely post) that the train had already made one trip from Dover and returned that day, so the 7pm trip must have been an extra.

Copied from my email (yesterday's events):

"Today it came into town, went to Bulloch Fertilizer and picked up a car, grabbed three centerbeams from Howard and left them on the secondary. Then it went to Southern States....wow, do they have track in terrible shape and an even worse gate that they were having a really hard time closing...it grabbed the tanker there and put it on the secondary. I really didn't know exactly how it grabbed the tanker there (backing onto the side track and then going forward on the other side track that goes into SS).

We started following it when it was leaving Howard and going to unhook from the 4 cars. After that it headed to Gateway and just sat for 15~ minutes on the main line directly in front of the 5 empty cars on the siding there. It didn't grab them and instead went to Reeves to get the full load there. Once it got back to Statesboro and hooked up everything I got two videos of it leaving town (one at 1325 and one a bit further down)."

The tanker at SS that got taken away yesterday is the one that they dropped off last Friday. No way that SS gets much stuff these days with how overgrown all of those tracks were.

Just heard it now so I'm about to set out and see what it's up to.... Will report back later. I'm interested in what it was doing at 7pm last night. Anyone know when GAF will begin shipping and how much they'll ship/week?

I heard it yesterday evening blowing through town while I was at Mill Creek Park. Of course I started to make a run for the car and see what was going on, but I almost forgot that I would leave my wife and son! Unusual that they would be running that late.

If you take a right onto Oak St after crossing the mainline on Hwy 80 (if you're headed west on 80) then you'll see two tracks running northward right beside the Southern States office. The one closest to the building is where they unload the fertilizer from covered hoppers. The other beside it, if you can see it, obviously doesn't get used. Any grain loading is done on the siding right next to the main between 80 and 301.

I'll have to ask around and see when the GAF plant will start operations......

Thanks for the interesting info!

Do you happen to know how Reeves moves the freight cars to unload them? The gravity system once again?

mterrell wrote:Thanks for the interesting info!

Do you happen to know how Reeves moves the freight cars to unload them? The gravity system once again?

You're welcome!

Yup on the Reeves. Years ago I thought they ran around the cars at Register until I first caught them switching at Reeves.

We just delivered 4 empty gons for Metter and 3 centerbeams for Claude Howard at Dover late last night.