Georgia Southern Railway (fka Georgia Midland)

ashley2771 wrote:I think the Georgia Central used the former freight house in Vidalia as their offices until about 2004, when they built a new office in Lyons next to their shop. The old offices were moved and are still in Vidalia but not sure exactly where. Not sure about Macon and Dublin.

OK, Thanks

Sorry to hear that but not surprising...there is a structure in Pembroke that is now the Chamber of Commerce that looks like it may have been a railroad building, its looks rather like a tower: http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=1187488" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is also the City Hall in Ailey, Ga. which may have been a former SCL building: http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=1129157" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The depot in Kingsland Ga, where I used to work out of the Roadmasters office, is now the welcome center.

I've been back down there a couple times since I relocated back to New York, but I haven't been able to find anything on power; all I've seen is a few centerbeams at Howard's and a few tankers at Bulloch Fertilizer, as well as tankers at GAF. I've been up to Dover, but there's been nothing there. I've also headed down to Metter and seen nothing.

What's been going on there lately? Where would they be parking the power? And has Metter been getting anything?

That I know of, the power is usually parked at Dover, occasionally on the tracks outside Howard Lumber... not aware of power being anywhere else...

I was actually down last weekend, and found both GASR units!

701 was just south of GAF on the north end of the passing siding, very close to the dirt circle. And man, does GAF look busy! There were something like six cars stacked up on the siding, and another three or so on the far southern end of the passing siding.

The other unit (20-something?) was down at Southern States on the main. Southern States had a bunch of cars.

I saw from 301 the weird maintenance car, about midway between the passing siding and Southern States. Guess they would have took the 701 down to clear that for any return trip on Southern States by the other engine.

At Dover, it looked like NS were stashing or picking up cars, including GAF tankers and hoppers for Southern States, down at the far/inaccessible end of Dover. This was on Saturday. They were moving slow, so I didn't stick around.

Howard had a couple/three center-beams on their siding. Didn't check BF.

My most excited find, however, was the forlorn "Thomas"! It's just off Kyle Sorrell road at the intersection with Maria Sorrell Rd at the old metal fabrication plant! There's a siding there for the propane dealer that's not used; they stashed it on there. The old siding downtown is well overgrown now. Pity, would make a good team track.

I'll try to get some pics up soon.

Statesboro Herald

Sounds like it was near the frog...

Train derailment closes roads in downtown Statesboro

Police rerouted traffic from South Main and Fair Road for about an hour and a half Wednesday after a train derailment.

Georgia Southern Railways operations center director Robert Athen said the cause of the derailment is yet unknown, but railway employees are investigating the incident.

There were no injuries, he said. The train did not overturn and no other vehicles were involved.

Statesboro police were on the scene immediately after the derailment was reported around 11:50 a.m., clearing portions of West Jones Avenue and South College Street for traffic. South Main Street and Fair Road were closed until around 1:30 p.m., according to reports from law enforcement radio traffic and Statesboro Police Cpl. Justin Samples.

not too bad and cleaned up quickly...

I've relocated BACK to the Statesboro area; it seems the GSR is as busy as ever. Heard it downtown quite a bit Friday afternoon as late as 5 or 5:30. It seems like Howard and GAF get the majority of the business. The siding past Gateway Industrial Park has quite a few cars, and I've seen some centerbeams parked on the "main" just beyond Grady "Junction" near the library. Outside of that, I'm not sure how much business there still is in Metter, or below Southern States and aggregate cars.

that sounds good... although I live in Bulloch Co., I only make it to Statesboro about once a week and usually after the train has come and gone. I haven't noticed the fertilizer places, Bulloch Fertilizer and Tillman, Brannen, & Minick getting much traffic lately... can't speak to Metter at all.

And so what happens today? STATESBORO HERALD

Brief, fair-use quote:

4 injured after train hits truck

A train struck a truck Friday afternoon on Old River Road at Maria Sorrell Road, and the driver had to be cut from the wreckage.

A woman and two children were sent by EMS to the hospital while emergency workers had to extricate the driver, whose legs were pinned, according to Bulloch County Sheriff's Sgt. Tracy Miller.

The driver, whose identity was not available at the scene, was airlifted to a Savannah hospital for treatment of visible, but nonfatal injuries to his body, Miller said.

I witnessed a crossing accident on the same railroad down in Metter, coming out of the scrap metal yard, a few years back. Very low speed minor impact. This may have bbeen a bit faster.

As far as I know, the crossing is unprotected outside of standard road signs. I believe this is at the old metal plant, long since closed. No one up this way, this close to the Dover connection, gets any cars anymore; it's pretty much a straight shot to Southern States at Statesboro before the road gets any business.

Still, the MAS is pretty low; train was probably only going 25 or less.

Looks like GSR will be picking up some more business at the southern end of their line, just above GAF:

Statesboro Herald

I believe this was a few months ago? But I just saw it. They'll be on the north side of AJ Riggs Rd, across from Great Dane (which does NOT get rail service). Since moving back last June, I've noticed how much GAF's traffic has picked up; there are always cars parked south of Jimps Rd on that siding. I haven't seen anything below GAF in quite some time; not sure if Southern States (at Gold Kist Rd) still gets hoppers or not. I have no idea when the last time they've been to Metter. Howard Lumber still gets quite a few center-beams. I've seen the power parked at Southern States off Northside/North Main and seen cars spotted along that stretch in town, but I've not seen anything at Bulloch Fertilizer in a long time. So it's still fairly active in and near town, but that's it.

Any other reports?

New $70 million plant to create 100 jobs in Bulloch County
...
The $70 million investment that Georgia officials announced Aspen Aerogels will make here is its commitment for just the first manufacturing line of what may become a three-line plant, John Fairbanks, the company's chief financial officer, said in a phone interview Monday afternoon.

"Our commitment is to invest at least $70 million - put it that way," Fairbanks said. "That's just what we intend to spend on the first manufacturing line, and our intent would actually be ultimately to construct three lines, total."
...
The need for rail access was a key factor in the choice of the particular site, Thompson said. This will require construction of a railroad spur from the existing Georgia Southern Railway line.

"We are going to pursue grant funding to help support the construction of that (spur)," Thompson said.
...

good to know GAF is doing well... they also used to spot rock hoppers for the asphalt plant next to Southern States... I've also heard that a paint manufacturer is coming to Metter and may become a customer along with the existing scrap metal place..

The few times I've looked, I haven't seen any rock hoppers at Southern States. I'm sure they still get them though. That's great news on Metter! Not sure what the scrap dealer still does; I've been trolling STB filings hoping not to see an abandonment filing!

I could see GaSR doing storage again; lots of idle coal cars.

A guy who works for NS posted a picture of the GASR coming back from Metter thru Register a couple of weeks ago...