RAILFAN GUIDES HOME RAILROAD SIGNALS HOME MAP 1 - the Atlanta Homepage
MAP 2 - Downtown Atlanta MAP 3 - NS's Inman yard and CSX's Tilford & Howell Yards - NW of downtown Atlanta
MAP 4 - south of Atlanta
MAP 5 - east of Atlanta
MAP 6 - west of Atlanta
MAP 7 - the Duluth and Norcross area, with the Southeast Railroad Museum MAP 8 - the Marietta and Elizabeth area - NW outside the Perimeter
MAP 9 - the Georgia Northeastern Railroad MAP 10 - the Kennesaw area & the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History
Access by train/transit:
This is a "drive to" destination :-(
The Scoop:
The Georgia Northeastern Railroad is a regional railroad that runs from
Marietta (where it interchanges with CSX), northward to Blue Ridge GA.
The tourist part of the railroad runs from Blue Ridge GA
north to the border towns of McCaysville GA/Copper Hill TN. More info
below and on their website.
Please note, most small side streets not shown for clarity.
Some history from the railga website:
The Georgia Northeastern dates back to 1987 when CSX ceased its operations on
the old Louisville & Nashville line between Marietta and Ellijay. CSX sold the
tracks between Marietta and Tate to the new shortline and leased to it the
tracks from Tate to Ellijay.
In August 1990, the Georgia Northeastern was sold to Wilds Pierce, an Atlanta
businessman and owner of Railcar Management, Inc.
The railroad was originally built in the 1870s and 1880s by the Marietta &
North Georgia Railroad as a narrow-gauge line from the Western & Atlantic at
Marietta to the North Carolina town of Murphy. Most of the route was converted
to standard gauge in 1889-90. (The Blue Ridge-Murphy section was not changed
over until late in 1897).
In the mid-1990s, Georgia DOT purchased the line between Whitepath (about 5
miles north of Ellijay) and Blue Ridge, along with the tracks from Blue Ridge to
McCaysville/Copperhill and the short branch from Blue Ridge to Mineral Bluff.
These were leased to Georgia Northeastern.
DOT also worked with Georgia Northeastern to rehabilitate the tracks between
Whitepath and Blue Ridge. These had been inactive and seriously neglected for years.
A particularly notable success was the establishment of a passenger excursion
line, the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, which began operating over the 13-mile
section between Blue Ridge and McCaysville/Copperhill in the spring of 1998. The
line follows the west bank of the picturesque Toccoa River, crossing it about a
mile before entering McCaysville.
Excursion trains also run to McCaysville/Copperhill from the Tennessee side,
thanks to the Copperhill Special route of the Tennessee Valley Railroad
Museum. These trains run from Etowah TN -- through the lower Hiwassee River
Gorge and over the Hiwassee Loop, two renowned features of the Hook and Eye Line.
North of Canton the railroad follows the Murphy belt, a hundred-mile long geologic feature that cuts through the mountains to Murphy and Andrews, NC.
The belt is S-shaped between Canton and Ellijay but forms a fairly straight line from Ellijay to Andrews.
Elizabeth (Interchange with CSX)
Marietta
Blackwell
Woodstock
Lebanon
Holly Springs
(Passes under I-575)
Canton
(Passes under I-575)
Kentsburg
Ball Ground
Nelson
Tate (Yard and Loco Servicing)
Jasper
Talking Rock
Whitestone
Ellijay
East Ellijay
(Enters the Chattahoochee National Forest)
Cherry Log
(Exits the Chattahoochee National Forest)
Blue Ridge (Board the Blue Ridge Scenic Rwy)
Murphy Junction
McCaysville (On Georgia side of the state line)
Copper Hill (On Tennessee side of the state line)
http://brscenic.com/
241 Depot St.
Blue Ridge, GA 30513
877-413-8724
706-632-8724
The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway is about 70 miles north of Marietta.
Just south of Marietta, from I-75, you take I-575 north about 29 miles to 5/515
in Nelson. Take 5/515 about 24 miles north to Eliijay, there, we hit US76.
Take that another 16 miles north on up to Blue Ridge.
They are open from March through December. Weekends only till June,
then every day except for Wednesdays... check their website for details.
Trips take around 4 hours for the round trip, with a
two hour lay-over in McCaysville/Copper Hill to grab lunch, check out the
antique stores, or just walk around (1 1/2 hours on Sundays), the actual run
time between ends is about an hour. Check the website for exact times.
Cab rides are available!!!
The Scenic Railway departs from the old depot in downtown Blue Ridge. Your
destination is downtown McCaysville GA. Walk across the Blue Line on the
street and you're in Copperhill TN! The rail adventure is a 4 hour, 26 mile
round trip, with a 2 hour layover to explore, eat, whatever.
It's a 26 mile long round trip, and is without a doubt, some of the prettiest
country you'll take a trip through, especially in the fall!
When I get a chance, I will scan some of my slides from a trip I took a few years back.
Disclaimers:
I love trains, and I love signals. I am not an expert. I do these pages because I love spending my time doing them - although I do a reasonable amount of research to make sure the information
presented is accurate! :-) :-)
Please Note: Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them. For those
of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, myindexa page has a list of almost everything railroad oriented I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to
help you detail your pike.
If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan guide is correct. Once in a while, an error may creep in,
oooooooops, oh well! :-)
My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a thousand words, especially for railfanning. Text descriptions only get you so far, especially if you get lost or disoriented. Take
along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still better if you get lost! I belong to AAA, which allows you to get local maps for free when you visit the local branches.
ADC puts out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their state maps do not have the railroads on them. If you can find em, I like the National Geographic map book of the
U.S..... good, clear, and concise graphics, and they do a really good job of showing you where tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads. Other notes about specific areas
will show up on that page if known.
BTW, floobydust is a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data book, and means miscellaneous and/or other stuff.
Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have something to add or correct.... credit is always given! BE NICE!!! Contact info
is here. Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.
The Shops and Yard in Elizabeth
Grade crossing at Church St Ext NW, just around the corner from the office.
Grade crossing with Canton Road NE, where it crosses over N Cobb Parkway NE.
Canton Road, where the GNRR crosses I-75.
Grade crossing at Owenby Dr NE, with a cement plant as a back drop.
Siding adjacent to W Oak Dr NE.
Grade crossing at the busy Sandy Plains Rd NE.
