Athens Line Cab ride part 1

This past Saturday i was lucky enough to catch the Athens Line railroad switching the heating plant and Mr. Anderson and Eddie P.were kind enough to let me ride along for the trip. We start out on the mainline in Hartwell GP10 8396, a former IC GP9 rebuild, as the cars are put together for the switching move. After that we head up the grade to the heating plant and couple to the empties. With the train coupled up we back down to the main with the RS3K blaring. We stop on the crossing, uncouple the cars, set the handbrake, and then get the engine in the clear. After that the handbrakes are released and the cars roll down the hill by gravity out of the way. Dont mind the shaky footage at the beginning, the quality is much better throughout the rest of the video. A big thanks to B.R. Anderson and Eddie Pitchford for letting me ride along and for their hospitality whenever i am out railfanning the line. Stay tuned for part two!

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Hartwell
• Athens
• railroad
• GP10
• EMD
• 567
• RS3L
• leslie
• train
• cab
• ride

[Rts4108]

are the 2 Ex B&O GP-9s still running there? Does any one have any videos of them in action? Thanks.

[nikosjk1]

The 6525 in Chessie paint is out of service and parked in a siding at Paradise Valley in Athens, the one painted in Great Walton colors is out of service in Covington,GA. The only video i shot of the 6525 is some crappy handheld low res digi cam stuff, nothing worth uploading.

[ConSAmerica]

Great video!

I have always wanted to check out this shortline..

[nikosjk1]

Thanks! You have some great Wiregrass Central stuff too, enjoyed watching those. If your ever in the area then its definitely worth a look, the Hartwell Railroad a little north of Athens is your best bet to catch something running, they run almost every day. Athens Line normally runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays and sometimes Saturday.

[brickbuilder711]

Awesome video Nikos! I wonder how it must have felt to be stopped by two hoppers sitting there for a minute or two LOL... Keep up the great work! :)

[nikosjk1]

Thanks! And yes, the heating plant switch job is not overly popular with locals, it can cause quite a bit of traffic disruption, they have to park them on the road as it would be a safety hazard to freeroll them across the crossing, even though the crossing has lights now, many still pay no attention. I should have part two up by tommorow

[norfolksouthernjb]

yip i do :P

[af4cz]

I haven't seen Enoch in years - since he was in the old Gainesville Model Railroad club. Wondered what happened to him...

[NorfolkSouthernNS]

Well thats funny because I know old Eddie, Enoch, and Warren on the Hartwell Railroad. Enoch and Warren work mostly in Toccoa, Ga. They come and hangout every Saturday in Gainesville. Well its good to see a video on here with them. Hey Josh you know who they are as well.

Erik

[trains91]

oh niceee i never get to catch them lol

[nikosjk1]

Yeah, they are quite hard to catch operating, they only run as needed, i really lucked out that day!