Are they any photographs of the original Nancy Hanks, that ran in the early 1890s. My great grandfather, Edward Washington Waterhouse, was the engineer, including the time of the terrible wreck that took place in Hapeville in 1893, when the Nancy Hanks was accidentally switched onto a sidetrack, hitting a train waiting for them to pass. I have much information on Ed Waterhouse, who lived in Macon and was with the Central of Georgia for 52 years, but have never been able to locate a photo of this beautiful and exciting train.

-- Robert Garrett Mclendon, Jr. (53ala@msn.com), June 13, 1999

Answers

Mary Ann,

The February 1962 article that I referred to earlier is a good source of information on the Nancy Hanks train. If you'll e-mail your address to me, I'll be happy to send you a copy of the article.

As far as the wreck is concerned, you could probably find some information in local area newspapers from that era. The Georgia Historical Society in Savannah has an indexed collection of Savannah newspapers. The Atlanta History Center probably has a collection of Atlanta area newspapers. In 1893, the railroad was still called the Central Railroad and Banking Company, so be sure that you look for that name.

-- Allen Tuten (allen@cofg.org), October 25, 2000.

I am very much interested in the original Nancy Hanks, as an ancestor was killed in a train wreck, which I believe happened on May 28, 1893.Can anyone suggest research materials on both the train and the wrecks? I would appreciate any assistance. Mary Ann McTee

-- Mary Ann McTee (gmctee@tyler.net), October 25, 2000.

Robert,

There is a photo of the Nancy Hanks on page 10 of the book "Images of America - Central of Georgia Railway." It is published by Arcadia and should be available through most bookstores. All of the photos in this book are from the Atlanta History Center's Norfolk Southern Collection and were originally used in THE RIGHT WAY (the Central of Georgia's company magazine.) The February 1962 issue of THE RIGHT WAY featured the same photo along with a two page article about the original Nancy Hanks. If you will e-mail me your mailing address, I'll be happy to copy the article and mail it to you.

-- Allen Tuten (ahtuten@aol.com), June 13, 1999.