Where can I find information about the Chickamauga to Durham, GA line that ceased operating around 1947, including the current status of specific stretches of the old railroad bed?

-- Stanley Wright Lowe, Jr. (stan.lowe@ey.com), September 07, 1999

Answers

I have arranged permission for a hike and tour of portions of the Chickamauga-Durham Branch (parts are now private property) on Saturday, November 20. We will probably meet in Chickamauga at the depot in the early morning and carpool to two or three locations. The trip will also involve an approximate 3-4 miles of walking. If you are interested pleas e-mail me.

-- Arnold W. Eaves (aeaves@newcastle.com), October 29, 1999.

Arnold, I would be willing to do a field trip to the area. I talked to a former CG engineer this weekend who had run trains on this line. He confirmed what another former employee had told me about guys having to ride the top of the cars and tighten the brakes up as they came down the grade. If you need any help with this let mew know. Todd Horton,Rome Ga.

-- Todd Horton (Centga@aol.com), September 13, 1999.

I grew up in the area of the Chickamauga-Durham line in the late 40- 50's. At that time the rails went from Chicamauga to Wallaceville (approx.) and From Chenchat to McCallie Lake (about one mile.) I saw the last train to travel the section out to Wallaceville, a worktrain pulling up the track. A shorter segment of approximately one/half to 3/4 mile from Chickamauga out to a small factory site (next to the coke oven ruins) remained until some time in the 60's, as best I can recall. Most of the remaining roadbed can be accessed only by traversing private property, and would make a spactacular hike in the late fall and winter. My cousin owns a tract of land bordered by the right of way and knows the owners of most of the remaining mountain sections. He said he would be glad to arrange permission for a group to walk the road bed. This permission is especially important because the section around Eagle Cliff and Lula Lake has been declared off limits to all visitors. He his confident that we can get approval for a group trip of some sort. Up until the early 60's it was possible to drive most of the mountain section but the county bulldozed most such access after a brutal double murder back in '63 or '64. If people in the society would like to arrange a field trip please let me know.

-- Arnold W. Eaves (aeaves@newcastle.com), September 13, 1999.

Stanley, I am in the process of obtaining a photo of the C.ofGa. depot at Cenchat were the Durham Distric crossed the T.A.& G. RY at grade. Chattanooga Div. emp. timetable No. 27 dated Nov. 7 1915 lists trains 51 west and 52 eastbound, both mixed except Sunday. There were water towers at Cenchat and Chickamauga as well as depots at Cenchat and Durham both open 8am to 6pm. Also a coaling tower at Chickamauga. Max. speed between Chickamauga and Duram was a scorching 12 miles per hour. Last June I took the TVRM excursion down what is left of the old T.A.& G. RY and at Cenchat I saw no evidence of old road bed or any sign whatsoever that there ever was another railroad anywere around. If my memory serves me correctly, they didn't abandon this line until 1952. If you want a photo copy of this timetable, please E- Mail me directly and I'll be glad to send it to you.

-- Warren Stephens (wdstephens@prodigy.net), September 07, 1999.