Atlanta SAL west side 'stub'.

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Most of the Atlanta / Birmingham Seaboard mainline was pulled up years ago. In examining Atlanta area rail maps, it appears that a short segment...3 or 4 miles long, remains west of the Chattahoochee River. (Cobb Co.?) Shown to end at a spot called Edna. Can anyone in the Atlanta area confirm that this 'stub' is still in place, and if so, what customers are served there ? (Perhaps CSX uses this area for car storage.)

-- Greg Hodges (ghodges@smpsfa.com), February 03, 2002

Answers

Yes, the "spur" still exists, to about a mile outside I-285 at "Edna". This is the very spot to which the rail was pulled up after the ill advised abandonment in 1989. The SAL line from Howell yard west to just past the river and under the W&A line is used regularly today to feed coal trains into the GA Power plant and not tie up the W&A. I believe these trains come off the W&A via Tilford and Howell yards. There is a new feed to the plant off of the SAL right after the W&A overpass. One can often find a coal drag parked there on the line. Other than that, I fear there is now only one other customer left on the line, a small lumber/building materials outfit about another 3/4 mile west. The final 1+ mile has no customers. Until sometime last year, there was a chemical customer right at the west end of the line, but they have shut down that operation and moved to a mainline elsewhere in the metro. I fear for the future of this stub west of the power plant.

About 2 weeks ago CSX had parked a bunch of empty double stack carriers on the line for several days.

About two years ago, a local two lane road about 1/2 mile short of the end of the line got its old grade crossing light signals upgraded to modern lights and gates. Given the lack of traffic on the line, this was hard to understand!

Tom Kennesaw, GA MP25 W&A

-- Tom Randall (tkrandall@mindspring.com), February 05, 2002.


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