TAPLINES
SHORTLINE, NARROW GAUGE AND INDUSTRIAL
RAILROAD PHOTOGRAPHS AND HISTORY
September/October of 1998
Number 28
All text and images
in Taplines are copyrighted 1998 and and any Commercial use is reserved
and must be
cleared by written permission by Donald R. Hensley, Jr. and the indivdual
authors and/or photographers.
Greene County Railroad
by
Don Hensley
Greene County RR # 118 with combination car # 100. This
old Rogers ten-wheeler (c/n 3508) was built in September of 1884 for the
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. # 18, later renumbered to 118.
This locomotive was sold to Georgia Car & Locomotive as # 419. This
engine was sold to Greene County RR on October 1st, 1919 and was photographed
in June of 1925 by the GC&L. The two companies were owned by Forrest
Greene.
The Greene County Railroad enjoyed an unique working
relationship with the Georgia Car & Locomotive Co. Both companies were
headed by Forrest Greene( who also was involved later on in the Gainesville
Midland). The Greene County RR was used as a testing area for GC&L
rebuilds, judging by the amount of locomotives supposedly sold to the GCRR
but were returned shortly afterwards for resale by GC&L to other companies.
The Greene County RR was a shortline connecting
Monroe, Ga with the Central of Georgia at Apalachee, Ga, a distance of
18.85 miles. The GCRR interchanged with the Georgia RR and the Gainesville
Midland at Monroe. Originally chartered as the Bostwick Railroad
in 1906 by John Bostwick, president, and owning one Forney type locomotive
(Rhode Island, ex-SI&E # 378 on 01/05/07, later to GC&L) this road
ran from Apalachee to Bostwick, a distance of six miles. This
road however was not successful being placed in the hands of a receiver,
R. L. Mobley, by 1911.
The Greene County RR was formed on July 27, 1911
to build a road from Bostwick to Monroe, Ga and to acquire the road
and equipment of the defunct Bostwick RR. Then the company got down to
the business of transporting the people and freight of the surrounding
country side for the next 30 years. Looking over their income statements
from various years, the road normally operated at a deficit for most of
these years. The company was funded by stock totaling $100,000 and a 6%
percent mortgage of $94,000 (in which 75,000 of was held by the company)
but the owners kept the road afloat with loans until 1941, when the road
was abandoned. Why it was abandon is not cleared and unfortunately I don't
have the ICC report on this one. In fact revenues were up in 1940, but
maybe some unforeseen event happened like the closing of a large customer.
The following roster
of equipment illustrates the amount of locomotives sent to the GCRR, many
of them were used only a short time before being resold. The GCRR also
purchased from the GC&L seven used boxcars and two used flat cars along
with 4 used coaches at various times. Most of these may have been returned
to GC&L for resale later on. All equipment repairs were also performed
by the GC&L, engines 7 , 252 , 338 and coach # 100 were all repaired
by the shops at the GC&l in Atlanta at various times. Officially in
documents that I do have, the GCRR only owned one locomotive and one coach,
# 100 at any one time. A lot of this equipment may have been used for busy
times, then returned when the traffic levels dropped back to normal. Interesting
that the Greene County RR never operated in Greene County, its operations
were in Walton and Morgan Counties, though Appalachia is a few miles from
the Greene County border.
Here is an example of an Georgia Car & Locomotive
product that was sold to the GCRR but was returned and resold to another
railroad. Rogers 2-4-4 (c/n3927) was built in March of 1888 for the
New York & Northern# 22, which was taken over by the NY Central &
Hudson River in June of 1894 and renumbered to # 1155. The loco was
renumbered twice more, # 1404 in 1899 and # 44 in 1905. To Southern Iron
& Equipment # 761, resold to Mitchell Mountain Coal & Iron Co.
# 1 on March 5, 1913, which was resold to C. W. Lane & Co. # 27 of
Atlanta. GC&L purchased the engine as their # 338, and sold it to Greene
County RR # 338 on 11/5/1917. This locomotive was shipped under its own
steam as the distance was short. Later returned to GC&L and resold
under its old number 338 to the Kaul Lumber Co. # 338 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama
on Nov. 22, 1919.
Greene County RR # 100, a center door combination car
used in the days of segregation of the races. Known as a "Jim Crow " car
for the so called "Jim Crow" laws in effect by most of the Southern states
during this period. The center area was used as a baggage area.
To
the Greene County RR Roster Page
Return
to Taplines