Petersen Supply Company has notified us of a delay in the estimated delivery date of their custom production run of an HO scale EMD E7 in the Central of Georgia’s classic blue, gray, and black scheme.The original announcement is here.
At present, delivery is estimated to be December/January.
Kadee Quality Products Co. has released their HO scale 40′ PS-1 box car in the Central of Georgia’s “Compartmentizer” paint scheme. The highly detailed cars feature 7-panel Superior doors and are based on the CofGa’s 6200–6207 series of special “Compartmentizer Equipped” cars built by Pullman in 1954. The paint scheme represents cars shop repainted beginning in 1959, with “The Right Way” slogan, monogram, and slanted “Compartmentizer” logo.
One road number is available: 6205 (stock 4928)
Photograph of CG 6205 “Compartmentizer” car (Collection of the Central of Georgia Railway Historical Society)
The April–June 2014 issue of The Right Way, the Central of Georgia Railway Historical Society’s official publication, was mailed to members on Thursday, May 8, 2014.
Articles include:
Membership expiration is based on the last issue that a member is to receive. A one year membership in the Central of Georgia Railway Historical Society always includes four issues of The Right Way (regardless of the publication date). This ensures that each member receives the full benefit of their membership.
The Central of Georgia Railway is featured in an article in the Summer 2014 issue of Classic Trains. The four-page article, written by Society President Allen Tuten, covers the history of the CofGa, beginning with the formation of the Central Rail Road & Canal Co. of Georgia in December 1833 through the takeover in 1963 by the Southern Railway. A general overview of operations is also provided. Several photographs from the Society’s collection are included.
The article is part of Classic Trains’ “Fallen Flags Remembered” series. Contact information for the Society is included in the “fact file” that accompanies the article.
The 106-page softcover magazine sells for $8.99 and is published by Kalmbach Publishing Company. It should be available at your favorite hobby shop, from the Classic Trains web site at www.classictrainsmag.com or direct from the publisher at (800) 533-6644.
Atlas Model Railroad Co. has produced their N and HO scale 1932 ARA 40′ steel boxcars in the Central of Georgia’s unique “Streamlined Money-Saver Service” scheme. The models represent cars built by Pullman in 1937 (CG 4000–4499) and repainted by the CofGa in mid 1952, and will be equipped with metal wheelsets and AccuMate couplers. Three road numbers will be available in each scale:
4005 (stock 50 001 548, N scale; stock 20 002 598, HO scale)
4054 (stock 50 001 549; stock 20 002 599)
4095 (stock 50 001 550; stock 20 002 600)
The Society worked closely with Atlas to help ensure the accuracy of the stenciling for these models.
A collection of original Central of Georgia company negatives and contact prints from the 1930s and 1940s has recently been donated to the Society. The negatives and prints were recovered from one of the CofGa’s office buildings in Savannah, Ga., a number of years ago.
The collection consists of 922 original negatives and 719 contact prints (most of the contact prints are made from negatives in the collection), all in original envelopes with typed identification. There are images of many different subjects, including operating equipment, trackage, buildings, facilities, people, and agriculture.
Some of the original envelopes with typed identification
Some of the images were used in Central of Georgia Magazine during the 1930s and 1940s.
Several of the original contact prints and negatives. All will be cleaned and stored in archival sleeves and envelopes.
A number of the negatives and prints need to be cleaned. All will then be indexed and placed in protective sleeves which will then be put in acid-free envelopes.
The Society is grateful for this donation!
The spring membership meeting of the Central of Georgia Railway Historical Society, Inc., was held Friday–Saturday, March 21–22, 2014, in the Durham, Ga., area. Around 6:00 p.m. on Friday night, we had an informal gathering in the meeting room at the Hampton Inn West in Chattanooga, Tenn.
On Saturday morning, we met in the meeting room at the Hampton Inn for a presentation by CGRHS Director Arnold Eaves on the Fort Oglethorpe Branch and mining operations at Durham.
We departed the Hampton Inn in vans and drove to Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., to see the former CofGa depot/yard area. (See the article “The CofGa’s Fort Oglethorpe Branch” in the October–December 2011 issue of The Right Way.) We then traveled south to Chickamauga to see the wye location and the remains of the Chickamauga coke ovens.
We followed the route of the Durham District across Missionary Ridge to McCallie Lake, and then up Powder Springs Road (built on the former CofGa roadbed). We stopped along the road to see one of the old CofGa concrete/brick culverts which still carry water under the roadbed.
Brick and concrete culvert under CofGa roadbed near McCallie Lake.
Following lunch, we visited the Lula Lake Land Trust at the top of the mountain. There, we walked a portion of the abandoned right of way alongside Rock Creek and beside Lula Lake and Lula Falls.
Eroded remains of Trestle No. 11 (note slag fill and remaining bents)
Original stone bridge abutments at Lula Lake.
We then went through the Hinkle Community to the site of Trestle No. 14 (filled in 1914).
Embankment at site of No. 14 Trestle (filled 1914)
After hiking out to the site of the trestle, we drove to the site of Durham, where the mines were located and where the CofGa line ended. There, we saw the old coke ovens, found the site of the wye, hiked some remaining roadbed, and the saw the remaining foundation of the tipple.
Ruins of the coke ovens at Durham (built 1890s)
Remains of tipple foundation at Durham, Ga.
About 25 people attended our meeting.
Accurail has released their HO scale USRA 50-ton two-bay open hoppers in the Central of Georgia’s The Right Way scheme. The kits represent the CofGa’s 21001–21300 series of hoppers built in 1923 by Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co. at Fairfield, Alabama. The cars are oxide red with white stenciling, including monogram, modified box reporting marks, and “The Right Way” slogan, representative of shop repainted cars from the late 1950s. One road number is available: 21274 (stock 25531). “Renumber decals” are also available (stock 25531D), which feature assorted white road numbers on an oxide red background. This is the second road number that Accurail has produced in this paint scheme.
The paint scheme represents cars shop painted in the late 1950s, with a reweigh date of “SAVH 3-55” and a repack date of “MA 4-16-57” (Savannah and Macon, respectively. The cars include a “The Right Way” slogan, which was used on freight cars beginning in late 1954. Open hoppers on the CofGa were black until a system wide change to oxide red in October 1948.
The Society will have a limited number of these kits available at train shows. They should also be available through your favorite hobby shop. They can be ordered direct from Accurail at www.accurail.com.
The recent re-release of the Central of Georgia Railway Historical Society’s HO scale ventilated boxcar kit is sold out as of March 2, 2014!!
The kits can no longer be ordered from our online store and we have filled all orders from the online store received as of March 1.
If there is sufficient interest, we may consider another run of these kits in the future. If you missed this kit but are still interested in acquiring one when (and if) we run them again, please contact Society president Allen Tuten at allen@cofga.org
Thank you for supporting the CGRHS with the purchase of our kits.
Wm. K. Walthers currently has an online survey regarding interest in various passenger train models. The CofGa’s Nancy Hanks II is included in part 13 of the survey, which asks respondents to indicate how likely they would be to purchase an HO scale “name train” model from Walthers.
Members are encouraged to complete the survey located here.