Can anyone provide any information on the long gone Macon and Birmingham Railway ? As far as I can tell, it streched from the East side of LaGrange, Ga. (junction with AB&C) eastward to the southwest side of Macon, where it joined the Central. (near Tinley)

Cities along the line were Woodbury (intersected Southern & AB&C ?),Thomaston, Yatesville, & Hardy. Year of incorporation? how long operated ? Any trace of it left today ?

-- Greg Hodges (ghodges@smpsfa.com), October 11, 1999

Answers

The M&B depot in Thomaston burned at least twice during the operating lifetime of the company, but the last depot building, made of brick (I don't know exact year built), survives very much intact, well- preserved, and in use as a "feed and seed" store. Even the tracks (now unused)are still in place.

-- David E. Paterson (tescodep@aol.com), July 03, 2000.

The siding has been pulled off an old M&B structure for firewood?? This sounds like what happened to the old Frenchman's place in "The Hamlet" by William Faulkner.

However, a character in that novel claimed folks have got so lazy they won't even reach above arm level to pull down kindling, so maybe at least the roof is safe for a while longer.

In the meantime let's hope somebody can get down there with some heat pumps or furnaces and distract folks away from the depot.

-- Ron Wright (ron@cofg.org), November 24, 1999.

wrong E mail on my response

-- bill jones (wrjones845@aol.com), November 24, 1999.

Larry, The old Station near the Montpelier area is just about gone,with almost all of the siding pulled off for fire wood. It is located down the road from the Tabernacle Baptist Church Lake/Craft fair ground. Can't remember the county road name now. Dyas is still covered with vines. The Thunder Springs station?, I don't really know. I'll try and send some photos soon. I go over that way to Manchester every now and then. Draop me a note on Email. Bill

-- Bill Jones (wrjonew845@aol.com), November 24, 1999.

Bill, Can you be more specific as to the type of structure, and exact location, of those at Montpelier Station and Crest? I have known about the Dyas depot for years and have heard of the other two but never knew exactly what to look for or how to get to them. And speaking of Dyas, the last time I saw it a couple of years ago, it was about to be swallowed up by vines. Thanks.

-- Larry Goolsby (LGoolsby@aphsa.org), November 24, 1999.

There are still a couple of structures that are standing on the old M&B right of way. Two are located off Ga 74 on the south side near Montpelier Station at the Echeconnee creek and Dyas on Ga 42 at the same creek. Another structure is located near Camp Thunder Scout Camp on the Flint River off Ga 74 east of Crest Ga.

-- Bill Jones (wrjones845@AOL.com), November 24, 1999.

Gary has covered the "where", I'll try to do the "when".

The Macon & Birmingham Railroad was chartered on December 26, 1888. It was built by th4e Macon Construction Company, which also built the Georgia Southern & Florida Railway. The road was completed on January 25, 1891, from Sofkee to LaGrange, Ga. and was surveyed beyond LaGrange for several miles. The Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic Railway (now CSXT) was built on this right of way some time later.

The company entered receivership in April of 1892 and was reorganized as the Macon & Birmingham Railway on May 27, 1896. The Southern Railway Company was involved in the new corporation, having purchased bonds and notes issued by the new corporation.

The new company failed to make a profit at any time and entered receivership a second time on February 1, 1908. By 1922, the receiver, Robert B. Pegram, reported to the court that thecompany had only one locomotive, no rolling stock, and no credit. It was having to borrow money to continue operations, its suppliers having put it on a cash basis. The line would also require extensive (and expensive) repairs in order to operate safely.

The court authorized Pegram to cease operations, which was done on November 15, 1922.

After several unsuccessful efforts to sell the line as a going concern, application for abandonment was filed with the ICC on September 23, 1926, and was approved on December 6 of that same year.

Bob Hanson

-- Robert H. Hanson (RHanson669@aol.com), October 17, 1999.

Several years ago I purchased a complete set of valuation maps of the Macon & Birmingham from the National Archives ($600+). The M&B actually began in Sofkee, GA, milepost 8 on the GS&F. It looped back north a short distance before turning west, crossing over the CofG. The M&B crossed the present I-75 at Hartley Bridge Road - the track was immediately north of Hartley Bridge Road.

It passed through Lizella and north of Culloden, crossing over the Southern between Culloden and Yatesville. The two tracks were parallel for several miles between these two point. The M&B met the Upson County RR (CofG Thomaston Dist,) at Blacks, between The Rock and Thomaston, and ran parallel to the CofG until the CofG line broke off to Silvertown just east of Thomaston. The M&B continued westward through downtown Thomaston and westward to Crest. The southern section of the CofG loop in Thomaston is the old M&B mainline. The CofG operated the line out to Crest up until WWII. Lots of peach packing sheds out there.

From Crest the line roughly followed Thundering Spring down to the Flint River. The piers from the old bridge are still in the river. The M&B crossed the AB&C (ACL) and SRR at Woodbury. The val map shows a Union Station shared with the Southern.

Continuing westward the M&B crossed the CofG Raymond-Columbus line at grade at Harris City, then passed through Odessadale and Mountville. A book published by the Meriwether County Historical Society many years ago mentioned a granite quarry near Odessadale derved by the M&B. Stone quarried here was used to build the jetties for the U.S.Navy base at Mayport, FL.

The M&B met the A&WP at east LaGrange, just north of the old ACL overpass. The M&B main was the southernmost track on into LaGrange. CSX presently uses this as a passing track. The old A&WP yard in LaGrange was built and owned by the M&B; the A&WP didn't have much more than a main track and a siding to their freight house. A turntable was located at the south end of the yard, and the M&B had a standpipe for water, a coal dock, and an ashpit. The M&B station was directly across the yard from the A&WP station. Years later my dad's office was located in this building.

Hope this info is useful.

-- Gary Bechdol (gbechdol@rwhitehead.com), October 12, 1999.