Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Shady Dale


Most folks who ride through Shady Dale in Jasper County aren't aware there used to be two separate railroads that operated in this town. Back in 1889-1893, the Middle Georgia & Atlantic Railway ran from Covington to Eatonton via Shady Dale (Machen). The tracks for this line that continue south to Eatonton are no longer in place from what I can tell but there is a small sign of it still in place he...re just past this crossing off of Hwy 83.

The Central of Georgia purchased the MG&A in 1896 and operated the line from Machen to Porterdale up until around 1988. In 2013, the Covington to Newborn section was abandoned and track subsequently removed while CaterParrott RailNet (blue locomotives) operates the Newborn to Machen portion.

The second part on the right first began life as the Covington & Macon Railroad and then the Macon & Northern in the late 1800's before ultimately being acquired by the Central of Georgia as well. The line once operated from Macon to Lula, GA via Athens. Today, CaterParrott operates the portion from Machen to Madison, GA with the Madison to Athens line currently abandoned with tracks still in place. Norfolk Southern (seen on the right with west coast BNSF power) operates between Machen and Macon.

Macon & Northern: http://railga.com/macnthrn.html
Middle Georgia & Atlantic: http://railga.com/midga.html
Van Byous

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