Gainesville/Midland Train, Engine and Coal Car in Jefferson.

Paul Bridges
The Gainesville Midland, chartered in 1904, purchased most of the property of the Gainesville, Jefferson & Southern Railroad under a foreclosure sale the same year. It acquired a two-pronged, narrow-gauge line connecting Gainesville, Jefferson, and Monroe.

In 1906, the GM constructed a extension south from Jefferson to a connection with the Seaboard Air Line two miles west of Athens at Fowler Junction. From there, GM trains continued to Athens through a trackage rights agreement with SAL.
The Athens extension was built at standard gauge but the rest of the line was still a narrow-gauge operation. The tracks from Jefferson to Gainesville were the first to be converted, in 1908. It was not until 1913 that the Monroe branch's tracks were widened.

In 1947-48 the GM abandoned the Monroe branch (Belmont to Monroe). Among the communities losing rail service were Braselton, Hoschton, and Bethlehem.

In 1959, GM’s 40-mile line from Gainesville to Athens was sold to Seaboard Air Line Railroad.
Information taken from https://railga.com/gm.html?fbclid=IwAR0eBf6gRVNbFlaMltn22kOCOkrnI1a7gBWF5ESAtRkPkaE0_vuYVg8cJzs