Re: The Gainesville Midland and Her Sister Short Lines

Chapter 12

Athens Terminal Company


There has been little I could find on the Athens Terminal Company except
the small blurb already in the main text.
However, thanks to both Don Hensley and Allen Stanley, I have the
following information from the 1917 ICC valuation of railroads.
Apparently the ATC did not own any equipment and was owned by both
the SAL and GM.

INSERT atc1.jpg HERE

INSERT atc2.jpg HERE




Chapter 13

The Gainesville Midland Railway
(1904-1936)

INSERT GM 100 Builders tap.jpg HERE

The Gainesville Midland Railway was chartered on August 2. 1904 (30)
by George Johnson Baldwin (1856-1927). G. J. Baldwin was a businessman with
wide financial interests. From a short paragraph concerning his papers kept at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (excerpt below from their web site), he
had many business interests throughout Georgia.

Business executive of Savannah, Ga., and New York City.
Business and personal papers relating to G. J. Baldwin's
25-year association with Stone and Webster of Boston,
electrical engineers, financiers, and managers
of public utility companies; to his affairs as president of
street railway and electric companies in Savannah and
Columbus, Ga., Jacksonville, Tampa, Pensacola, and Key
West, Fla., and Houston, Tex.; to investment properties in
Columbus, Ga., including water power; to the Chestatee
Pyrites Company and its mines near Dahlonega, Ga.; to
the Gainesville Midland Railroad and related subsidiary
companies; and to the Savannah Board of Trade. Also
reflected are his interests in fertilizer, cotton, rice, real
estate, brick manufacture, and the pursuit of potential
investment properties; and his connections with civic,
charitable, and educational
institutions and activities. The papers do not include files
of the New York-based maritime companies with which
Baldwin was connected, but do include personal and
Georgia business papers for his New York years, 1916-
1922.

G. J. Baldwin had interests in the Chestatee Pyrites Mines west of
Clermont, Ga. He apparently had discussions with the Gainesville and Dahlonega
Railroad and the proposed Gainesville and Northwestern Railroad about rail
service to his mine. He was also concerned about competition for shipping his
chemicals (which were used in ammunition until after WWI). Due to the strategic
nature of pyrite, the mine was frequently referred to as a copper mine in many old
texts.
What would have happened to the GJ&S if G. J. Baldwin had not
purchased it is speculative. However it being an isolated narrow gauge railroad
left the GJ&S with some major handicaps that could have brought down the
railroad in bankruptcy (liquidation) by the Great Depression.
G. J. Baldwin knew that to keep from being gouged by shipping fees, he
needed to be able to ship via different larger railroads. He apparently felt that
while not owning the new G&NW was acceptable, Southern Railway was not
acceptable as a sole shipping source. The transshipment to GJ&S narrow gauge
in Gainesville for the trip to Social Circle and the a second transshipment for the
Georgia Railroad was not competitive.
The 1909 Monroe Sanborn map (shown in the appendix on Monroe),
shows a probable Ramsey Transfer facility. A Ramsey Transfer is a method of
allowing standard gauge cars to operate on narrow gauge track by swapping out
the "trucks" (trucks are the name for the wheel assemblies under each end of a
freight car).
Once narrow gauge trucks are placed underneath a standard gauge car,
it can travel the length of the narrow gauge railroad assuming the railroad has
enough clearance for standard gauge cars. With a second Ramsey transfer in
Gainesville (no evidence found of this), loads from the mines could be
transported in standard gauge cars from Chestatee to Clermont to Gainesville and
then via the narrow gauge to Monroe. They then would be returned to their
standard gauge wheels for the rest of the journey.
Apparently Mr Baldwin's interest was in getting to Athens for the
maximum number of shipping options (interchange with Seaboard Air Line,
Georgia Railroad, Central of Georgia, Southern Ry). With an almost immediate
move by the Gainesville Midland to build a standard gauge line to Athens and
the timetables starting to call the GJ&S Monroe mainline the GM Monroe branch,
it appears that Baldwin was more than happy to allow the Monroe - Social Circle
portion of the GJ&S to be separated and formed into the Monroe Railroad.
Continuing along this line of thought, the Ramsey Transfer may have
been a stop-gap measure for a short time until the Athens line was opened for
traffic.
The Gainesville Midland opened the long awaited Athens branch in
1906. Some sources say that the Gainesville - Belmont (which Florence Junction
was later called) section was dual gauged and others say that it was standard
gauge only. Since the shops were in Gainesville, I tend to believe that it was dual
gauged.
Besides regauging the line, several changes were made. Some of those
were the switch from link-and-pin couplers to Janney automatics and later to the
knuckle coupler that is in general use by all of today's railroads. Then there was
the switch from hand brakes to vacuum brakes on narrow gauge equipment and
air brakes on standard gauge rolling stock (32).

INSERT 1906 og tt.jpg HERE

1906 Gainesville Midland Timetable when the railroad was still narrow
gauge. From 1906 Official Guide of the Railways.

Although they posted a very high 92.46% operating ratio in
1908, it was better than the 105.63% the GJ&S posted in 1900.
The GJ&S 1901 report to the Public Service Commission
stated that the line consisted of the following:

52 miles of track from Gainesville to Social Circle (mainline)
13 miles of track from Belmont to Jefferson (branch)
5 miles of sidings from Gainesville to Social Circle
1 miles of sidings from Belmont to Jefferson

The mainline had 17.51 miles of curved track
The mainline had 34.40 miles of straight track
The branch had 4.48 miles of curved track
The branch had 8.52 miles of straight track

The mainline had 28.25 miles of ascending grades numbering
107
The mainline had 23.20 miles of descending grades numbering
106
The branch had 9.41 miles of ascending grades numbering 32
The branch had 3.44 miles of descending grades numbering 35

The mainline ascended a total of 1886.9 feet, averaging 1.27%
The mainline descended a total of 1524.0 feet, averaging 1.24%
The branch ascended a total of 624.2 feet, averaging 1.26%
The branch descended a total of 507.3 feet, averaging 2.79%

The GJ&S had 4 bridges totaling 297 feet and ranging from 39
to 97
feet and it had one trestle being 709 feet in length.

From the 1907 GM report, they had bought several pieces of
equipment with air brakes during the year.

1 locomotive
3 coaches
1 combine (combination baggage car and coach)
14 box cars
9 coal cars (gondolas)
1 caboose

For the year ending June 30, 1907, this gave a total of:

7 locomotives ( 3 with vacuum brakes, 4 with air brakes)
8 coaches ( 2 vacuum, 3 air, 3 hand)
5 combines (3 vacuum, 1 air, 1 hand)
66 box cars (14 air, 52 hand)
11 flat cars (11 hand)
2 stock cars (2 hand)
9 coal (9 air)
13 service (13 hand)
5 cabooses (1 air, 4 hand)

The 1907 Public Service Commission Report stated that the 19 miles
Jefferson to Fowler Junction (Athens) opened for business October 1, 1906. The
old narrow gauge from Gainesville to Jefferson was 40 pound rail. The new
standard gauge was laid with 55 pound steel rail and new ties, and that the
standard gauge from Jefferson to Fowler Junction was laid with 55 pound steel
rail and new ties.
The 1909 PSC report has listed some interesting information.
There were 32 miles of 36" gauge track from Belmont to Monroe and 40
miles of standard gauge track from Gainesville to Fowler Jct. (Athens). There
were also 13 trestles totaling 5293 feet in aggregate length with individual trestles
ranging from 50 to 685 feet.
The 1910 PSC report was the earliest I noticed that the Athens Terminal Company
was reported as owned 50% by the GM Ry and 50% by SAL. I suspect that the
ATC was formed in the 1905-1906 time frame for standard gauge access to
Athens with SAL.
The operating ratio was good at 75.12%. Another minor item was a
settlement of accounts concerning "fire loss at Winder on Oct 5, 1907 $8181.26".
Apparently the GM rented some locomotives and a coach during the year:

Kind of equipment Name of Lessor number of units amount
locomotive Ga. RR 42« $426.83
locomotive SI&E 32¬ 322.84
coach Georgia Car 3 months 300.00

A list of privately owned cars that traveled on the Gainesville Midland in
1910 was found in the PSC report. Since a trip from Athens to Gainesville is about
42 miles, I decided to call an average trip on the GM to be 42 miles. This could be
a one-way trip or a round trip from one end to the middle.
Assuming this, the Armour Car Line has 65 trips on the GM during the
year. This means that their box cars showed up on the GM about once every 5-6
days.

name of owner description number of 42 mile
car-miles trip
American Cotton Oil Company tank 192 4.57
Cudahy Refrigerator Line box 168 4.00
German American Tank Line tank 44 1.05
Missouri Railway Dispatch box 84 2.00
Proctor & Gamble tank 344 8.19
Swift Refrigerator Line box 84 2.00
Southern Refining tank 460 10.95
Sterling Tank Line tank 64 1.52
Southern Cotton Oil Line tank 354 8.43
St Louis Independent Packaging Co box 168 4.00
Union Tank Line tank 712 16.95
Armour Car Line box 2727 64.93

Gainesville - Athens 42 miles
Gainesville - Monroe 42 miles

I transcribed the 1910 commodities break down for the GM. It is
interesting to note that other manufactured goods constitutes over 27% of the
total traffic. Of the total traffic of 93822 tons, 29.9% are from on line customers to
on line customers, 10.9% are outbound loads and 59.2% are inbound loads.
It was not until the G&NW was open for business in 1914 that bridge traffic
would have been needed.
Railway Age reported in its December 15, 1911 issue that a railroad was
proposed from Athens via Smithson and Lexington and Sandy Cross to
Washington and that the Gainesville Midland was interested in the venture.
The 1912 PSC report had the odd bit of trivia concerning "rent on
borrowed equipment".

passenger 6 $5.00 each
freight 12,365 30› each
15,124 35› each

1910 PSC report commodity chart.

INSERT june1910.jpg HERE

In 1915, the Monroe branch was standard gauged and they reported
that all narrow gauge rolling stock was retired.

3 locomotives
5 coaches
3 combines
63 box cars
7 flat cars
2 stock cars
8 coal cars
13 service
and 3 cabooses

It cost $300,000 to regauge the branch and it would speed up service by
not needing to transfer goods between cars at each end of the narrow gauge.
The ICC valuation of the GM on June 30, 1915 was $1,174,665.
The 1915 PSC report contained the following items of interest:

Old depot at Gainesville retired
Old offices at Gainesville retired

46.00 miles of 56 pound rail
1.50 miles of 60 pound rail
24.50 miles of 65 pound rail

Box cars 2 25 ton
20 30 ton
Flat car 2 25 ton
2 30 ton
coal 1 30 ton

G&NW lease of GM track

All of the Gainesville yard and facilities including line from New Holland
(located in the switching limits of Gainesville) to and including connection
with Southern Railway at Gainesville excepting shops.

The charge for use of tracks and joint facilities based on a valuation of
$54,000.00 at a rate of 1¬% or an annual charge of $675.00 In addition to this
charge they pay for the upkeep of all joint facilities including interest on a
basis of tonnage handled by each line through said terminals.

Between 1905 and 1915, earnings looked like this (34)

1905 $ 52 1909 ( 2,085) 1913 (34,271)

1906 (10,543) 1910 ( 8,590) 1914
(14,650)
1907 (34,379) 1911 ($2,528) 1915
(43,806)
1908 (27,963) 1912 (15,830)

The line seemed to pay dearly for the improvements.
Between 1916 and 1921, the line headed for receivership.
Although the line posted an acceptable operating ratio of 69.47% in
1916, ratios in following years dropped to an abysmal 123.69% in
1920. The line was controlled by the United States Railroad
Administration (USRA) during WWI and in the last year of USRA
operation the largest loss ever occurred. The USRA was not interested
in profit or loss, but instead, it was interested in keeping the supplies
moving for the World War I effort. The change in priority from profit to
war support was not good for the Gainesville Midland's precarious
financial position.
As an aside, the Federal Government's temporary seizure of all
railroads (not just the Gainesville Midland) during WWI was a reaction
due to a railroad worker's strike over pay and the railroad's reaction of
temporarily stopping running any trains. The Federal Government could
not get supplies to the docks for shipment to Europe to support our
troops.

1916 ($19,419) 1919 USRA ($31,217)
1917 ( 71,101) 1920 USRA (118,346)
1918 ( 30,418) 1921 ( 4,020)
Note: (USRA) after date means the United States Railroad
Administration controlled line that year for the WWI war effort.

In the June 1916 PSC report, entries for 30, 60 and 90 day notes
to the Greene County Railroad had been issued. In the December 1916
PSC report, entries stating that the coaches had 54 seats and combines
had 27 seats. Additionally, a new 1060 foot siding of 56# rail in
Gainesville was added.
The changes and items of interest in the 1917 PSC report include
the construction of side track at Walker Park, GA in October, 1916
and the construction of a 515 foot side track at Jefferson, GA in July,
1917. An interesting line item concerning hauling commodities is that a
single ton of coal might be hauled more than once on the line.
"Bituminous Coal, 836 tons originating on GM Ry as local billing.
This coal originates on foreign lines but resold to other parties by
original purchaser."
The USRA paid the GM $22,731.58 in rent was reported in the 1919
PSC report.

INSERT gm 1919 orer.jpg HERE

This is an excerpt from the Official Railway Equipment Register of 1919.

The USRA returned the Gainesville Midland to the owners on March 1,
1920. Also reported in the 1920 PSC report, one coal car was retired and the
construction of a 415 foot siding at Talmo.

INSERT oct 1920 og.jpg HERE

This is an excerpt from the Official Guide of the Railways Equipment Register for
October 1920.

On February 15, 1921, the line was again thrown into receivership (35).
Railway Age reported on March 11 that the receivership had gone to Gordon,
Carson, and W B. Veazey of Gainesville. The PSC report reported that flat car 502
had been retired with a sale/scrap value of $855.00.
As an aside, G. J. Baldwin turned 65 in 1921. Mr. Baldwin owned 98.5% of
the railroad.
With continuing losses since 1906, on February 2, 1924; a receiver was
appointed: J D Patterson (37).
The line tried to cut costs by substituting gasoline powered rail busses
for some steam passenger trains in 1924. An entry in the 1924 PSC report, "Motor
bus purchased for $2573.13. Built by Graham Brothers and sold through
Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Co."
The addition of 365 foot side track for a construction company « mile
south of Holders side track near Jefferson was reported in the 1925 PSC report.
The PSC was informed in 1926 that eight (8) box cars had been retired.
The year 1927 brought some hope to the ragged little line. The Seaboard
Air Line Railroad offered to buy the line if it would receive $5,000 in stock and
$36,000 in 20 year 6% bonds and if the Monroe branch was abandoned. The ICC
approved the abandonment.
Trivial entries in the 1927 PSC report included "714 feet of side tracks
added", "removal of side track at Jefferson yielding 7.05 tons of 40 and 46
pound relay rail", "construction of 489 foot side track at Jefferson with 46 and
55# relay rail", and "construction of about 225 feet of side track at Gainesville
with 60 pound relay rail".
As an aside, G. J. Baldwin died this same year (1927) at the age of 71.
According to the 1928 PSC report, the sale of GM to SAL was rejected by
ICC in April. Additionally, coach 20 was dismantled and an extension of a siding
in Hoschton, a distance of 60 feet to the end of a warehouse, in October cost
$107.52.
Over the years, the Public Service Commission reports changed their
formats and what was reported. Additionally, the person filling out the reports
could be sometimes verbose or concise. For some years, there are locomotive or
rolling stock equipment numbers and other years there are just quantities of
locomotives or coaches.
Between 1928 and 1935, the GM struggled on. In 1932, the loss of an
important connection occurred when the G&NW was abandoned (40). Also in
1932, it applied for a $55,105 loan and had $25,000 granted only to have it revoked
in 1933(41). Operating ratios were in the 70's and 80's with only one in the 100's
and yet little profit was made (42)
With the 1929 report, I found nine (9) items of interest.

1) side track for Randolph Brothers, Gainesville, Ga. Planing Mill length 344 feet
cost $659.31
2) extension to coal track Gainesville, Georgia 56 feet $71.74
3) retirement of 52 feet of side track south of cotton mill, Jefferson, GA $45.76
4) retirement of 476 feet of side track at Arcade, GA $512.40
5) side track to serve Parsons Gin Company at Monroe, Ga. Planning Mill length
246 feet cost $465.74
6) side track to serve H. A. Terrell and Son Wholesale Grocery, Gainesville, Ga. -
181 feet cost $402.92
7) Exchange of locomotives with SI&E
8) All 10 remaining box cars retired.
9) 2nd rail bus already on line at the beginning of the reporting year.

The 1930 PSC report contains even more interesting entries.

1) 3 camp cars on roster
2) Construction of a 118 foot side track for Georgia Gas Co. in Gainesville in July
3) Removal of a 268 foot side track at the south end of the Klondike siding in
June
4) Receiver controlling railroad.
5) Depreciation on Motor Buses and Motor Equipment of cars charged at 20% of
ledger values.
All other equipment charged at 4% of ledger.
The life of our equipment kept in good running repairs is estimated by our
Master Mechanics as follows:
4 - Locomotives - ten to fifteen years
2 - Motor Buses - two years
4 - Passenger Cars - two years
1 - Freight Caboose - seven years
1 - Flat Cars - seven years
1 - Camp Cars - seven years
6) relay rail applied to mainline
75 pounds per yard rail 33 tons (2240 pounds) = approximately 493 feet of
track.
70 pounds per yard rail 19 tons (2240 pounds) = approximately 304 feet of
track.
7) relay rail applied to yard and siding tracks
65 pounds per yard rail 8 tons (2240 pounds) = approximately 138 feet of
track.
56 pounds per yard rail 7 tons (2240 pounds) = approximately 140 feet of
track.
This is as near an estimate as can be made from the records.
8) The 70 and 75 pound relay rail laid during 1930 was purchased at a lower price
than the relay rail taken up hence a credit to account number 9 for property
retired and taken into stock.

The 1931 PSC report announced the retirement of a 489 foot side track at
Mulberry in March. As with the 1930 PSC report, the 1932 report contains even
more interesting entries. Item number 2 appears to be the construction of the
long industrial lead track on the south side of the Southern Railway in
Gainesville.

1) Retirement of camp box car #114 required much explanation since it had been
accidentally dropped from the accounting records. It was purchased in 1905
to help build the Jefferson to Athens branch.
2) Construction of 0.823 miles of new industrial track in Gainesville.
3) New locomotive #100purchased from Baldwin Loco Works Phila. Pa. Sept 1906
locomotive #106 purchased from SI&E, Atlanta, GA July, 1923
rebuilt locomotive #107 purchased from SI&E, Atlanta, GA July, 1928
rebuilt locomotive #108 purchased from SI&E, Atlanta, GA October, 1929
locomotive #106 originally built in 1901 by American Locomotive Works
locomotive #107 originally built in 1900 by Brooks Locomotive Works
locomotive #108 originally built in 1900 by Brooks Locomotive Works

In 1933, two sidings were retired, a 120 foot siding at Arcade and a 360
foot siding at Redstone.
The resolution of the bankruptcy of the Gainesville & Northwestern was being
determined by the courts in 1933 and 1934. The GM reported to the State of
Georgia in 1934 that the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad was not operating.
There was a "Junction settlement" of owed to G&NW $118.34. "As an off-set
against this credit, the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad owes the
Gainesville Midland Railway $658.00 for car service balances receivable
(account 713) and $1188.26 in miscellaneous accounts receivable (account
715).
All the above accounts are for the years 1932 and 1933 and as that
there is no prospect of a settlement we expect to ask permission of the Bureau of
Accounts to clean same through profit and loss accounts in 1935.
The Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad is now being dismantled by Garson
Iron & Steel Co., Norfolk, VA, the purchasers at forced sale May 1, 1934 at
Courthouse Gainesville, Hall County, Georgia."
In 1935 it was reported "Used Locomotive 109 purchased "second hand"
October 1935. After running this locomotive we found the flues in bad shape. It
will be no doubt be necessary to spend $3-4,000 on it. Rather than go through
such expense we may decide to sell it in its present shape and purchase
another. For the present it is out of service and has been for several weeks." to
the PSC.
One piece of new construction extended tracks past Piedmont Lumber Company
for use of Pernell & Harley Inc Contractors - Gainesville. The rail used was 48
pound relay.
The earnings per year varied from 1922 to 1935. From 1927 to
1930, the GM Ry actually earned its way. Even during the Great
Depression, the losses were less than the losses during the "Roaring
20s". It is interesting that Baldwin died in 1927 at age 71 and that the
railroad actually started making money. The losses started again when
the G&NW was abandoned.

1922 ($59,695) 1929 $18,102
1923 ( 43,970) 1930 1,630
1924 ( 77,778) 1931 (7,388)
1925 ( 69,098) 1932 (21,353)
1926 ( 16,747) 1933 (1,014)
1927 19,995 1934 (5,003)
1928 8,785 1935 (59)

INSERT image172.jpg HERE

1929 Gainesville Midland Timetable. From 1929 Official Guide of the
Railways.

INSERT may 1936 og.jpg HERE

1935 Gainesville Midland Timetable. From October 1936 Official
Guide of the Railways.

The picture leading this chapter is a builder's photograph from Baldwin
Locomotive works of GM #100. From the Herbert L. Broadbelt
Collection of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1871-1954 (now in the
possession of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania). Photo in the
author's collection.

Chapter 14

The Gainesville Midland Narrow Gauge

In this short chapter, I present several narrow gauge photos of the
railroad. I have not found many. There are several more that I know of that I do
not preset here. One is the Builder's photo of GJ&S #3/GM #3. Another is the last
narrow gauge train shown in Gainesville prior to its last trip. At the Georgia
Vanishing Vistas web site, there is a photo of Mulberry depot of the Gainesville
Jefferson and Southern in the 1890's. Also on the same web site there are several
photos of the narrow gauge GM in Winder.

INSERT Narro_1.jpg HERE

This first photo was taken in 1915. It is from the collection of Donald M. Hensley
Jr. It is also available from the Vanishing Vistas webs site of the Georgia State
Archives as are several other photos of interest to this book but not reproduced
here. I also received a copy from the collection of Charles B. Gillespie, M.D.

INSERT last ng train monroe 1915 tap.jpg HERE

This photo taken in Monroe in 1915 shows the same train about ready to
depart. It is from the collection of Donald M. Hensley Jr.
The Gainesville Midland had several "lasts" that were note worthy.
Besides the last narrow gauge train in Georgia in 1915, it was the last 100% steam
powered railroad in 1959 and it operated the last regular steam powered freight
train in Georgia (also 1959).
GM also had at least one "first". It operated the first steam railroad fan trip
in 1959 of the fledgling Atlanta Chapter National Railway Historical Society. The
first one was hauled by GM 203 and GM 301 double heading. In later years, the
Atlanta Chapter NRHS and the Southern Railway steam program regularly sent
steam locomotives from Atlanta to Gainesville several times a year. The last
steam locomotive to turn a wheel on the Gainesville Midland under its own
power was the Atlanta Chapter's own Savannah & Atlanta 750 in the mid-1970's.

INSERT gm 946 tap.jpg HERE

This photo of locomotive 946. #946 is claimed to be GM #946 and ex-GM
#3. I do not know the year it was taken but it had to be 1915 or earlier. I have
found no records of a GM #946 or of GM #3 being renumbered. It is very
possible that I never found the records others have. This does look a lot like the
locomotive pulling the narrow gauge last train. It is interesting to note that the
rear of the tender has been raised and the rear truck (wheel assembly) has been
rolled out from underneath. Georgia Car and Locomotive frequently painted their
record number on a locomotive while waiting to sell it. This might be the case
here.
This photo is from the collection of Donald M. Hensley Jr.

INSERT crew removing ng rails 1915 tap.jpg HERE

In this final photo from Don Hensley's collection, a track gang removing the
narrow gauge rails in 1915. The 36" narrow gauge rails are the small rails between
the larger standard gauge rails the hand car is on. The smaller rails appear to be
the 30 and 40 pound per yard rails that were worn so badly. The larger standard
gauge rails are probably in the 56-65 pound per yard range.

INSERT GM_X1a.jpg HERE

And the last "narrow gauge" photo shows GM 100, a standard gauge 4-6-
0. This is from the collection of Charles B. Gillespie, M.D.
The tracks have both the long standard gauge ties and the shorter narrow
gauge ties under the rails. The narrow gauge rails had already been removed. I
suspect that this is 1915 but might have been early 1916.