Re: less well known narrow gauge railroads.

Doug,
Nice to hear from another Georgian narrow gauge nut. Georgia apparently had a bunch of slim gauge lines throughout the state; one of them still operates today although in it's standard gauge conversion. I'm talking about the Hartwell Railroad and it runs ten miles, from Hartwell to Bowersville, Ga. The line was built as a 3' narrow gage in 1879 and was converted in 1905 to standard gauge. Construction is typical narrow gage with the rails simply following the rolling terrain; there are very few cuts or fills and the few that exist are very minimal. Today the track is almost impossible to follow because the weeds and grass obscure all but the rail tops and flange areas. A sharp eye is needed to follow the ROW but it can be done as the local roads parallel most of it from Harwell to Bowersville. There is a turning wye near Bowersville where the line interchanges with CSX (or whatever they've become). A lone SW1200 is the motive power and the line operates a few days a week. They used to run a steam engine as a tourist operation back in the late 80's and there were a few coaches and a couple of GE 40 Tonners sitting in the small yard/depot area in downtown Hartwell; the engine, GE's and coach's are gone now. There is a Tenneco Mfg plant in Hartwell and a silica transfer siding that generate revenue for the line.
I will be out in Chama at the end of August for the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec work session. If you're not a member check it out....let me know if you'd like more info.... Mike