he ambitiously named Western and Atlantic Railroad (it never reached the Atlantic Ocean or anywhere west of Atlanta) ceased to exist in 1891, and at its peak commanded a main line only 137-miles long. Yet today, it is still one of the most easily recognizable names in the history of American railroading. Why? The W&A played an important role in two of the most famous incidents in the Civil War, including the Great Locomotive Chase (1862), and Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign (1864), where it served as the Union supply line. This booklet will examine the brief but significant life of this famous railroad.

The Coming of the Western & Atlantic Railroad

December 21, 1836 - the Georgia legislature authorizes the building of a state-owned railroad from Chattanooga to Terminus, Georgia (now Atlanta). Companion legislation was passed by the Tennessee General Assembly on January 24, 1838.

1837 – A survey for the nascent Western & Atlantic Railroad was conducted by S.H. Long, Chief Engineer of the Western and Atlantic railroad. The survey was presented on December 29, 1837 "To his excellency George R. Gilmer - Governor of Georgia, Milledgeville, Ga."

Excerpts from the 1837 survey

“Sir: I embrace the earliest opportunity to forward my report on the surveys executed under my direction, with a view to the selection of the most favorable route for a railroad from the Chattahoochee river to the Tennessee line..." (57-2, 57-3)

"The difficult and arduous task of discovering and choosing the most favorable route for a railroad, leading from a point in the Tennessee line, "at or near Rossville," to some point on the Chattahoochee between Winn's Ferry and Campbellton, separated from each other by a distance of seventy miles, has, by law, devolved upon me, as Chief Engineer of the Western and Atlantic railroad of the State of Georgia. Deeply impressed with the high responsibilities thus imposed, I embarked, as early as practicable, in a careful and thorough examination of the country, with a view to the effectual discharge of the duties of my appointment." (57-3)

"The country alluded to constitutes a very respectable portion of the region at present occupied by the Cherokee Indians, and generally designated as Cherokee country. It embraces that part of Georgia situated between the Chattahoochee river and the State of Tennessee. Its extent on the Chattahoochee, from Winn's Ferry to Campbellton, is about 70 miles, and on the Tennessee line, about half that distance, from Rossville eastwards; while its length, from north to south, is about 100 miles. Within this district are comprised the counties of Walker, Murray, Floyd, Cass, Cherokee, Forsyth, Paulding, Cobb, and a part of Campbell, all of which, except Paulding and Campbell, have county seats within the district. Its population is, as yet, very sparse, compared with the amount that might find most ample and comfortable subsistence therein; a very inconsiderable proportion of its surface is yet cleared and under cultivation..." (57-4)

"That portion of the district situated between the Chattahoochee river and the Blue ridge, constitutes a part of the gold district of Georgia, and contains several of the most productive gold mines of the State. The mines near Scudder's, Allatoona, and Burnt Hickory, are of this character." (57-5)

"With respect to the general elevation of the ridge dividing between the waters of the Chattahoochee and Etowah, which becomes coincident with the main spur of the Blue Ridge, near the Kinnesaw, Pine, and other mountains, at the sources of Allatoona, Pumpkinvine, Raccoon, Uharley, and Sweetwater creeks: This elevation...evidently decreases as we proceed northeastwardly from the sources of the Tallapoosa river, Sweetwater, and Uharley creeks, towards the center of Forsyth county..." (57-5)

Fold-out map from the original survey [1]

"Commencing on the Chattahoochee near Montgomery's ferry, the road crosses the Chattahoochee, and ascends to Marietta, the seat of justice for Cobb county. It there crosses the Kennesaw summit, on the north side of the mountain of the same name, and descends towards the Etowah, passing through the village of Allatoona."

"The 2d section, passing through the village of Marietta, is eight and half miles in length, and terminates at the point where the Kennesaw mountain intersects the ridge upon which its whole distance is coursed. By examining the profile, this will be found to be the most elevated summit between the Chattahoochee and Etowah rivers, 437 feet above the former, and 482 feet above the latter."

"The cost of a railroad, graded for two tracks, and furnished with one track only, has been computed only for the shortest of the routes above mentioned, viz: for the route extending from the Chattahoochee to the Red Clay council ground. Agreeably to the computation, the aggregate cost of road formulation, inclusive of bridges, culverts &c., is $1,095,597 50, or $10,142 28 per mile; and the aggregate cost of the road complete, with a single track, is $1,851,756 59, or $17,142 28 per mile. To this cost should be added fifteen per cent, to cover contingencies, engineering, superintendence &c., which will be for the aggregate cost of $2,129,920 08, or $19,713 62 per mile; a very small expenditure, compared with the cost of other similar works in the United States."

"Whenever the exigencies of trade and transportation shall require the addition of a second track, which will no doubt prove to be the case within the period of a very few years from the first opening of the road, the cost for the additional track may be assumed at $6,000 per mile."

“The Western and Atlantic railroad, when viewed in its relations to the natural and artificial channels of trade and intercourse above considered, is to be regarded as the main connecting link of a chain or system of internal improvements, more splendid and imposing than any other that has ever been devised in this or any other country. In contemplating the widely extended and incalculable benefits, in a civil or military, moral or commercial, and even religious point of view, that must undoubtedly result from its consummation, we are overwhelmed with the flood of magnificent results that breaks upon us. Among these, we venture to advert to one of the innumerable advantages hereafter to result from the sources above contemplated, in relation to which the south is most deeply interested, viz: the repopulation and reclamation of the worn out and deserted fields every where to be met with, in other parts of all the Southern States, by industrious white inhabitants, who will "replenish the waste places", and restore fertility to the exhausted glebe. With such an enterprise, and the means of its accomplishment in hand, and with such prospects inviting to its vigorous prosecution in view what destinies are too might, and what magnificence too exalted, for the anticipations of Georgia?"

Engineering obstacles

The W&A was very crooked, with 10,000 degrees of curvatures in 138 miles – enough to make 28 complete circles! Superintendent John W. Lewis stated in his 1860 annual report that the W&A was “the crookedest road under the sun”. Tunneling through the Chetoogeta Mountain (Tunnel Hill) was the biggest obstacle.

This map of the final route of the W&A shows just how crooked and curvy it was![2]

Construction

1838 - Over 500 men (including some Cherokee Indians) work on grading, road bed, and trestles

1840 – S. H. Long tenders his resignation after being criticized for slow progress

1842 - Charles Garnett is appointed chief engineer; a wooden office is built in Terminus

1845 – The first 20 miles of track are in operation (Terminus to Marietta)

An early photo of Atlanta (formerly, Terminus)[3]

Marietta Square, 1864 [4]

One of the towns that sprung up along the W&A right of way was Big Shanty, so named because of the collection of railroad shanties built there to house railroad workers and equipment. The c. 1880 photo above shows what may be one of the original Shanties.

1847 – The W&A is completed to Dalton; Garnett resigns as Chief Engineer

1848 - William L. Mitchell becomes Chief Engineer

1849 - Tunnel Hill is completed

Civil War drawing of Tunnel Hill [5]

Tunnel Hill tunnel as it looks today

May 9, 1850 – The first train travels over the entire length of the W&A! The final cost of the State-built railroad to the State of Georgia - $4,087,925

This April 1851 W&A schedule shows the stops between Atlanta and Chattanooga [6]

Organization

By May 1850, the W&A was up and running, hauling passengers and freight between Atlanta and Chattanooga. In charge of the railroad was a Superintendent, who reported to the Governor of Georgia (remember, it was a State-owned and operated railroad at this point). Other key positions included:

· Treasurer

· Master of Transportation – in charge of the daily operation of trains, stations and track

· Master Machinist – in charge of shops, locomotive and rolling stock maintenance. The shops were located in Atlanta.

Below is a list of early superintendents:

· 1858 – Dr. John W. Lewis

· 1861 – John S. Rowland

· 1863 – Dr. George D. Phillips

· 9/2/1864 – United States Military Railroads take over control

· 1865 – Campbell Wallace

· 186? – Colonel Edward Hulbert

· 1870 – Foster Blodgett

Facts and figures

The W&A started out as 5-foot gauge. Most of its early locomotives were of the 4-4-0 “American” style, made famous by the General.

· All of the locomotives in the 1850s were wood burners

· It took 3.5 cords of wood to go from Atlanta to Chattanooga

· A typical train was 6-20 cars

· The average speed was 10 miles per hour

· A train crew was comprised of an engineer, fireman and wood-passer

1855 – The General, the most famous locomotive in W&A history (perhaps in all American railroading history), is completed in December, built by Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor of Paterson, NJ. It cost $8,850. In January 1856, the General goes into service hauling freight on the W&A.

1856 – The locomotive Texas, one of the three pursuing locomotives in the Great Locomotive Chase, is built by Danforth, Cooke & Company, and put into service by the W&A in October.

Civil War Years

W&A roundhouse (background) in Atlanta, GA [7]

Water Tank, W&A Railroad [8]

1861 - The Net earnings of the W&A are $541,041

October 1861 –Governor Joseph Brown threatens military force against the Confederate government if locomotives or rolling stock are seized for the War effort.

1862 – The net earnings of the W&A are $998,270. 46 locomotives are in service, with 10 in need of repair. Two W&A bridges across the Chickamauga are burned by Union forces. The first large troop movements involving the W&A occur. A head-on collision in July 1862 kills 12, injures 36.

April 12, 1862 – The Great Locomotive Chase

The Great Locomotive Chase

pittenger

“Capture of the train in an enemy’s camp” drawing from Daring and Suffering: A History of the Andrews Railroad Raid by William Pittenger, 1887

The most famous incident in the history of the W&A, and one of the most famous incidents of the Civil War occurred on April 12, 1862. On that day, 20 Union Spies, led by civilian James J. Andrews seized a Confederate locomotive named the General at Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw). The train was stopped for a 20-minute breakfast break at the Lacy Hotel, described elsewhere in this booklet.

W&A script – dated April 1862

The General had arrived in Big Shanty at about 6:00 a.m. Most of the passengers (and all of the crew) left the train and headed to the Lacy Hotel. It was at this moment that Andrews and his raiders struck. After uncoupling the passenger cars from the rest of the train, the three raider locomotive engineers and Andrews jumped in the cab, while the rest of the 16 raiders piled into the boxcars still coupled to the train. The General headed north, under the hand of Engineer William J. Knight. Within seconds, the train crew began the chase on foot.

The objective of the raid was to steam the train to Chattanooga, burning bridges, tearing up track, and cutting telegraph wires along the way. The raid entered into legend because the conductor of the train, William A. Fuller, and Western & Atlantic RR Superintendent of Motive Power Anthony Murphy pursued the stolen train for 87 miles, by foot, hand car, and three different locomotives, until the train was finally abandoned two miles north of Ringgold, Georgia.

All of the raiders were captured, with the following results:

· 8 were hung, including James J. Andrews

· 8 escaped, and made it back to Union lines

· 6 were involved in a prisoner exchange

Twenty of the 22 original military members of the raid received the Congressional Medal of Honor. As a civilian, Andrews did not receive the award.

The Great Locomotive Chase has been commemorated in numerous books, and at least two major Hollywood movies, including the 1926 The General, starring Buster Keaton, and the 1956 Walt Disney movie The Great Locomotive Chase starring Fess Parker.

In 1972, the General went on permanent display in the Kennesaw Civil War Museum (now the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History). The third of the pursuing locomotives, the Texas, is enshrined at the Atlanta Cyclorama.

general

The General at the Southern Museum

The Texas at the Atlanta Cyclorama

May 2, 1862 – The General transports Andrews Raiders from Swims Jail in Chattanooga to Atlanta

1863 - Union cavalrymen (1700 in number) move to disrupt the W&A east of Rome, but are defeated by Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Employees of the W&A are organized into two military companies. Conductor William A. Fuller is put in charge of one of them, and commissioned as captain in the “Independent State Road Guards” by Governor Brown.

William A. Fuller

September 1863 – Longstreet’s Corps is moved from Virginia to Georgia by train to fight in the Battle of Chickamauga. The last leg of the trip is on the W&A.

Longstreet's soldiers disembarking from the W&A near Ringgold, September 18, 1863 [9]

May 1864 - Sherman’s Atlanta campaign starts in Ringgold, GA.

As Sherman moves south towards Atlanta, captured parts of the W&A are put under the administration of the US Military Railroads.

June 1864 - Sherman builds supply depots at Allatoona Pass and Big Shanty on the W&A

Photograph taken by official Union photographer George Barnard, showing Allatoona Pass during the Civil War

Big Shanty on June 10, 1864 (Harper’s Weekly, July 9, 1864), showing the Union supply depot

June 27, 1864 – The General participates in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain as an ammunition train, and to transport wounded for General Johnston

July 9, 1864 - Retreating Confederates destroy a W&A bridge over the Chattahoochee River

August 5, 1864 - USMRR runs the first train across the Chattahoochee


W&A car shed, 1864 [10]	Ruins of the W&A car shed [11]

September 1-2, 1864 - Atlanta falls to Sherman’s army. The General is rendered inoperable by retreating Confederate troops. The USMRR runs trains into Atlanta on the W&A.

The General after the fall of Atlanta (Courtesy Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History)

Late-September 1864 – After the fall of Atlanta, the new headquarters of the W&A is established in Griswoldville, GA. All told, 28 locomotives and 391 cars are salvaged by the Confederacy from the Atlanta disaster.

September/October, 1864 – The W&A is used as the primary supply line for Sherman’s troops in Atlanta

Early October, 1864 – Confederate troops succeed in destroying 15 miles of track from Big Shanty to Allatoona Pass

October 5, 1864 – The Union again seizes control of the W&A after the victory at the Battle of Allatoona Pass

November 9, 1864 - Sherman issues orders to destroy the W&A from Big Shanty to the Chattahoochee.

“In accordance with instructions from Major-General Sherman, commanding Military DIVISION of the Mississippi, corps commanders will have their commands in readiness to march at a moment's notice to commenced the complete destruction of the railroad…From Big Shanty to a point eleven miles south will be destroyed by the Seventeenth Army Corps, and thence to the Chattahoochee bridge by the Fifteenth Corps. The destruction will be most complete, the ties burned, rails twisted, &c., as [has] been done heretofore.”[12]

Sherman’s troops tearing up W&A track [13]

As part of this destruction, the Lacy Hotel (of Great Locomotive Chase fame) was burned to the ground on November 14, 1864

May 10, 1865 – With the Civil War over, the rebuilding of the W&A begins.

September 25, 1864 – Control of the W&A is returned to State of Georgia

July 4, 1865 – The W&A is operational again to Atlanta

Post-Civil War

Reconstruction

1870 - Foster Blodgett is named Supervisor of the W&A. Blodgett was a close ally of Radical Republican Governor Rufus B. Bullock. Blodgett fired several hundred W&A employees, and replaced them with his own appointees. William A. Fuller was “discharged for being a Democrat”.

Governor Rufus B. Bullock [14]

Georgia legislation is passed that requires the leasing of the W&A.

Early 1870s – The General is completely rebuilt by the W&A, converted to a coal burner with a diamond stack

December 27, 1870 - A group led by former governor Joseph E. Brown wins the first lease of the W&A. The lease is for 20 years, for $25,000/month.

Joseph E. Brown

1880s – 1892

The Great Kennesaw Route

During the Brown leasing period, the W&A was marketed as the “Great Kennesaw Route”, and the “Battlefield Route”.

Marietta was marketed as a winter resort, and the “Gem city of Georgia”.

The Famous Western & Atlantic Railroad

“The Western & Atlantic Railroad runs through Palace Sleeping Cars and through Parlor (chair) Cars, daily, with the N. C. & St. L. Ry., from Nashville to ATLANTA via MARIETTA; and through Palace and Buffet Sleeping-Cars, daily, with the Cincinnati Southern Railway (Queen & Crescent Route), from Cincinnati to Jacksonville, Fla., via MARIETTA and ATLANTA.

There are Sleeping or Parlor Cars on all through trains of the Western & Atlantic Railroad.

The Western & Atlantic Railroad is the only one in the South which runs FOUR THROUGH PASSENGER TRAINS per day each way. Its service is therefore unrivalled.

The Western & Atlantic Railroad is the only one entering ATLANTA from the Northwest which lands passengers and makes all connections in the Union Passenger Depot, and thus saves invalids, ladies, and all others, a long and cold omnibus transfer to the hotels or to other railroads.

The Western & Atlantic Railroad runs FOURTEEN THROUGH AND LOCAL PASSENGER TRAINS per day.

The Western & Atlantic Railroad is the only one running through the beautiful and historic Chickamauga Valley.

The Western & Atlantic Railroad has been termed “The Historic Battlefields Route of America" because it runs through or near the famous battlefields of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Ringgold, Rocky Face, Resaca, New Hope Church, Allatoona, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and more than fifty other minor conflicts at arms which took place during 1863 and 1864.

The Western & Atlantic Railroad is the one which General W. T. Sherman says "should be the pride of every true American, because by reason of its existence the Union was saved."

The Western & Atlantic Railroad has rock ballast, steel rails and iron bridges.”

1888 – The General is involved in a Grand Army of the Republic encampment in Columbus, OH. The encampment includes a reunion of Andrews Raiders.

1890 – The W&A is leased by the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad, although it continues to operate under the Western & Atlantic name until 1919, when it became the “Atlanta Division of the NC&STL RY”. The lease was for 29 years at $35,001/month.

1891 – The General is retired from service, and moved to a siding in Vinings, GA

generalvinings

The General on a siding in Vinings, GA (E. Warren Clark in the cab). Courtesy Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History

1892 – The General is refurbished by the NC&StL shops in West Nashville and is briefly converted back to a wood burner

1870general

Dr. Warren Clark (on cowcatcher) with the General following the 1892 NC&StL overhaul (Collection of Edith Knox; courtesy of Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History)

Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis and beyond

1919 - Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad renews their W&A lease for 50 years at $45,000/month

1915 NC&StL water tower (Courtesy Frank Burt family)

1957 - NC&STL merged into Louisville & Nashville Railroad

Nashville, Chattanooga, & St Louis F Unit heads north through Kennesaw in the 1950's (Photo from the collection of Dain Schult)

1972 - “The Family Lines" is adopted to identify the SCL, L&N, CC&O, the Georgia Railroad and the West Point Route

November 1, 1980 - CSX Corporation is formed, resulting from the merger of the Chessie System and the Seaboard Coast Line

Sources

· http://www.csx.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=history.heritage

· Daring and Suffering: A History of the Andrews Railroad Raid by William Pittenger, 1887

· The General and the Texas, by Stan Cohen & James G. Bogle, Pictorial Histories Publishing, 1999

· Ghost Trains & Depots of Georgia (1833-1933) , by Les R. Winn (1995)

· The Great Locomotive Chase or, The Andrews Raid, by James G. Bogle (Blue & Gray Magazine, Blue & Gray Enterprises, July, 1987)

· History of Kennesaw by Mark H. Smith (Kennesaw Gazette, 1980/81)

· Kennesaw (Big Shanty) in the 19^th Century by Robert Jones (Kennesaw Historical Society, 2000)

· The Western & Atlantic Railroad by James G. Bogle (unpublished)

· Western & Atlantic Railroad - Marietta: The Gem City of Georgia, 1887, Jos. M. Brown, reprinted by Cobb Landmarks & Historical Association

Color photos by Robert Jones, unless otherwise noted

A final note on sources: Many of the “facts and figures” that appear in this timeline came from research done by Colonel James Bogle, and appeared in an unpublished paper by him entitled The Western & Atlantic Railroad. As are all students of the General, the Great Locomotive Chase, and the Western & Atlantic Railroad, I am indebted to Colonel Bogle for his tireless research in these areas.

[1] Library of Congress G3921.P3 1837 .C6 RR 613

[2] Library of Congress G3921.P3 1864 F55 RR 614

[3] Library of Congress LC-USZ62-132822

[4] Library of Congress LC-USZ62-104544

[5] Library of Congress LC-USZC4-5682

[6] From American Railways Guide for the United States (Curran Dinsmore, April 1851)

[7] Library of Congress LC-DIG-cwpb-03473

[8] Library of Congress LC-DIG-ppmsca-17627

[9] Library of Congress LC-USZ62-61447

[10] Library of Congress LC-DIG-cwpb-02223

[11] Library of Congress LC-DIG-stereo-1s01400

[12] War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1891 (CD-ROM Editon H-BAR ENTERPRISES, 1994)

[13] Library of Congress, LOT 4164 A, George Barnard photo

[14] Library of Congress LC-BH8266- 1641