The South Georgia Central Railroad

[legostudios34]

The South Georgia Central Railroad

The South Georgia Central Railroad (SGCR) was founded in 1988 to operate the former Georgia and Florida rail line between Vidalia, GA and Valdosta, GA. Initally, the railroad operated a fleet of 3 RS-3s and a SD18 purchased from DMIR in wrecked condition. The SD18 was rebuilt with a low nose, and is the only of the original SGCR units that continues on the railroad today. The first five years of operations were good. They were centered in Hazelhurst, and most operations were at Hazelhurst mills, which were consistently turning out over 100 car-loads a week. In addition to Hazelhurst Mills, SGCR served 6 other industries, Valdosta Rock and Consolidated Biscuit Company in Valdosta, a metal-working shop in Barretts, Southern Plastics in Nashville, Scruggs Cement in Douglas, and a grain elevator in Vidalia, and carried 7,000 carloads a year through Southern Georgia.

1993 saw things take a turn for the worse. The workers at Hazelhurst Mills went on a strike that would last nearly two years. By February 1994, the metal shop in Barretts, Southern Plastics, and the grain elevator in Vidalia either closed or stopped shipping by rail. This left only three industries on the SGCR, and operations were moved from Hazelhurst into a trailer near the NS yard in Valdosta. One RS3 and the SD18 were put in storage in the old metal-working shop siding in Barretts, and all the track north of Douglas was taken out of service. The condition of the track that was still in service deteriorated, mostly becoming FRA excepted. The two industries in Valdosta continued to receive service three times a week, and about one time every other week, an anemic train, usually less than five cars, would make the 6 hour run to serve Scruggs Cement in Douglas. The difficulty was compounded when the train running to Douglas was hit by a tractor trailer in November, 1994, which derailed and severely damaged the second unit on the train. It was never returned to service, and sat in Willacoochee on a flat car until it was finally scrapped in 1997.

The railroad continued on with a single RS3 running all of the trains until August of 1995, when the workers at Hazelhurst Mills reached an agreement with management and returned to work. Suddenly there was a huge upturn in traffic on the SGCR, and 310 and the other RS3 were quickly returned to service and assigned to the north end of the line, working Hazelhurst and running to Douglas weekly, while the Valdosta end was operated entirely within the first mile of the line. This continued until July, 1996 when Southern Plastics realized the need to ship by rail again, and the decision was made to run out of Hazelhurst again, running a train all the way to Valdosta and back three times a week, southbound on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and northbound on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. All three locomotives were assigned to the run. This arrangement worked well, and the railroad began to average 5,600 carloads a year. Things got even better in 1997, when an active effort was made to attract business to the railroad. Sidings were put in for Reames Cement in Valdosta and a large logging industry just north of Hazelhurst. At this time, SGCR realized that they needed more than three locomotives, and purchased a U23B from NS and a GP30 from CSX. The GP30 was assigned to switch Valdosta, and the U23B was assigned to work Hazelhurst, and the road train would run five days a week over the railroad, which was finally repaired to FRA class 2 standards throughout.

Over the next few years, business began to build even more. Southwire opened a distribution facility in Nashville, TLC Wood Additives opened in Willacoochee, and Optima Chemicals and Metro Parts opened in Douglas. The end of the Alcos was near, as they were becoming very old and maintenance costs were rising. Between replacing the Alcos and the need for more power, SGCR bought a GP38AC, a B39-8, and two B36-7s from NREX. Although things were going well again on the south end, the future looked grim for the line north of Hazelhurst. In addition to having no traffic except for occasional storage of cars, there was also the lift bridge of the Altahama River near Uvalda. In 2002, SGCR applied to abandon the line between north Hazelhurst, Milepost 95, and Vidalia, Milepost 121, but the request was denied, as the STB believed that there was potential for interchange with the Georgia Central Railroad. Little did SGCR know that the STB would be right.

In 2009, after intermodal trains started running over the GC to the Heart of Georgia Railroad and to the Cordele Intermodal Facility, the City of Valdosta decided that the model used in Cordele could be successful for them also. In 2011, the Valdosta Inland Intermodal facility was completed, and one train a week ran from Savannah over the GC and the SGCR to the facility. Two relatively modern EMD locomotives, a GP40-2 and a GP50 were leased from First Union Rail to help deal with the new trains.

The future looks bright for SGCR. They now are shipping approximately 21,000 carloads a year. Business is increasing, and they continue to attract customers along the line. They are now looking to increase business on the north end of the line, as maintenance costs are relatively high considering only two trains a week run on the line north of Milepost 95.


Current South Georgia Central Railroad Industries and Towns

Valdosta, GA
Milepost 0 – NS Yard - 30.830602, -83.264689
Valdosta Rock – 15 cars a week. Rock loads out, empties in.
Valdosta Inland Intermodal – 1 inbound train a week (Mondays), 10 – 20 cars per week.

Milepost 0.3 – CSX Diamond - 30.833442, -83.267374

Milepost 1 – 30.841251, -83.264786
Reames Concrete Company – 75 cars a week. Cement and Gravel loads and concrete empties in, concrete loads and cement and gravel empties out.
Consolidated Biscuit Company – 2 cars a week. Loaded refrigerator cars out, empties in.

Bemiss, GA – Milepost 7 - 30.932919, -83.240839

Barretts, GA – Milepost 13 - 31.000038, -83.197050
South End - 900 foot passing/storage siding
North End - 400 foot passing/storage siding

Ray City, GA – Milepost 18 - 31.074842, -83.198600

Nashville, GA – Milepost 28 - 31.207278, -83.240860
10 MPH speed limit through town due to city ordinance
Southern Plastics – 15 covered hoppers of plastic pellets per week, inbound loads and outbound empties.
Southwire South Georgia Distribution – 15 cars per week, inbound loads and outbound empties.
Nashville yard – 1500 feet long, two tracks

Willacoochee, GA – Milepost 45 - 31.324714, -83.040176
TLC Wood Additives – Inbound chemical loads, outbound empties, 25 cars a week.
Willacoochee Yard – One single ended track about 350 feet long

Douglas, GA – Milepost 62 - 31.492816, -82.854772
Scruggs Concrete – Inbound gravel loads/outbound empties – 3 cars a week
Optima Chemicals – Inbound empty tank cars, outbound chemical loads, 25 cars a week
2600 foot long double ended passing siding
CSX OWLS diamond (10 MPH)
Metro Parts Company – Inbound boxcar parts loads and outbound product loads – 15 cars a week

Hazelhurst, GA – Milepost 93 - 31.864064, -82.595046
Hazelhurst Mills – Inbound loads in covered hoppers, inbound boxcar empties, outbound loads in boxcars, outbound covered hopper empties, 75 covered hoppers a week, 50 boxcars a week.
HPR Interchange and Diamond (10 MPH) – Some Hazelhurst Mills traffic is interchanged here
Hazelhurst Yard – 3 2000 feet long tracks adjacent to HPR Brunswick Div. Main
Very large logging industry north of town. Inbound Centerbeam and Bulkhead empties, outbound telephone pole (bulkhead flats) and wrapped lumber (Centerbeam) loads. 75 cars a week.


Milepost 101 – Altamaha River lift bridge - 31.864064, -82.595046 – 10 MPH speed restriction

Uvalda, GA – Milepost 107 - 31.864064, -82.595046

Vidalia, GA – Milepost 121 - 31.864064, -82.595046
Line ends at Georgia Central Interchange and Yard. Inbound intermodal trains originate here.

Mainline is all track warrant control from Dispatcher located in Hazelhurst.
All mainline track is 25 MPH unless otherwise noted. Industrial spurs and sidings are limited to 5 – 10 MPH.

Train Symbols -
Road Switcher -
W120 – Valdosta, GA (NS) to Vidalia, GA – Road switcher (Tuesday)
* Carries northbound intermodal to interchange with GC *
W120 – Valdosta, GA (NS) to Hazelhurst, GA – Road switcher (Thursday)
W121 – Hazelhurst, GA to Valdosta, GA (NS)– Road switcher (Wednesday and Friday)

Intermodal -
I123 – Vidalia, GA (Georgia Central) to Valdosta Inland Intermodal (Monday)

Local Switchers -
L125 – Douglas, GA to Nashville, GA turn (Tuesday PM, Thursday PM, Friday PM)
L126 – Hazelhurst, GA Switcher (Monday through Friday)
X127 – Valdosta Switcher (As needed)

Locomotive Roster -
SGCR 310 – SD18 (Ex DMIR) (Road Service)
SGCR 1985 – GP38AC (Ex NREX) (Hazelhurst Switcher)
SGCR 3944 – (U23B) (Ex NS) (Douglas Switcher)
SGCR 4260 – GP30 (Ex CSX) (Valdosta Switcher/Protect unit)
SGCR 5877 – B36-7 (Ex NREX) (Intermodal Service, based in Vidalia)
SGCR 5904 – B36-7 (Ex NREX) (Road Service)
SGCR 8513 – B39-8 (Ex NREX) (Road Service)

FURX 2273 – GP40-3 (Intermodal Service, based in Vidalia)
FURX 2940 – GP50 (Road Service)

[AARR]

Well done, lego

[Bulby]

Well done. A very interesting line.

I realize this is paper railroads, but the nit-picker in me would like to point out the STB decides abandonments, not the FRA.

[legostudios34]

Well done. A very interesting line.

I realize this is paper railroads, but the nit-picker in me would like to point out the STB decides abandonments, not the FRA.

Thanks, I updated it.

X127 started work at 0300 hours this morning to build the train for W120. It had 8513 leading FURX 2940, 5904, and 310.

W120-27 went on duty in Valdosta at 0800 hours this morning with 310 leading 5904, FURX 2940, and 8513. They started with 81 cars and picked up FURX 2273 and 5877 and 13 intermodal platforms at Valdosta Inland Intermodal. They are currently near Milepost 67 north of Douglas, GA after dropping off 31 cars for the Douglas turn and picking up 24 cars from the Douglas turn, making the consist 310, 5904, FURX 2940, 8513, FURX 2273, and 5877. The train will leave 310, 5904, 2940, and 8513 along with the 74 cars of mixed freight at Hazelhurst and run with FURX 2273 and 5877 with the 13 intermodal platforms to Vidalia.

L126 is called for 1500 hours with SGCR 1985, which will take the cars for Hazelhurst Mills and the logging yard to their destinations, as well pick up cars from those two industries. L125 will also work the HPR interchange and build train W121 for tomorrow.

L125 is called for 1900 hours with SGCR 3944 and will have the 31 cars from W120 to run to Nashville and back.