Gainesville Midland Railroad
Gainesville Midland Railroad footage shot in 1956 by Robert M. Soule, Jr. in and around Athens, Georgia. Impressive footage of GM Steam locomotive 208 and some of the 201 at times operating at speed over a rather light weight rail! I am glad everyone is enjoying the film. I hope that you all realize the loss of image quality is mostly due to the low quality google video format. The original film is very sharp and clear. That said, I think I should also tell everyone that this particular film is one of my early attempts to transfer my fathers 16mm film to DVD and it has a lot to be desired. Some of the side to side movement in the film is not from the film but from my early transfer setup. I have since gotten rid of all the flicker, corrected for the keystone effect, the images are sharper, and the mask around the edge is gone. At this point, after nearly 2 years of work, I have the image transfer part of this project to an acceptable level. However, I am just beginning the audio portion of the project. My first few attempts have gone rather well but there is much more to be done. My ultimate goal, which was also my father’s goal, is to transfer in total the several hours of Gainesville Midland Railroad and Norfolk & Western 16mm film to DVD and at long last make it available to the public at a reasonable cost. I am not looking to get rich or retire from the sale of these wonderful old film images but it sure would be nice to make back some of the sizeable investment I and …
maybe in the near future, the steam will rise again
I have always wondered what the drive between Jefferson and Athens looked like back when the trains were huge… And now I know. Thanks for sharing this awesome video.
I am 49 yo and was born in Athens. My father used to take me to the SAL line and watch trains in the late 60’s. I can remember watching so many trains. I remember when Southern used the lower Terminal alot. watching Central of Ga, GA Railroad, GA and FL and even Gainesville Midland working that area. What a great place to watch trains. Thank you for such a great view of a train AND locomotive that was rare and very important to Gainesville, GA
Thank you for sharing this video! Beautiful!
Although I am only 20 years old, I have a deep love for the Gainesville Midland Railroad. I grew up in Winder, and used to stop by and look at the 208 all the time. I have been in the cab a couple of times, too. Although it’s certain that her firebox will never see another fire, I used to dream of what it would be like to see the 208 under steam. Thanks a ton for posting this…
What kind of whistle did she carry? I want to say I’ve seen pictures of her with a 3 chime steptop before…
@chestateegold: No.
The GM used the CofG/SOU wye to turn their engines. Since the decapods were too large for the turntable they had to use the tracks of the SAL, CofG, and Southern to turn their engines in Athens.
so wait, the gm owned the line that crossed over the seaboard? I thought that was c of g!
R.I.P. Mr. Soule
Do you have any footage of the 209?
Doh! “buy”, not “by”
I would definitely by this video as well if the price is not too unreasonable. Note at 1:25 you can see the turntable that was at the crossing diamond between the SAL mainline and the last little bit of the CofG’s branch line. The pit is still there to this day, but none of the hardware.
I may be the only one, but I model the Gainesville Midland in HO scale. This video is one of my inspirations. Thanks for posting!!!!
Amazing footage. I live in Gainesville and will gladly buy the DVD when it becomes available.