Georgia Northeast Rail Road, Tate, Georgia
Posted by: 
GA Cacher
N 34° 24.843 W 084° 23.198
16S E 740191 N 3811163
Georgia Northeastern Tate, GA depot. The only L&N "Old Line" depot still used by a railroad, the structure is used as a crew base and business office by the GNRR. Built in 1916, the depot is located at the corner of Georgia Highway 53 and Railroad Street.
Waymark Code: WM227Z
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 08/23/2007
Views: 201
This depot was built in 1916 and is still in use today. Well no passenger train has been by here as passenger service was discontinued in 1949 except for a few special trains in the 1960s. but it is still used by the railroad as a business office for the yard.
Originally it was built by the L&N Railroad now owned by Ga Northeastern RR.
The State of Georgia has earmarked $400,000 to move the depot across the street and restore it. This is to widen the road due to heavy marble quarry trucks cross here.
Special day:
On August 22, 2007 a Geocaching: Event Wanna Go to Talking rock was held just north of Tate in Talking rock. Well little did we know that a passenger train was coming. The National Railroad Historical Society had scheduled a passenger train to travel a section of the old L&N Hook and Eye line today. The 2-engine, 12-passenger car train ran from Blue Ridge to Tate, passing through Talking Rock soon after our event.
History of the line.
L&N took over the line in 1902, and operated it until 1983. The success of L&N and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad kept it operational until formation of the Seaboard System Lines. In 1906, the line's operating cost was too great, with the Pullman passenger cars and heavy steam engines making the tight curves and steep grades almost unmanageable. L&N created a bypass line, from Etowah, Tennessee to Cartersville, Georgia along what is now US Highway 411. Once the straighter, flatter 'New Line' was finished, the Hook and Eye line was used for freight runs, picking up commodities between Elizabeth and Etowah, and switching them at either end's interchange.
Once CSX bought the L&N Railroad company in 1983, it used the line up until 1987, when the line was sold to investors from Tennessee, which included the 41 miles between Marietta and Tate, and leasing 31 miles from Tate to Ellijay. The line north of Ellijay to Blue Ridge and McCayesville was left unused. The state bought it from CSX to keep the line from becoming destroyed at that time. CSX still operated between Etowah and Copperhill to transport raw materials out of the copper basin. CSX gave up rights to that section of track when the copper mine in Copperhill closed shop in 1989.
The original investors gave the name Georgia Northeastern (GNRR) to the line, and the name still remains. In 1990 the original investors sold all interest in the GNRR to its current owners. In 1996, GNRR leased the rest of the line from Ellijay to McCayesville, cleaned up the tracks, and started the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. The scenic railroad runs weekend from March to December, presenting riders with a one-hour long journey along the Toccoa river to McCayesville, where they have an hour and a half to shop and have lunch in the shops downtown before heading back.