Fr.AlWhen I started this thread,I suggested that tourist type operations might not be considered true mixed trains.Of course,that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy riding the Santa Fe Southern mixed!I regret never having ridden the Georgia mixed.That,too,was atypical.As I understand,the Georgia railroad's mixed was more like a conventional freight with the coach tied on just ahead of the caboose.
What was atypical about the Georgia Railroad Supermixed mainline trains was the use of lightweight cars and the length of the train, normally between 120-140 freight cars.
At the beginning of the mainline mixed trains the passenger car was placed behind the locomotives with a boiler equipped geep providing the luxuries of heating and air. These trains were usually well under 100 freight cars. This was in '69 or '70, IIRC. A few years later when the mainline mixed trains became the Supermixed with 120-140 freight cars, the passenger car was moved to the rear in front of the caboose. Now air conditioning or steam heat was not provided for obvious reasons.
The Macon Branch mixed was a more typical mixed with the use of a heavy weight coach and no caboose. These trains were usually shorter trains too.
The Washington Branch and Athens Branch trains used cabooses with passenger car seats in the later years. I know by '75 this was the case and probably a few year sooner. Up til then, these trains were truly the typical mixed trains with only a few cars and a heavyweight coach or combine on the rear.
Jay
That's my point,the length of the Supermixed.I think I first read about the Georgia mixed in TRAINS back before the Atalana-Augusta mainline had eliminiated conventional passenger trains.This would have been circa 1969,pre-Amtrak,in any case.
As can be seen by my handle,I'm a priest.Back in the late 70's,early 80's,when I was stationed in Houston,I was flown in to serve a couple of Greek Orthodox missions in Charleston,SC,AND Augusta.I recall flying into Atlanta and making the drive to Augusta next day for services.It would have been neat to have taken the mixed,but time obviously didn't allow that.I seem to recall that the check which the Augusta mission paid me have Georgia Railroad logo on it.
That was an article by Don Phillips. The Supermixed did garner much publicity. Railfan magazine had a nice article in one of its first issues back in the mid'70s, by Jim Boyd I believe. Also, Passenger Train Journal had a nice article by Mike Schafer back in the mid '80s.
The check was probably from the banking side, Georgia Railroad Bank and Trust. The railroad charter, 1833, was amended shortly after issuance in 1835 to allow the banking arm. Much like the Georgia RR, the bank is now just a branch in a much larger company's family tree, Wells Fargo. I do not know if the Georgia RR Bank & Trust ever used the railroad's arc/columns logo as they had their own logo with a horse head in a circle.
I think the check was from the Georgia Railroad Bank and Trust.I never read the Passenger Train Journal,but I think I did see the Railfan article.Living in an apartment now,I no longer have my collection of back issues of Trains,Railroad,and R&R.
That is NOT a logo. It is an emblem, or herald. It was created long before anybody thought of dreaming "logo" up.
Johnny
Forgot to add, the current issue of TRP, July/Aug/Sep, has a very nice article about the last couple of years of the Georgia Railroad mixed trains. It is the issue with the Hamm's Beer car on the front cover.
It is getting close to the time that the next issue comes out, so might want to check out the nearest Barnes & Noble or Books a Million soon.
Nice to see that the current Classic Trains special issue, All Aboard, also has a nice article by J. David Ingles on the Georgia Railroad mixed trains.
2013 has been a good resurgence year of popularity for the old Georgia Railroad service.
Fr.AlYes, I enjoyed that article as well. On the subject of the Georgia RR mixed trains, I seem to recall reading that the ICC had limits on the length of trains that carried passengers. I'm only a "moderate" railfan, so I don't pretend any expertise.
I do not know either, but I was told by someone years ago that the limit was 18 passenger cars on a regular passenger train. However, I have personally seen a Canadian rolling thru Jasper, Alberta with 22 passenger cars--roughly around 2003 and in Canada so ICC would not have had jurisdiction and was long gone by then.
As far as the mixed trains on the Georgia Railroad, there was well over 100 cars on every Super Mixed I rode. So I am positive no limit was in place for that service. When the Georgia first started the Super Mixed, I believe they self imposed a 40 car limit, but that was short lived.
The 18-car limit was a restriction on ATSF for the "Super Chief/El Capitan" and was apparently based on the length of the platforms at Topeka. I have seen longer trains on other roads that admittedly had a large block of mail & express on the head end.
Fr. Al,
45-50 mph would be my guess for the top speed of the mainline super mixed trains, and probably all freights for that matter. When I retrieve our Christmas decorations from the basement I will check one of my mid to late 70's GARR timetables to see what the legal speed was for the mainline freights. My 1964 timetable is showing a 50 mph speed limit for freights(60 mph for passenger trains) along most of the mainline, however this predates the mainline mixed trains.
50 mph for the majority of the mainline thru the mid '70s was correct. There were the typical speed restrictions for a couple of bridges on the western half of the mainline(there were no mainline bridges between the Oconee River near Madison and Augusta) and populated areas such as between Whites Switch/Augusta and Stone Mountain/Decatur/Atlanta.
By 1981, most of the 50 mph trackage had been reduced to 45 mph.
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