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The Georgia Northeastern Railroad

The Georgia Northeastern Railroad (GNRR) is a Class III shortline based in Marietta, Georgia that owns and operates roughly 72 miles of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad's famed "Hook and Eye" line between Marietta and Ellijay (the railroad also provides freight service northward as far north as Blue Ridge on track owned by the state of Georgia). The current Georgia Northeastern Railroad has been in operation since 1987 and has gone through a few ownership changes since the company originally purchased the track from CSX. After the state purchased the line north of Ellijay the railroad started the now-popular Blue Ridge Scenic Railway in 1998, which operates excursion trains between Ellijay to McCayesville, Georgia/Copperhill, Tennessee. If you would like to learn more about the Blue Ridge Scenic please click here.

The history of the L&N's famed "Hook and Eye" line dates back to before the start of the Civil War with the chartering of the Ellijay Railroad in 1854. This railroad, however, never built any actual track despite its creators' hopes of constructing a railroad from Marietta, Georgia to Ducktown, Tennessee. In 1859 it was renamed the Marietta, Canton & Ellijay Railroad in hopes of gaining investor interest in the new company which never materialized. Finally, in 1867 after again being renamed as the Marietta & North Georgia Railroad construction began although it took help from the state to complete the line northward to Canton in 1879, another twelve years later. Unfortunately, the original grade was built with steep grades and sharp curves to reduce construction costs further setting back the line.

A year later in 1880, the railroad received new leadership under General Phillips who successfully convinced investors to begin funding the line further northward completing the route to Mineral Bluff by 1886. With enough railroad to begin earning noticeable profits the owners of the M&NG started the Knoxville Southern Railroad to construct a line south to meet their railroad. By the summer of 1890, the two companies met at Copperhill, Tennessee right along the state lines allowing for a complete but poorly engineered line between Marietta and Knoxville (around this time the Knoxville Southern was merged into the M&NG).

The railroad would extend branches to Murphy, North Carolina and in Tennessee along its main line. However, with the route laden with switchbacks, step grades, and sharp curves and already in heavy debt the railroad declared bankruptcy by 1896. While it was reorganized as the Atlanta, Knoxville & Northern Railway in June of that same year the Louisville & Nashville gained control of the company in April of 1902 eventually merging into its system.

What gave the railroad its "Hook & Eye" name came from two locations; the "hook" was near Talking Rock, Georgia where the railroad hugged a small mountain resulting in two very tight reverse curves while the "eye" was created when the L&N helped the AK&N (before it took over the line) regrade its line through the Hiawassee Gorge to remove the many switchbacks. To remove one of these switchbacks engineers had the new alignment wrap around a small hill and pass over itself via a small, but high, wooden bridge, which remains in use today.

The original Georgia Northeastern Railroad began operations in 1987 when CSX was interested in shedding unprofitable branch lines and sold to the GNRR 41 miles between Marietta and Tate and leased another 31 miles between Tate and Ellijay. Eventually, the Georgia Northeastern was sold the track to Ellijay and the state purchase the line from there, northward to Copperhill/McCayesville. In 1990 the GNRR gained new ownership and CSX sold the rest of the line between Copperhill and Etowah to the state.

To learn more about the Georgia Northeastern Railroad, including additional history about the lines which make up its system, please click here to visit their website. Also, for full roster information please check out the below table.

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Georgia Northeastern Railroad Diesel Roster Locomotive

Builder	Model Type	Road Number	Date Built	Quantity
EMD	GP20	316, 4125	1960 (Ex-GN, Ex-SP)	2
EMD	GP9	6576	1958 (Ex-B&O)	1
EMD	GP10	7529, 7562	1955-1956 (Ex-NYC, Ex-PRR GP9s)	2
EMD	GP18	8704-8705	1960 (Ex-NKP)	2
EMD	GP38AC	9706, 9708	1970 (Ex-ICG)	2
EMD	GP38-2	2000	(Unknown)	1

For more reading on shortlines like the Georgia Northeastern Railroad consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each (such as roster information, rail line history, radio frequencies, etc.). If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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