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Railroad Crossings of the HOG

The Heart of Georgia Railroad operates a section of the former SAL Savannah, GA - Montgomery, AL mainline between an Interfor plant just west of Archery, GA, and Vidalia, GA, with a connector track with NS in Americus and a branch line in Cordele. The HOG interchanges with NS in Americus & CSX in Cordele. The HOG also has 42 signalized crossings along their entire operation, with 39 of those being along their mainline. The mainline also features two double-crossings shared with CSX in downtown Cordele. The SAM Shortline also operates excursion trains over the HOG's mainline between Cordele and Archery. This line was originally chartered in 1884 as the 3 foot narrow-gauge Americus, Preston, & Lumpkin Railroad, which ran from Louvale, GA, to Abbeville, GA. In 1888, the line was taken over by the Savannah, Americus, & Montgomery Railway, who rebuilt the line with standard-gauge track and eventually extended it all the way to Lyons, GA, to the east and Montgomery, AL, to the west. However, in 1895, the SA&M went bankrupt, and their line from Montgomery to Lyons was taken over by the Georgia & Alabama Railroad that same year. Then, in 1900, the G&A was absorbed into the Seaboard Air Line, who continued to own and operate the line for the next several decades, along with its successors the SCL and SBD. However, in the 1980s, this former SAL mainline started to be dismantled. First, in 1986, the section between Montgomery and Marht, AL, was abandoned and torn-out, with the rest falling under CSX's ownership not long after. Then, in 1989, CSX sold-off the line from Marht to Rochelle, GA, to the Georgia Southwestern. Then, in 1990, when Rail Link bought the section of the line from Savannah to Vidalia for the Georgia Central, the orphaned section between Vidalia & Rochelle was left unused, with the GSWR abandoning the section from Rochelle to Rhine in 1994. In 1995, the Georgia Department of Transportation bought the Vidalia to Rochelle section, and then the section from Rochelle to Rhine in 1996. After this, the GSWR expressed interest in re-opening the line, which would be started in 1998, with the first train on this section running in 1999. However, that same year, the GSWR took the section from Marht, AL, to Preston, GA, out of service, which was then sold to GDOT. During this same year as well, the HOG was created to operate the line on behalf of the State of Georgia. The HOG wouldn't begin operating until 2000 though, when GDOT was able to purchase the remaining section between Preston & Rhine from the GSWR. Since then, the line has been operated by the HOG, but in 2017, the G&W successfully purchased the HOG and is the current owner of the operation. As it currently sits, however, the section from the Interfor plant to Marht, and the section from about Rochelle (maybe Milan) to Vidalia all appear to currently be out of service. The G&W appears to currently be in the process of restoring the latter, and I hope that's able to go through. The HOG itself contains a pretty decent mix of older and newer equipment from most of its various owners of the years, at least since the SAL existed. The section of mainline between Plains, GA, (where the farthest west active signalized crossing on it is) and Cordele contains a mix of older SCL, SBD, and GSWR equipment with a bit of newer HOG equipment mixed in. This section also contains a classic SAL-era US&S "micro-cantilever", that even still retains its original US&S 8 inch lights. This signal is also the last bit of SAL-era equipment left in service on the HOG. The line from Cordele to Vidalia is much more modernized though, featuring more newer HOG installs and only a handful of crossings from the SCL, SBD, & GSWR. All three non-mainline crossings feature more modern HOG installs as well. The line, however, does still retain a large number of Safetran bells, thanks to the SCL, SBD, & GSWR's ownership of it. There are also several other mechanical bells along the line, including WCH mechanical bells, a few WRRS bells, & even five WABCO bells (four of which are sadly between Rochelle and Vidalia), none of which I was able to record, sadly. The line also has 8 different crossings with 8 inch lights still, with Safetran, WCH, US&S, and WABCO all being found along it. The older 12 inch lights from before the HOG are a mix of Modern Industries, Safetran, Federal Signal, older WCH, and L&W. However, all of the lights the HOG has installed have been newer WCH 12 inch lights, primarily with LEDs but the earliest ones were incandescent, it appears. The LEDs the HOG has used have been mostly WCH 1st and 2nd Gen LEDs, but more recent installs under the G&W have used GE Dotted LEDs, it appears. At least one signal managed to get some late-Harmon Fading LEDs, interestingly enough, but I didn't get a chance to record that one. The gate mechs are mostly a mix of older & newer Safetran & WCH, but there are also still some GRS/WRRS and WABCO Model 75 gate mechs remaining.