- Collection:
- Atlanta History Photograph Collection
- Title:
- Western and Atlantic Railroad
- Creator:
- unknown
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Kenan Research Center
- Date of Original:
- 1884-04
- Subject:
- Railroads--Georgia--Atlanta
Laborers--Georgia
African Americans--1880-1890
Western and Atlantic Railroad Company - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Cobb County, 33.94147, -84.57667
United States, Georgia, Cobb County, Acworth, 34.06635, -84.67837 - Medium:
- photographs
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- image/jpeg
- Description:
- The waterspout on the W&A R.R., Proctor Creek Washout (looking east). Place where passenger train No. 12 was wrecked and burned and mail overturned, Merrill killed, Apr. 15, 1884. Chasm 66 ft. deep and nearly 100 ft. wide at the top. Embankment at the base was about 240 feet thick. Freight train No. 8 passed south over this place scarcely 30 minutes before No. 12 went into it and was destroyed. No. 12 engine, the "J.W. Lewis" crossed this chasm as engineer Everett pulled her cords open when he found himself over it, and fell out the south end. She tore loose from her tender, which with the cars went into the chasm. The rails of the track were suspended over the chasm, held by the fisle bars when the train got here. 31 1/2 miles from Atlanta. Rainfall 11 inches near Acworth, 34 1/2 miles from Atlanta, that night (April 14-15, 1884).
Elevated view of unidentified African American railroad workers standing in a large chasm among the remnants of a train wreck on the Western and Atlantic Railroad near Acworth, Georgia.
Railroads; trains; wrecks; disasters; laborers, African Americans;
The Western and Atlantic Railroad (also known as the W&A), was established by the Georgia State Legislature in 1836 and completed in 1851 thereby connecting Chattanooga, Tennessee to Terminus (later Atlanta), Georgia. The W&A was the site of Andrews Raid (also known as the Great Locomotive Chase) on April 12, 1862 during the United States Civil War. The State of Georgia retains ownership to the W&A and is currently leasing the line’s operation to CSX Transportation until 2019. - Local Identifier:
- VIS 170.4005.001
ahc1704005001a - Metadata URL:
- http://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/cdm/ref/collection/athpc/id/1425
- Additional Rights Information:
- This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U.S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through The Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
- Extent:
- 8 x 10 in.
- Original Collection:
- Atlanta History Photograph Collection
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta History Center
- Rights:
-
