A look back on the recent history of the ‘Hook and Eye’ line NEWSWIRE

ATLANTA — A torch is passing in north Georgia, from a railroad entrepreneur who helped revive the former Louisville & Nashville “Hook and Eye” line to a company that promises to make it better.

Recent Georgia Northeastern owner Wilds L. Pierce says he recently sold the the 106-mile-long operation for an undisclosed sum to SR Transportation Holdings. Patriot Rail Company LLC will manage the property. As part of the deal, Pierce says he insisted that Patriot continue operating the Georgia Northeastern’s Blue Ridge Scenic Railway — a tourist line he didn’t plan on starting but did at the urging of a group of civic boosters, motor car owners, and railfans 26 years ago.

“That was important to me,” Pierce says. “I wanted to be sure to sell to a company that would continue both the freight railroad and the scenic railroad.”

Patriot will put an estimated $1.9 million into the Georgia Northeastern (reporting mark GNRR) with about 12,000 new ties, six miles of rail and bridge and structural improvements, Patriot spokeswoman Maureen Donnelly says. No changes are anticipated at this time for the all-EMD fleet: two GP9s, two GP10s, one GP18, two GP20s and three GP38s; nor are any significant changes expected “for the near future” at the scenic railroad. Donnelly declined to disclose annual freight car loadings.

The Louisville & Nashville acquired the Atlanta, Knoxville & Northern in 1902 and the smaller railroad’s “hook,” a tight double-reverse curve near Talking Rock, Ga.; and “Eye,” the Hiwassee Loop where the railroad does one and three-quarter turns and crosses under itself at Bald Mountain, Tenn. Longer, heavier passenger equipment could not easily navigate the line, so the L&N built a bypass to the west in 1906. That bypass is a busy CSX Transportation main line today.

The Hook and Eye became a mineral-hauling branch soon after. In 1987, CSX sold 48 miles and leased 33 miles to a shortline operator that named it the Georgia Northeastern. Pierce’s investment group bought the short line three years later, operating it from Marietta to White Path, Ga. Tracks north of White Path were acquired by the State of Georgia from CSX to keep them from being abandoned. No train had trod them in more than 20 years, and they were overgrown and impassable.

Blue Ridge, Ga., business interests approached Pierce in 1996, seeking his help starting a tourist railroad.

“I told them I only had operating rights to White Path. From White Path to Blue Ridge was about 15 miles. I said that if I could get up there, I’d help,” Pierce says.

Members of the Blue Ridge Mountains Preservation Foundation, North American Railcar Owners Association and National Railway Historical Society took Pierce at his word. Dozens of volunteers cut brush, cleared fallen trees, and repaired track. After about six months’ work, the road hosted its first society trip in October 1997.

The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway was born.

In its current form, the scenic railroad runs from March through December to the twin cities of McCaysville, Ga., and Copperhill, Tenn. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum excursions come south over the Hiwassee Loop; trains of the two operators tie-up nose-to-nose at the Tennessee-Georgia state line.

Pierce says the short line has about two dozen employees, while the scenic railroad operates with crews of 15 and can count on more than 100 volunteers. And sleepy little Blue Ridge now bustles with gift shops, craft boutiques, art galleries, and restaurants.

“The first year [1998], we had 17,000 riders,” Pierce says. “The last three years up to the time we sold it, we’d average 60,000 to 65,000 passengers a year. I don’t take credit for what happened in Blue Ridge — other things happened as well — but Blue Ridge is thriving, and we were part of the reason tourism took off.”