Find Your Perfect Train Ride in Georgia Today

Scenic train rides in Georgia operate on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, the Stone Mountain Railroad and the Sam Shortline Excursion Train. There are 53 steam locomotives listed in Georgia, most are undergoing restoration or on display around the state. The Savannah & Atlanta 4-6-2 No. 750 is on display at Southeastern Railway Museum along with Gainesville Midland RR 2-10-0 No. 203. The 2-8-0 Central of Georgia No. 223 is on display at the Georga State Railroad Museum. Another Central of Georgia 2-8-0 No. 509 is on display next to the Georgia Central yard in Macon.

Did you know?

Railroading in Georgia began with the building of the Central Rail Road & Canal Co. in 1835. The major railroads today are the Norfolk Southern, serving 1778 of the 4700+ total route miles along with the CSX, which serves the deep water seaports of Savannah and Brunswick. Several Amtrak trains provide passenger service, namely the Crescent, the Silver Meteor, the Silver Star and the Palmetto.
An incident that became known as “Great Locomotive Chase” during the Civil War, occurred in Georgia. The locomotives Texas and the General are now on display in museums in Atlanta and the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History in Kennesaw.
If you are looking for a great train watching spot, the “Folkston Funnel” is a double track which serves as the main artery for railroad traffic into and out of Florida

Albany

Thronateeska Heritage Center

Thronateeska Heritage Center museum rolling stock includes former 1911 Florida East Coast No. 88, renumber 107 in the 1930’s. An HO-scale model train layout currently occupies a 70-foot Southern Railways baggage car interior, which is heated and cooled. The car’s exterior has been restored to its 1939 original Pullman paint scheme.

Atlanta

Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum

The centerpiece of the Atlanta Cycloram & Civil War Museum is the steam locomotive Texas, which played a key role in the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862 (also known as Andrews’ Raid). The Texas was used by the Confederates to pursue and recover the locomotive General, stolen by Union raiders led by James J. Andrews. The raiders planned to tear up tracks behind them to disrupt the vital Western and Atlantic Railroad supply line between Atlanta and Chattanooga. The General is currently on exhibit at the Kennesaw Civil War Museum in Kennesaw, Georgia. The Great Locomotive Chase was the subject of a Disney movie in 1956. Directions

Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway runs a 3 1/2 hour, 26 mile round trip train ride traveling through the historic Murphy Junction along the beautiful Toccoa River in vintage climate controlled or open air railcars. This railroad was built over 100 years ago and is the only mainline railroad excursion service based in Georgia. Christmas Express trains run during November and December.

Cordele

Sam Shortline Excursion Train

 

Ride in air conditioned 1949 vintage cars on the Sam Shortline Excursion Train for a 34 mile scenic train ride to President Carter’s birthplace with stops along the way to visit local attractions and shops. Directions

Duluth

Southeastern Railway Museum

The Southeastern Railway Museum is home to the Savannah & Atlanta 4-6-2 #750 and was purchased from the Florida East Coast Railway in 1935. Ride in restored cabooses behind steam or diesel locomotives, stand next to the massive driving wheels of the locomotive that once pulled passenger trains to Key West on the “railroad that went to sea”. Tour the business car that helped bring the Olympics to Atlanta, pose on the platform of the private car once used by President Warren G. Harding, and see just how green Southern Railway green can be as you walk the length of the diesel-electric locomotive that ran the point on the last Crescent before Amtrak assumed control of the famous train. Directions

Kennesaw

Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History

The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History has three impressive permanent collections and a membership in the prestigious Smithsonian Affiliations Program. The museum offers a wide range of exhibits, including a glimpse into the daily lives of soldiers during the Civil War; a reproduction of a turn-of-the-century locomotive factory; and an exciting depiction of the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase featuring the General 4-4-0 steam locomotive. Directions

Savannah

Georgia State Railroad Museum

 

The Georgia State Railroad Museum was a former 1830’s Central of Georgia Railway headquarters, with repair shops and a turntable. Listed as the oldest and most extensive railroad site in the western hemisphere it also features antique machinery dating back from 1833. Some of the rolling stock includes a BLW 1907 Central of Georgia 2-8-0,No. 223, an 1886 0-6-0 Tank – 6 Wheel Switcher, No. 8, and a 1964 Savannah & Atlanta GP-35, No. 2715, diesel-electric locomotive. Central of Georgia Railway Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities includes a fully operational turntable.

For a truly unique dining experience, be sure to check out another piece of history at the Whistle Stop Cafe in the Central of Georgia diner car # 805, located across the street at the Savannah History Museum. The Georgia State Railroad Museum operates both diesel and steam nostalgic train rides.

Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad

Climb aboard the Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad for scenic train rides pulled by a full size locomotive from the 1940s with open-air cars that will take you on a lively five-mile scenic rail excursion around the mountain. Marvel at beautiful views of Stone Mountain and the surrounding landscape. Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad has rebuilt two ex-Southern Railroad FP7A diesel locomotives that will also have a new paint scheme. Directions

Tifton

Agrirama Museum of Culture & Historic Village

Historic village with costumed interpreters that explain and demonstrate the life-style and activities of 1870s and 1890s in Georgia’s history. Museum and steam train ride pulled by Hardaway Contracting Co. No. 5 0-4-0T.

Waycross

Okefenokee Heritage Center

Okefenokee Heritage Center displays include the well known “Old Nine”, a 1912 Rockton & Rion Railroad Baldwin 2-8-2 steam locomotive, along with a mail/baggage, REA Express car, passenger car and caboose. An original train depot housing a collection of railroad memorabilia.

The history of Georgia’s Great Locomotive Chase during the Civil War:

On April 12, 1862, twenty Union soldiers in disguise boarded a train in Georgia to execute a scheme that was meant to bring a quick end to the Civil War. The plan, devised by a quinine-smuggling Union scout and an astronomer turned general, was to steal a locomotive and drive it to Chattanooga, capturing a key railroad connection whose loss would cut the Confederacy in half. The raid might have succeeded if not for the train’s conductor, who pursued the hijackers on foot (“this seemed to be funny to some of the crowd,” he said later, “but it wasn’t so to me”) and then by handcar and a series of three engines. The Union men were captured, and eight were hung as spies; some of the survivors later became the first Medal of Honor recipients.