From the Rabun County Historical Society
Tallulah Falls Railroad steam locomotive
The Tallulah Falls Railroad 58 Miles That Opened Northeastern Georgia to the World By Dick Cinquina
T
he railroad lost money practically every year from its inception in 1897. Collapsing wooden trestles plunged trains into deep ravines. Its wood-burning steam engines were antiquated. Many locals dubbed the Tallulah Falls Railroad the “Total Failure.� But the importance of the TFRR is inestimable.
Northeast Georgia had few passable roads by the late 1800s. The area, poor by virtually any standard, was isolated even from neighboring North and South Carolina. The TFRR opened this region to the world. For 64 years, the people and economy of Rabun, Habersham and Macon (N.C.) counties relied upon the railroad for daily passenger, mail and freight service. The TFRR was a game-changer. Intended as a Feeder Line The history of the Tallulah Falls Railroad began in 1854 when Athens, Georgia chartered the Northeastern Railroad as a feeder line connecting Athens with the Blue Ridge Railroad at Clayton. The Blue Ridge was envisioned as a major east-west railroad that would pass through Rabun County from Charleston to Cincinnati. Due to the Civil War, nothing was done about the Northeastern until 1871 when construction started on tracks from Athens to Lula. In 1881, the company was sold to the Richmond and Danville System, which extended the rails to Cornelia and then Tallulah Falls in 1882. The Richmond and Danville was sold to the Blue Ridge and Atlantic Railroad in 1887. Investors acquired that line to form the Tallulah Falls Railroad in 1897. Southern Railways acquired the capital stock of the TFRR in 1905. The line operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern for the rest of its existence.
70 GML - September 2020
