TFRR Maps



1927 TRACK PLANS

The prize jewel in my collection of Tallulah Falls RR information is a set of track plans that show every foot of the railroad as of 1927 over the course of 15 maps.  A copy of these plans was lent to me in January of 2012 for scanning and digitization by old friend Mr. Edwards of Rabun County, to whom I am very grateful.

The track plans are a gold mine of information!   Every milepost noted, elevation captured, trestle described, road crossing shown, every rail siding numbered and measured.   Every depot, tool shed and outhouse is accurately located, with outlines to show the arrangements of loading platforms and freight docks.  Every business is named or described - enterprises of all sizes that are mostly long forgotten.   The Copeland Daw and Axe Handle plant in Rabun Gap.  The mica storage and loading site just south of the Franklin yard.  All the livestock pens, freight warehouses, and coal docks along the line.

Together all this information provides a snapshot of what would turn out to be a unique moment for both the railroad and the communities it served.  The 20th anniversary of the completion of the road, 
1927 finds the prosperity of lumber, livestock and crops flowing south, while finished goods and coal flow north.   It would turn out to be the financial high water mark for the entire run of the TF, with a net income of $45,682 posted for the year.

The last of the Georgia Power hydroelectric projects would be completed in 1927, with construction of the Burton Power Plant that would finally tie Lake Burton on to the grid after 8 years of serving only as a level control reservoir for Tallulah, Mathis and then Nacoochee dams. Thus would end a 16 year string of traffic generated as materials and equipment were delivered to the upper four dams on the Tallulah River.  These track plans still show the "Georgia Ry. and Power Co." spur to the foot of Mathis Dam, which holds Lake Rabun.    They also show the incline railroad that still serves Tallulah Dam's powerhouse to this very day!






Please feel free to download these maps!

These PDFs were digitized at a high enough quality and resolution that they can be taken to a print shop for reproduction at their original size of approximately 2' x 5'.   Or you can simply pore over the PDFs on your computer like I usually do.

1. Cornelia
2. Demorest-Clarksville
3. Hills-Annandale
4. Hollywood-Turnerville
5. Tallulah-Park-Tallulah Lodge
6. Tallulah Falls
7. Lakemont-Wiley
8. Tiger
9. Clayton
10. Mountain City-York
11. Rabun Gap-Dillard
12. Orlando-Norton
13. Otto
14. Prentiss
15. Franklin



USGS TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS

These maps are from an earlier project, in which USGS topographical maps are highlighted with the route of the Tallulah Falls.   The digital map files came from the USGS web site, but most of the information came from a paper set of my father's, which actually showed the railroad on the map as "Old Railroad Grade".  These are organized starting with Franklin and scrolling down to Cornelia.

The Georgia Railway and Power Company spurs are noted in pink, including the lines to Burton and Mathis dams,  the line to the top of the incline railway that serves the power station for the Tallulah Lake dam, as well as the incline railway itself.

Click on any map to "embiggen" it.






 







SANBORN FIRE INSURANCE MAPS

The University of Georgia's collection of vintage Sanborn Fire Insurance maps include a couple of TFRR towns as of 1922.   Both provide additional information that is not included on the 1927 Track Plans and are worth checking out. Click on each town name to link back to the appropriate UGA library page.


DEMOREST


















CORNELIA
This one is a composite of several maps in the series.