masthead_shortlines
southern southern_shortline

Tennessee, Alabama
& Georgia Railway

Spanning Three Southern States in less than a Hundred Miles

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Although some of the TAG's most interesting stories dealt with history from long ago, the TAG's influence is still felt. Ask around the small communities the railroad served, and you will likely find the names of men who worked on the TAG before being absorbed into the Norfolk Southern system. These old railroad hands can still list off each TAG milepost just as surely as they know the route through the neighborhood streets to their own home. Although many years have passed, the life the TAG breathed into northwest Georgia is still drawing breath today.

Kevin Dallmier

tag_state The Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railroad began life in 1890 as a reorganization of the Chattanooga Southern Railway, built to haul coal, iron, and timber. In 1911 the short line from Chattanooga southwest 92 miles to Gadsden, Alabama, was reorganized as the Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railway, eventually known regionally as the "TAG Route." During the 1960s the railroad was owned by Mose and Garrison Siskin who owned the Siskin Steel Company in Chattanooga. They used the railroad to move steel products between Siskin Steel and Republic Steel in Gadsden. In 1971 the road was purchased by the Southern Railway, who abandoned the middle portion of the line in the early 1980s. The northern remaining section of the pike, 23 miles from Chattanooga to Hedges, was operated by the Chattooga & Chickamauga Railway until 2009.


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1893 Official Guide ad / collection

cs_guide1910

1910 Official Guide ad / collection

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1930 Official Guide ad / collection

tag_guide1940

1940 Official Guide ad / collection

tag_guide1970

1970 Official Guide ad / collection

Motive Power

Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #50

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:GP18
  • type:B-B road switcher
  • built:Feb 1960, EMD #26675
  • series:350 produced 1959-63
  • engine:EMD 567D1 (16 cyls, 1800 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #50
    named the "Dave E. Hedges"
    to Southern Railway #179
  • builder
    tag50_clipping

    from Diesels of the Southern Railway 1939-1982
    — Paul K. Withers / collection

    journal_rwh
    March 2013

    I received this interesting bit of correspondance regarding TAG #50, shown above:

    As an amateur TA&G historian, I enjoy your TA&G section as well as all of your pages. There is a misconception about the numbering of the GP18. It was delivered to TA&G numbered #50 and not #801. The EMD builder's photo does have 801 in the number board, but on the day it arrived and was dedicated in Chattanooga it had 50 in the number board. As a matter of fact, it already had 50 painted on the cab side in the builder's photo. This was a surprise to Dave Hedges, the TAG president. Garrison Sisken, the owner of TAG, was behind the change. It was his idea to name the locomotive after Mr. Hedges and he had it numbered 50 in honor of Mr. Hedges' 50 years service. Keep up the good work.

    Warren D. Stephens
    TA&G Railway Historical Society

    Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #708

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:GP7
  • type:B-B road switcher
  • built:Apr 1951, EMD #14570
  • series:2610 produced 1949-54
  • engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls, 1500 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #709
    to Southern Railway #705, later #8235
    to Savannah State Docks #8235
  • builder

    Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #709

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:GP7
  • type:B-B road switcher
  • built:Aug 1951, EMD #14740
  • series:2610 produced 1949-54
  • engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls, 1500 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #709
    to Southern Railway #706, later #8236
    traded to Electro Motive Division
    to Meridian & Bigbee #105
    to Rail Switching Services #105
  • builder
    tag_jump

    See also our Meridian & Bigbee Railroad scrapbook in Shortlines

    Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #80

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:GP38
  • type:B-B road switcher
  • built:Feb 1968, EMD #33802
  • series:706 produced 1966-71
  • engine:EMD 645 (16 cyl, 3000 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #1
    to Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia #80
    to Southern Railway #2879
    to Norfolk Southern #28879
    to Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
  • builder

    tag_clipArticle

    Museum Unveils Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia-painted GP38

    May 2016

    CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is preserving a piece of southern shortline railroading history with the unveiling of its newly restored Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railway EMD GP38 No. 80. The blue-and-yellow-painted high-nose GP38 was posed outside of the railroad's Soule Shops over the weekend.

    "TAG 80 has been restored to operating condition and repainted in its original color scheme," the railroad says on its Facebook page.

    The locomotive was built for the Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia in 1968 before Southern Railway acquired the roughly 90-mile short line operating between Chattanooga and Gadsden, Ala. In later years, the locomotive served as Norfolk Southern No. 2879 before it was retired and delivered to the TVRM's collection several years ago. It is the last remaining locomotive from the TA&G roster.

    TRAINS magazine

    sou2879_clipping

    from Diesels of the Southern Railway 1939-1982
    — Paul K. Withers / collection

    tag_jump

    See also our complete Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum scrapbook in Preservation

    tag80_clipping2020

    from Railfan & Railroad Magazine
    - Mar 2020 / collection

    Rolling Stock

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    Links / Sources

    This page was updated on 2021-09-08