Hartwell - Bowersville Line

As far as I know, my father only ever made one visit to Hartwell, Georgia, and its 10 mile roller coaster shortline railroad, in the spring of 1970. The pike was then in the care of a pair of centercab 44 tonners, and by that time the handsome diminutive depot was no longer a railroad office but Hart Distributing Company. Even so, the line was still in full swing then, and he framed up some classic 120 square negatives to capture Hartwell #2 at her home base. My first visit to Hartwell would not be until this summer, some 50 years after my father. Living in middle Georgia now, I'm on a mission to document the Peach State shortlines I have never seen or have not visited since childhood. The Hartwell was top of the list. As these photos will show, not much has changed in terms of the layout of the depot area in town. But the tracks are gone, mostly, and the centercabs, too. The cute little depot is standing, but will need some serious attention in the coming years if it is to survive another half century. I am sorry to have never seen the 10 mile Hartwell line in action, but grateful nonetheless to lay eyes on these scenes my father spoke of often.