Piedmont Division Line tour
Howell Wye
Howell Wye at one point was a great place to shoot Piedmont trains, not so much today. When Howell Tower was still open the area was kept clear of brush and open views of all lines were available. That was before today’s security paranoia and one could drive down the gravel road and park inside the wye. Today you can still go down that gravel road, but stay outside the wye, the shots are now rather mediocre, with southbounds you can get a little of the skyline in the shot but for the most part its just closely cropped nose shots since it is not really possible to get far enough back from the tracks for good broadsides, especially with all the vegetation overgrowth. If your chasing something it might be worth a shot here, but if you hang around dont be surprised to get a visit from the NS boys in blue, who may or may not throw you off the property.
Howell Mill Road
The Howell Mill road overpass is located just north of the wye and is good place to shoot southbounds, especially on summer evenings. With southbound’s you can shoot trains with the smokestack from the Atlanta waterworks and the skyscrapers of Atlantic Station and Midtown in the background. Parking is ample at a small shopping strip on the north side of the bridge.
Northside Drive
The Piedmont crosses over Northside Drive on a somewhat intersting deck girder bridge, the span itself is a short metal deck span painted highway green but the supports are of the arched concrete variety to allow more light into the sidewalk under the bridge. The bridge is probably shadowed in much of the day, and its not much of a shot, if your a bridge fan and in the area could be worth a shot but there are better locations in the area, move on.
17th St Bridge
The new 17th St. Bridge, which was built as part of the Atlantic Station project is another good spot for southbounds. At this location you can shoot southbounds with the skyline in the background, though shadows may be a problem, regardless there is some good shot to be had here most of the day. The bridge is new with nice wide sidewalks. The big downside is the chain link fence, not a problem for us PNS shooters but DSLR shooters, you can shoot around the fence on the north side of the bridge or bring some wire cutters (what you never heard me say that!)
Mecaslin St/Atlantic Station
Mecaslin St is a small side street located right behind the massive new Atlantic Station development, it once was a entrance to the equally massive Atlantic Steel plant, but that’s all now a memory and today serves as a entrance to a lumber plant, which now looks woefully out of place amongst the new development. The southbound shot here is decent, the signals and old lumber plant add interest to the shot. In addition the signals are useful for figuring out where that train is, and significant in itself is the fact it is a at grade crossing, its the last one you will see for almost 15 miles.
NS OCS 956 Deadheading northbound up the Piedmont.
Peachtree Station
Peachtree Station is the humble home of Atlanta’s passenger rail service, once a railroad hub with 100’s of passenger trains arriving and departing out of two grand stations downtown, Atlanta now hosts a pathetic one train each way, the Amtrak Crescent. Both downtown stations fell to the wrecking ball in the early 70’s and Southern and later Amtrak have used this former suburban station since then, progress……
The station isnt too bad architecturally, i guess it could be best described as a fancy box and is worth a look in itself if your in the area. You cant go down to the platforms anymore though around train time everything is unlocked so you could sneak down, or shoot from the overhead garden area to the left of the waiting room. When the station is closed, you can shoot from the bridge over the adjacent I-85 (morning shot only). For better shots in the evenings you can shoot from the Borders parking deck across the street, though this probably gets shadowed early. Peachtree is just not a great place to shoot, too much clutter and mediocre light angles. Might be worth a shot and you wont have many other good shots past here on the Piedmont. In the summertime you can watch Amtrak #20 arrive and depart, but you will not have proper lighting on the train. Time exposures are possible in the winter if you can find a way to shoot through the chain link and if they park the engines in the right place.
Amtrak train #20, the Northbound Crescent makes its evening stop at Peachtree
Armour Yard
Armour yard is a small flat yard just north of midtown and is where the MARTA North Line joins the Piedmont. Once it was a fairly busy yard and the connection point to the Southern Belt Line which ran south through Piedmont Park and the Inman Park neighborhood to a connection with the Georgia Railroad at Hulsey Yard. The belt was closed sometime in the early 90’s and the yard has lost its importance since then. The tracks are all still in place but today the yard is filled with old MOW cars, as of November 2009 the rolling stock includes a 35 ft N&W coal hopper and a Southern 40 foot boxcar as well as many other older flats. There’s no good way to shoot Armour but you can view it easily from the MARTA Doraville Line.
A former Southern 40 foot boxcar in Armour yard
Peachtree Creek
Just north of Armour the Piedmont crosses Peachtree Creek and the CSX Abbeville Sub on a fairly impressive plate girder structure. The bridge is easily visible from the MARTA north line but i have yet to find how to find a place to shoot it off the train, i will have to take another look, there appears to be a way from the back of a warehouse complex but finding ones way around back there is more confusing than the aerial maps make it appear.
Lindbergh Drive
Near the MARTA Lindbergh transit center station the Piedmont crosses over Lindbergh Drive on a older metal girder bridge, this bridge itself is quite interesting and with good light would make for a good shot of a train going over it in either direction, making it one of the only good spots for northbounds. This is a tricky place to wait for trains though, you will get almost no warning, even with a scanner, i know this personally as i got burned bad waiting for a train lead by a CR C40-8, as always it showed up as soon as i left my spot.
From here on you may as well hop onto a MARTA train, driving from here to Chamblee is pure insanity, especially during rush hour, if you drive up be prepared to watch MARTA and NS trains fly past you while you wait in traffic. There are almost no good shots from here to Chamblee as the track runs through wooded areas and alongside the MARTA line making it nearly inaccessible. The few bridges on this part of the line are of boring modern concrete design.
Chamblee
By far, Chamblee is the best place in the Atlanta area to railfan the Piedmont Division. Chamblee is at the south end of the Chamblee-Doraville yard, which is a 4 track yard that stretches between the two cities. The yard office serves as a base for local power for the area and you can expect to find at atleast one pair of locomotives on hand at all times. In the past the locals were dominated by high hood GP38-2’s but today those are a ever vanishing breed, though on a good day you will see a high hood or two, the majority of the units will be GP60’s with a few rebuilt GP38-2’s thrown into the mix.
The Chamblee yard office is easily accessible from the Chamblee MARTA station, if you are driving there is a NS Parking lot, the crews generally dont mind but its best to park across the bridge over Chamblee Dunwoody road, where there is a Ice Cream shop set up in a former MoPac caboose.
Evening is definetly the time to visit Chamblee, in the summer the light gets good about 4:30 though a little earlier if your not worried about Railpictures.net and such. There are a variety of good photo angles around the area. As the shadows get longer the best spot is ussualy closer to the main yard lead where you can ussualy get enough light on the train even on the side tracks. In addition train frequency is much better in the evening than morning, the line can be virtually dead in the afternoon and late morning. Summer is the best time to shoot in Chamblee, as during the winter the light is on the south side of the track most of the day except for a short time in the evening, for most of the day in the winter the only place to shoot is from the MARTA train. Chamblee is however one of the few places in the metro area where you can easily do night shos. The power is parked in a accessible spot and there are yard lights to illuminate the scene. NOTE: DO NOT Tresspass at Chamblee, stay off the mainline tracks at all times. Trains move fast through here and can easily sneak up on you without warning as there are no grade crossings on the line. Railpics worthy rosters are not worth getting run over for.
Here is a selection of images from Chamblee.
Doraville
Doraville is at the north end of the Chamblee Doraville yard and until recently was the site of a large GM plant. Though the GM plant has shut down, the yard is still a fairly busy place and a pair of Geeps will often be found drilling the north end of the yard. The best place to see the Doraville side of the yard is from the Marta Doraville station. During the morning hours the lighting is good for southbound trains.
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July 16, 2009 7:10 am
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By Ramirez, December 17, 2009 @ 3:54 am
I want to say thanks to you for putting together this website. I have been a railfan since I was a child living in Virginia, in which NS (Blue Ridge District) ran in front of my family’s home near Farmville, VA. In 2002, that line was abandoned, and now runs on the beltline located at the southern part of the county. Anyways, I live in Chamblee, in particular across the street from the Chamblee MARTA station, so I get an excellent view of train traffic going northbound and southbound. The information on this site is solid and on point, especially the description of Armour Yard, where you describe the 35 ft N&W coal hopper. I think the hopper, camp car and several of the cars attached to it have been there for at least five (5) years. By the way, do you know of any websites on line that has live audio of the Piedmont district? I have a scanner I listen to, but I would like to hear communication further north than Doraville and clearer traffic south of Lenox. Keep up the great work and keep us updated.