The Roswell Railroad was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad that ran from south of Roswell,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Chamblee Chamblee ( ) is a city in northern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta. The population was 30,164 as of the 2020 census. History The area that would later become Chamblee was originally dairy farms. During the late ninet ...

from 1881 until 1921. The railroad served as a passenger and freight carrier.

Overview

Some accounts say the railroad had only a single combination passenger coach and baggage car, two box cars and four flat cars. Since Roswell was a textile manufacturing town, the line would have brought in cotton and dry goods and shipped textile and farming products. The Roswell terminus was located south of the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...

near Roberts Drive and connected to the

Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railway The Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railway emerged from the 1877 re-organization of the Atlanta and Richmond Air Line Railway. Later, in 1894, it became part of the Southern Railway. It was finally merged into the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1996. ...

at its Chamblee terminus. At the South Roswell terminus, a bridge was planned, but never built. About 1/2 mile upstream, an old wagon road ran just west of the current River Landing Drive and Grimes Bridge Landing to connect to current day Grimes Bridge and Oxbo Roads and approached the textile mills from the north. Unfortunately, much of the old roadbed was destroyed when Fulton County installed a sewer line. Ike Roberts was an employee of Southern Railway at the time the company decided to create the Roswell Railroad. Roberts participated in the grading and track laying for this new line. He also purchased of land at the northern terminus, built a train station, and leased it to Southern. After completion of the line, he stayed on as the engineer and was the only person that worked in that capacity until the closing of the line. His home still remains on Roberts Drive (his

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

in the

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...

community). As there was no facility to turn around in (South) Roswell, the engine traveled in reverse on the return trip to Chamblee.

Absorption

The Roswell Railroad operated as an independent road until, in 1894, it was absorbed into the newly created Southern Railway. They had one narrow gauge

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

numbered 815, an

0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...

-arranged Baldwin 1878 steamer named "Buck" (builder construction number 4321). In 1894, Buck was renumbered N815 in the Southern numbering system. In 1905, the line was converted to and Buck was sold to the S.I.&E. Co. In 1902, the Bull Sluice Railroad built a line from a junction with the Roswell Branch, just north of Dunwoody, to the

Georgia Railway and Power Company Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to ...

's construction site for its

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

Morgan Falls Dam Bull Sluice Lake is created by Morgan Falls Dam, a small hydroelectric dam located along the Chattahoochee River at the northern end of Sandy Springs, Georgia, and crossing the river westwards into eastern Cobb County in north metro Atlanta. Origi ...

(built to supply

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

system, and creating

Bull Sluice Lake Bull Sluice Lake is a small reservoir located along the Chattahoochee River in northern Georgia, in the northern suburbs of metro Atlanta. It is , and is impounded by the Morgan Falls Dam. Besides the hydroelectric power produced by the dam, ...

). The line was built to bring in building materials. Later the Southern purchased this line and it became the Morgan Falls Branch. The Bull Sluice used a steamer named "Dinkey". In 1905, the line hauled

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

to Roswell to visit

Bulloch Hall Bulloch Hall is a Greek Revival mansion in Roswell, Georgia, built in 1839. It is one of several historically significant buildings in the city and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This is where Martha Bulloch Roosevelt ("M ...

, the childhood home of his mother

Martha Bulloch Roosevelt Martha Stewart "Mittie" Roosevelt ( Bulloch; July 8, 1835 – February 14, 1884) was an American socialite. She was the mother of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and the paternal grandmother of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a great-granddaughter o ...

References

*
Railga.com entry for Roswell Railroad

Railfanning.org: Where the Tracks No Longer Run
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roswell Railroad Defunct Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Narrow gauge railroads in Georgia (U.S. state) Predecessors of the Southern Railway (U.S.) Roswell, Georgia Railway lines in Atlanta Railway companies established in 1880 Railway companies disestablished in 1921 3 ft gauge railways in the United States 1880 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)