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Gainesville midland 209 locomotive

Description by Railroad,Preserver,2000:

History of the railroad:
The Gainesville Midland Railroad was a 41-mile shortline railroad that ran from Athens Georgia to Gainesville Georgia and interchanged freight with the larger class-one railroads in each city while also making stops in the small towns between Athens and Gainesville which included towns like Jefferson, Talmo, and Pendergrass to name a few.

by the mid-1950s, the railroad gained fame as being one of the last steam strongholds in Georgia with railfans flocking to it to document the waning steam operations there which primarily used five 2-10-0s and two 2-8-0's, 7 engines in total.

In 1959 the end of steam finally came when the seaboard air line railroad bought the Gainesville midland and retired the railroads steam roster which (ironically enough) consisted of engines formerly owned by the seaboard.

luckily all but 1 of the 7 engines used by the railroad were preserved.

As for the railroad today, it survives under the ownership of CSX (successor to the seaboard air line) who still uses the route for through freight service.

Survivors:
2-10-0 # 203, Duluth Ga
2-10-0 # 206, Spencer NC (as seaboard 544)
2-10-0 #208, Winder GA
2-10-0 #209, Gainesville GA
2-8-0 #116, Jefferson GA
2-8-0 #301, Charlotte NC

History of the engines modeled:

208 was built by Baldwin locomotive works in 1930 for the seaboard air line as #530 before being sold to the Gainesville midland in 1952 where it became their #208 with it working there for another 7 years before being retired in 1959 by the seaboard when they bought the railroad that year. The locomotive and a seaboard caboose were put on display in winder GA the same year.

Sister engine 209 was also built by Baldwin in 1930 and like her sister also served the seaboard, being numbered 533 until being sold to the Gainesville midland in 1952 where it became their 209.

Like 208 it ran on the midland for another 7 years before being retired in 1959 and being put on display in Gainesville with a seaboard caboose and a southern baggage car.

In 2004 209 was given a cosmetic restoration and more recently in 2021 the engine and other rolling stock were moved from its 2nd display location to a new site near the Ex southern (now Norfolk Southern) depot where they all presently remain.

Gainesville Midland 209 is technically the first preserved steam locomotive I remember seeing when I was little with my parents taking me to see it after leaving church one day in Gainesville back in either late 2004 or early 2005, this was just after the restoration mentioned earlier and I remember the engine absolutely dwarfing me due to me being so small back then with me being in awe over its huge size.

I've visited 208, 209, and most of the other surviving engines in more recent years in order to photograph them as they appear today.

Further information about the engines and railroad can be found here:
Rail GA site info on the railroad and engines (archived)
https://web.archive.org/web/20181224194342/http://railga.com/gm.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20181224135439/http://railga.com/ondispl/winderloco.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20181224235717/http://railga.com/ondispl/gainesvd.html

Article on 209:
https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/story-behind-gainesville-midland-railroad-and-engine-209/
Article on 208:
http://www.rgusrail.com/gagm208.html


Start up sequence:
1. ignition/dynamo
2. wait for the dynamo to generate electricity
3. system Pumps
4. shovel coal from tender, till the firebox is full