The Chetoogeta Mountain Tunnel ( 34°50′19″N85°02′00″W / 34.838689°N 85.033281°W ) refers to two different railroad tunnels passing through Chetoogeta Mountain in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, United States.
The first tunnel, known as the Western and Atlantic Railroad Tunnel at Tunnel Hill, was completed on May 7, 1850, as part of the construction of the Western & Atlantic Railroad (W & A), the first state road in Georgia. It was the first major railroad tunnel in the South and is 1,447 feet [1] /0.274 miles; 441 meters in length. It was renovated in 1998-2000 and is now open to the public as a privately owned historic site. [2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
The second tunnel was built from 1926 to 1928 and is 1,557 feet [3] /0.295 miles; 475 meters long. It is still in use by CSX Transportation, under lease from the Georgia Department of Transportation. [1] It, like the entire W & A subdivision, is a major route between Atlanta and Chattanooga.
The nearby town of Tunnel Hill, Georgia (originally Tunnelsville) was created and named for the first tunnel, and was the supply base for its construction materials and worker housing. [2]
Two historic events occurred here during the American Civil War; first the Great Locomotive Chase and second a battle between union and confederate forces during the Atlanta Campaign. The first occurred on April 12, 1862, when a civilian scout, James J. Andrews, led 22 volunteer Union soldiers from three Ohio regiments: the 2nd, 21st, and 33rd Ohio Infantry. Also named Andrews' Raid, the near suicide mission went deep into Confederate territory, where the men stole the locomotive named the General. The men were pursued by another train, the Texas, and Confederate forces. Andrews and company made it north of this location before they ran out of water and steam to run the locomotive, where they abandoned the train. Many of the men, including Andrews, were hanged in Atlanta.
The second incident was a minor skirmish on May 6 and 7, 1864 between invading Union and Confederate forces. Union forces were generally invading and securing the rail lines as they progressed towards Atlanta. Confederate pickets were posted to delay advancing troops.
Adairsville is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 4,878. Adairsville is approximately halfway between Atlanta and Chattanooga on Interstate 75. It is 12 miles (19 km) south of Calhoun, 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Rome and 61 miles (98 km) north of Atlanta.
Kingston is a village in Bartow County, Georgia, United States. The population was 722 at the 2020 census.
Tunnel Hill is a city in northwest Whitfield County and southern Catoosa County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 963 at the 2020 census. The city is named for the Chetoogeta Mountain Tunnel, a 1,497-foot (456 m) railroad tunnel built in the late 1840s.
The Battle of Atlanta took place during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply hub of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman overwhelmed and defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John Bell Hood. Union Major General James B. McPherson was killed during the battle, the second-highest-ranking Union officer killed in action during the war. Despite the implication of finality in its name, the battle occurred midway through the Atlanta campaign, and the city did not fall until September 2, 1864, after a Union siege and various attempts to seize railroads and supply lines leading to Atlanta. After taking the city, Sherman's troops headed south-southeastward toward Milledgeville, the state capital, and on to Savannah with the March to the Sea.
The Atlanta campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May 1864, opposed by the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.
The Western & Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia (W&A) is a railroad owned by the State of Georgia and currently leased by CSX, which CSX operates in the Southeastern United States from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The Great Locomotive Chase was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J. Andrews, commandeered a train, The General, and took it northward toward Chattanooga, Tennessee, doing as much damage as possible to the vital Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A) line from Atlanta to Chattanooga as they went. They were pursued by Confederate forces at first on foot, and later on a succession of locomotives, including The Texas, for 87 miles (140 km).
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.
Western & Atlantic Railroad #3 General is a 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive built in 1855 by the Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson, New Jersey for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, best known as the engine stolen by Union spies in the Great Locomotive Chase, an attempt to cripple the Confederate rail network during the American Civil War. Today, the locomotive is preserved at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company also seen as "GARR", was a historic railroad and banking company that operated in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 1967 it reported 833 million revenue-ton-miles of freight and 3 million passenger-miles; at the end of the year it operated 331 miles (533 km) of road and 510 miles (820 km) of track.
James J. Andrews was a Kentucky civilian who worked for the Union Army during the early years of the American Civil War. He led a daring raid behind enemy lines on the Western and Atlantic Railroad, known as the Great Locomotive Chase. Andrews and seven fellow raiders were caught at the end of the chase and executed by the Confederates on the charge of spying.
The Battle of Ringgold Gap was fought November 27, 1863, outside the town of Ringgold, Georgia, by the Confederate and Union armies during the American Civil War. Part of the Chattanooga Campaign, it followed a heavy Confederate loss at the Battle of Missionary Ridge from which General Braxton Bragg's artillery and wagon trains were forced to retreat south. The five hour Battle of Ringgold Gap resulted in the Confederate victory of Major General Patrick R. Cleburne and gave the Army of Tennessee safe passage to retreat through the Ringgold Gap mountain pass.
The Great Locomotive Chase is a 1956 American adventure western film produced by Walt Disney Productions, based on the Great Locomotive Chase that occurred in 1862 during the American Civil War. Filmed in CinemaScope and in color, the film stars Fess Parker as James J. Andrews, the leader of a group of Union soldiers from various Ohio regiments who volunteered to go behind Confederate lines in civilian clothes, steal a Confederate train north of Atlanta, and drive it back to Union lines in Tennessee, tearing up railroad tracks and destroying bridges and telegraph lines along the way.
William Allen Fuller was a conductor on the Western & Atlantic Railroad during the American Civil War era. He was most noted for his role in the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase, a daring sabotage mission and raid conducted by soldiers of the Union Army in northern Georgia. Fuller's determined pursuit prevented the Union agents from driving a captured train north to Tennessee and the Union lines.
The Kennesaw House is a three-story historic building in downtown Marietta, Georgia. It houses the Marietta History Center. The building is west of the town square, adjacent to the CSX tracks.
The city of Atlanta, Georgia, in Fulton County, was an important rail and commercial center during the American Civil War. Although relatively small in population, the city became a critical point of contention during the Atlanta Campaign in 1864 when a powerful Union Army approached from Union-held Tennessee. The fall of Atlanta was a critical point in the Civil War, giving the North more confidence, and leading to the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln and the eventual dissolution of the Confederacy. The capture of the "Gate City of the South" was especially important for Lincoln as he was in a contentious election campaign against the Democratic opponent George B. McClellan.
Western & Atlantic Railroad #49 "Texas" is a 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive built in 1856 for the Western & Atlantic Railroad by Danforth, Cooke & Co., best known as the principal pursuit engine in the Great Locomotive Chase, chasing the General after the latter was stolen by Union saboteurs in an attempt to ruin the Confederate rail system during the American Civil War. The locomotive is preserved at the Atlanta History Center.
The transportation system of Georgia is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure comprising over 1,200 miles (1,900 km) of interstates and more than 120 airports and airbases serving a regional population of 59,425 people.
Wilson Wright Brown was a soldier and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his role in the Great Locomotive Chase during the American Civil War.
CSX Transportation's Atlanta Terminal Subdivision comprises the company's railroad lines and infrastructure operating in and around Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta Terminal Subdivision consists of five lines and a number of yards. Most of the lines in the Atlanta Terminal Subdivision date back to the 1800s.