Tallulah Falls Railway

On January 27, 1854, The General Assembly of the State of Georgia enacted legislation for the construction of a railway linking the towns of Athens and Clayton.

This railway, known as the North Eastern Railroad (Georgia), was chartered in 1856; however the outbreak of the American Civil War delayed construction.

Tallulah Falls was a popular tourist destination and at one time seventeen hotels and boarding houses catered to the trade.

On October 24, 1887, the Blue Ridge and Atlantic Railroad (BR&A) was chartered by the State of Georgia, and in early 1888, bought the branch from the R&D.

However, while permission for abandonment was granted, no action was taken due to public sentiment for the railroad; it continued to operate with little to no profit until 1955.

The Tallulah Falls Railway appears in the opening scene of the 1951 drama I'd Climb the Highest Mountain with temporarily reinstated 2-8-0 #75 being used in the film.

The rural location of the track closely resembled the setting of the actual chase, which occurred nearly 100 years earlier in the town of Kennesaw, Georgia (then called Big Shanty) along the line of the Western and Atlantic Railroad.