After the trip down the Oconee I was taken in by the railroad bridge. I decided to see what else I could find on it. Its an iron deck truss and was moved to it present location after being originally installed over the Chattahoochee. The National Archives has the Central of Georgia’s system files and in those this bridge is covered. A small note on the drawing drew me in. The note read “ On Dec. 26th, 1919 at the place a wreck occurred…truss span was torn down.” This explains some of the portions of the span that did not seem to match. According to the Central of Georgia’s Timetable the train that derailed was probably Train number 23 and if it was running on schedule the accident probably occurred around 8:50 pm on December 26th. Now to find out a little more about the wreck.

The next day the Macon Telegraph ran a story that made research easier. As the train was travelling from Macon to Athens one of the cars derailed on the bridge. That car took four others into the Oconee with it, three immediately and one later. Potash, Nitrate, and Lumber were dumped into the drink. The wreck destroyed 150 feet of the bridge structure on the Athens side of the Oconee. In 1919, railroads were still the lifeblood of economic transport. Companies, especially railroad companies, thrived on their ability to access markets. The Central of Georgia was a small player in this market. The route from Macon to Athens was more of a branch. Although a major junction was at Shady Dale, GA, Athens was the end of this branch and the Central had to compete with the much bigger Southern Railway and Seaboard Airline Railway. Athens was on the Seaboard’s mainline making it a prime carrier for the town. With the line to Athens severed the Central had to respond quickly to regain market access.

When the telegraphed information reached the Macon offices, the Central immediately went into action. Superintendent M.B. Smith mounted a wreck train that same day and the workers steamed off to respond to the trouble. Marshall B. Smith was born in 1877 in Alabama and in 1919 served as the Division Superintendent over the damaged stretch after being the Superintendent in Columbus, GA the prior year. From his lodgings on Mulberry Street he quickly made his way to the yards to join the wreck train. The wreck train probably consisted of a steam crane, tool cars, a camp or bed car for the work crew, and some supplies. Waiting for Smith at the wreck were the engineer and conductor of the train. Henry Raymond Lee was running the Steam Engine the day of the wreck and his conductor was Cleveland M. White. Lee was born in McIntyre, GA in 1883 and lived on Bright Street, house 216 in Macon. White lived at 127 Charles street in the same area of Macon. They both avoided death that day over the Oconee and lived to work several more decades on the railroad.

By the 9th of February the rail line was back in service. We can determine this because the Seaboard had a wreck at Fowler Junction on the 8th of February. In response to their wreck they rerouted all their traffic from Athens to another of their Mainlines in Madison, GA via the Central of Georgia. This would mean the traffic would have to traverse the Oconee river bridge. Its also possible that the bridge was repaired by January 21st as the Mercer Bears basketball team returned from Athens that day on a Central of Georgia Train. Digging deeper and deeper I eventually found one paragraph in the Macon Telegraph on Monday, December 29th, 1919. It stated that all trains on the Athens division were back on schedule as the Oconee bridge was repaired “yesterday.” This means after wrecking and damaging 150 feet of the trestle on the evening of the 26th, a wreck train and work crews had the bridge repaired in 2 days.

If you get the opportunity to float the with Oconee Joe, take a stop at the bridge and remember the wreck and amazing repair. https://www.oconeejoe.com/

Henry Raymond Lee was the Engineer of Train number 23 the day of the wreck.

This 1918 timetable shows the Macon and Athens Route times.

The December 29th Article from the Macon telegraph.

Seaboard Airline Trainwreck near Athens.

Article describing the wreck on the Oconee River Trestle.

This 1908 Sanborne Insurance map shows 216 Bright Street in Macon. Engineer Lee was living here when he took the call to operate the train that wrecked.