The Wandering Disciple

The roundtable is the workhorse of the rail yard. Housed in the center of the yard, the roundtable was used to relocate rail cars from the main lines into maintenance shops or storage in the roundhouse. This roundtable is centerpiece of the Georgia State Railroad Museum. The museum is located on the site of the former Central of Georgia Railway's Savannah Shops and Terminal Facility. Here you can see can walk through the working side of the railway and see many types of rail cars and locomotives that were used on the area's rails. (Photo: March 15, 2014)

Boxcars and railcars sit on display at the Roundhouse at the Georgia State Railroad Museum. Once the heart of the railroad industry in Savannah, the old rail yard is now a museum spotlighting the history of the rails. (Photo: March 15, 2014)

The partial roundhouse and fully functional turntable are the heart of the Georgia State Railroad Museum in Savannah. The museum is the most complete antebellum railroad complex in the United States. Operated by the Central of Georgia Railway, the Savannah shops opened in 1836 and remained in operation until 1963. It was purchased by the Coastal Heritage Society who opened a museum in 1989. (Photo: March 15, 2014)

A locomotive from the Savannah and Atlanta Railway sits on display at the Georgia State Railroad Museum. Housed in the Central of Georgia Railway Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities, the museum takes a look at the railroad history of Georgia. (Photo: March 15, 2014)

Savannah, Georgia: For decades our nation was connected by rail. People and goods passed from coast to coast on this vast network of railways and there is no better example of the rail era then the Georgia State Railroad Museum. The museum is housed in one of the most complete Antebellum rail complexes in the nation. It is the oldest and largest 19th century rail complexes in the country. Thirteen of the original structures still remain at the museum. The 33 acre site has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark. The complex was built in the late 1800’s for the Central of Georgia Railway. A major fire in the early 1920’s damaged a bunch of the buildings but they were later rebuilt. The complex remained in operation until 1963 when the Southern Railway bought out Central of Georgia and closed the facility. Southern transferred the complex to the City of Savannah and in 1989 the Coastal Heritage Society opened the mus...

Savannah, Georgia: Saturday was the final day of our brief spring break road trip. Our whirlwind trip was gonna bet even busier as we had three sites we wanted to see in just a short amount of time. We were really up against the clock as our rental car was due back at 7pm in Sarasota, Florida. So we hit the city early. Since we were leaving today, we decided to skip the hotel breakfast in lieu of a local restaurant. We chose J Christopher’s in the historic district. Last night during the walking ghost tour, the guide recommended it so we decided to give it a try. My wife and son had an omelet while I had biscuits and gravy. It was pretty good, nothing spectacular but hit the spot. After breakfast, we drove around town waiting for the museums to open. We did a few photo stops in some of the city squares and along the riverfront. We then went to TriCentennial Park to walk through Battlefield Memorial Park. This park is a memorial to the 8,000 troops who participated in t...