Opinion: Lesser

Past Tense

The Roswell Depot was located on the Sandy Springs side of the Chattahoochee River. This 1912 photo appears in Les R. Winn’s “Ghost Trains & Depots of Georgia.”

I have shared the history of the Roswell Railroad in this column at least 10 times over the years. In case you missed it, the railroad traveled from Chamblee through Dunwoody and on toward Roswell twice a day from 1881 until 1921. Ike Roberts was engineer of the railroad for the entire 40 years.

Dinky was not the only Dinky

Stories of the Roswell Railroad tell of an engine that went by the name Buck or Old Buck and another engine called Dinky. However, Dinky is not a unique name for an engine. There have been Dinkys across the U.S., and as the name would suggest, they were small engines.

In 1942 a photo was taken of another nearby Dinky which ran from a rock quarry at Stone Mountain to the town of Stone Mountain. The train had a V for victory painted across it and was about to be cut up and contributed to the metal drive of World War II. (The DeKalb News Sun, July 22, 1981)

There is a Dinky on display in Conyers, Georgia, across from the original train depot. According to georgiaencyclopedia.org, the 1905 Rogers steam locomotive model is one of three remaining in the world.

There was a group several years ago that gathered at Heritage Sandy Springs to see if Roswell Railroad’s Dinky or Buck could be located. The group did not locate the original engines.

This 1887 image of a Roswell Railroad schedule was shared by Douglas van Veelen, who studied and treasured railroad history.

Roswell Railroad went to Roswell

The Roswell Railroad never crossed the Chattahoochee River and never went into Roswell. The original plan for the railroad would have taken it into the town of Roswell where Oxbo Road and Atlanta Street meet, according to historian Michael Hitt.

Stone embankments built along Vickery Creek were intended to accommodate the tracks. However, the cost of building a bridge across the Chattahoochee River was so great, it never happened. The Roswell Depot was built on the Sandy Springs side of the river, up on a hill across from engineer Ike Roberts’ house. The depot burned down in the 1950s. (Atlanta Constitution, June 1, 1994, “Historian tracks Roswell Railroad”)

A Roswell Railroad dog story

In 1961, 74-year-old Carl Wallace of Chamblee shared memories of the Roswell Railroad with The Neighbor Newspaper. He remembered how the sound of the train whistle would send his dog Bob running toward the engine to catch the evening paper as it was tossed to him.

Chamblee was Roswell Junction

According to “Ghost Trains and Depots of Georgia,” by Les H. Winn, it was the officials of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, owners of the Roswell Railroad at the time, who changed the name of the depot from Roswell Junction to Chamblee around 1887.

Winn says, “As the community around the depot grew and prospered, the name Chamblee stuck.”

When the Southern Railway was formed in 1894, the stock of Richmond and Danville Railroad became part of the assets of Southern Railway.

The Roswell Railroad carried mail

Lizzie Newhard recalled that her father Joberry Cheek had to drive a wagon to pick up Dunwoody mail before the Roswell Railroad was in operation. The Roswell Railroad’s Dinky, “replaced the mail wagon in bringing postal service to the area.” Once the railroad stopped running, mail was again delivered by wagon and later by automobile.

Email Valerie at [email protected] or visit her website at pasttensega.com.

Past Tense