Southeastern Railway Museum announces expansion

January 29, 2006
For Immediate Release  (Duluth, Ga.).

The Southeastern Railway Museum announces that it has completed the acquisition of 3.8 acres adjoining the museum from Mr. James Elliott of Duluth. This acquisition is the museum’s largest since the museum acquired it’s present 30 acre site in 1998 and was financed cooperatively by a community development grant sponsored by Rep. Brooks Coleman and coordinated by the City of Duluth, a donation from the Woodruff Foundation of Atlanta and a partial donation by Mr. Elliott. Legal services for the museum’s part of the transaction were provided pro-bono by the Atlanta office of Alston & Bird LLP.

The museum plans to use the new property as space to consolidate parking, build a new visitors center complex, a railroad depot and a new exhibit facility. In addition, the additional space provides increased flexibility in designing and building out the museum’s current 30 acre site by improving access to areas of the existing site that were difficult to access previously.

The museum has signed an agreement with E.R.Snell Contracting Inc. to do preliminary clearing and grading of the new acquisition and anticipates construction will begin during the first quarter of 2006.

The Southeastern Railway Museum has been in operation since 1970 and is “Georgia’s Official Transportation History Museum”. The museum has over 80 other pieces of retired railway rolling stock including vintage steam and diesel locomotives, passenger coaches, private business cars, a World War II army troop kitchen, wooden freight cars, railway post office car and maintenance of way equipment. Transit history is represented with a cross section of busses and trolleys from the early 1900’s through the mid 1980’s. The museum is also home to MARTA’s historic bus fleet which includes busses from many of the predecessor systems to MARTA. Many other items from Georgia’s transportation history are also presented on the museum’s 30-acre site.

Trains rides aboard restored cabooses are complementary with admission.