Photo Sleuthing - Atlanta

In about five weeks we will be taking McCook's Landing to Atlanta for the NMRA National convention. The layout is not quite ready, and work has been a little slow lately as I was focusing on a client model that also must be ready for the Atlanta meet. That model is now done and is on its way to the client. Here is a peek at the finished model. If you go to the Atlanta convention and go on the Chattanooga layout tour you can see this S Scale model as well as some others I have built for this client.

I had been looking at some of George Barnard's photos of Atlanta and was intrigued by two of the photos showing U.S. soldiers destroying the railroad.

These two images were taken near the same location just NW of the Western and Atlantic Railroad depot (the building with the cupola in the background).

The upper photo shows a group of U.S. Engineers (at least two soldiers and the officer have engineer castles) from XX Corps, Army of the Cumberland. One of the officers is wearing the star on his hat, the Corps Designation for XX Corps, under Henry Slocum at this point.  The XX Corps was formed by consolidating  XI and XII Corps from the Army of the Potomac, under command of Joseph Hooker. Those Corps had tough luck when fighting in Virginia and Pennsylvania, but excelled in the Atlanta Campaign. The former XI Corps commander, Howard, managed to survive disasters at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg to go on and become a very effective commander under Sherman.

High Res versions are available at the Library of Congress

I always wondered what the metal objects in the second photo were. At first glance they appear to be a steam engine. Upon closer review though, it really is a collection of parts from various items.

I annotated the image with what I think some of the pieces are. The iron bed has the inscription, "Esler & Co. Atlantic Dock, Brooklyn, NY 1856." A little google searching showed that this was an iron foundry in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn, NY that made boilers for steam boats and other uses.

My guess is that this photo shows factory equipment  that the confederates were trying to evacuate, but was abandoned on a loading dock near the tracks. The U.S. engineers in this photo are getting ready to destroy it.

One last thing, I highly recommend the website Secrets of George Barnard's Photographs of Atlanta in the Year 1864. It is a really amazing website and shows how the web can present information in an new and fascinating way. Given that current downtown Atlanta looks nothing like it did in the Civil War, this website is especially valuable. It is a must see.

Civil War Museums in the Atlanta Area

The ACWRRHS Annual meeting included visits to two Civil War Museums with significant railroad content. We visited the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History in Big Shanty, GA and the Atlanta Cyclorama and Museum on Saturday. On Sunday I visited the Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus.  

We also visited the Kennesaw Battlefield Visitors Center Museum, which has a good museum for that battle and the Atlanta campaign.


  The Southern Museum was much bigger than I expected and had a variety of interesting displays, including the locomotive General, which is their main highlight. The engine is not in its civil war appearance, as it was extensively rebuilt over the years. But it was still fun to see. 

The museum also featured a display from the Glover Manufacturing Company showing tools, patterns and products from the turn of the century industry. This was really the best part of the museum as the majority of the civil war display was somewhat derivative, except for the General. 

This lathe dated to 1865

The Texas is on display at the Cyclorama museum.
It is situated in a position that makes
photography difficult.

The  Atlanta Cyclorama was very impressive. It compares favorable to the Gettysburg cyclorama.

The Gettysburg Cyclorama appears fresher, is better lit and has a better light show animation. The Atlanta cyclorama is bigger and the 3D diorama is much more elaborate. To view the Atlanta cyclorama one sits on a rotating set of seats, while at Gettysburg, you are free to move about.

Both cycloramas are worth seeing and I enjoyed seeing this one. The museum had a nice selection of Rick Reeve oil paintings but was otherwise fairly modest.

A view showing 3D figures and how they blend into the painted cyclorama.  The 3D figures are different
scales to create forced-perspective.

Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus was the best of the four museums I visited. It had been moved from the location where I last visited several years ago to a bigger location nearer the river. The museum also expanded and included some very impressive full-scale dioramas including the USS Hartford, the USS Monitor and the CSS Albemarle.

The CSS Albemarle at a wharf. This was an impressive diorama.

Interior of the CSS Albemarle diorama

Admiral Farragut in his stateroom in the USS Hartford full size diorama.

Dahlgren gun collection outside the museum.

These models were used in the movie, "Ironclads." In the background is the recovered remains of the
 CSS Chattahoochee. That ironclad was burned in Columbus, GA before being completed. Columbus
was the last point on the Chattahoochee River that was navigable.