I am pleased to present another Tom Holley layout plan here on Railroad Prototype Modeler. Tom is a longtime friend and was a professional railroader with Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and a few southeastern shortlines for over 30 years. He’s retired now and living in Columbus, Georgia, and hosts the monthly Branchline Bunch, an online, international Zoom meeting for modelers and railfans.

This is Tom’s fourth byline on the blog.

Above. Southern Railway Train 71 westbound at Hurtsboro, Alabama.

Over the years my layout goals have shifted many, many times. My favorite piece of railroad is the old Central of Georgia line between Columbus, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama, which included a branch line to Andalusia, Alabama, where my family served many years in train and roadway maintenance service for Norfolk Southern Railroad. I’ve drawn numerous plans for various sections of this line. None of them ever really satisfied me; in retrospect I think–even with the several one-town layouts I planned for Union Springs or Andalusia–I was trying to force more operation into the plan than would fit.

Then along came Tony Koester with a Trains of Thought column titled Modeling A Not-So-Bright Future in the November, 2026, Model Railroader Magazine. Tony discussed former main lines that had been downgraded to branch lines or shortlines with less mileage and reduced car counts. A point he raised was that a modeling a former, pared down mainline could allow you to still enjoy your favorite prototype, even if your hobby resources had downsized. That editorial was a flash of inspiration to me. What I had been looking for had been right in front of me all along!

That led me to settling on modeling the Norfolk Southern Railroad M&G (Mobile & Girard) line, on the former Central of Georgia Columbus to Montgomery main line from Nuckols to Hatchechubee and Hurtsboro, Alabama circa 1989.

Why the M&G? My Grandfather and Father both worked on the M&G for the Central of Georgia. My Dad continued to work for the Southern Railway when that road took over the Central of Georgia in 1963, and I worked out of Columbus as well, but for Norfolk Southern.

Below. The Central of Georgia featured a handful of strong lines in Georgia and Alabama. Here’s where Hatchechubee fit in the original system–note the line under consideration is southwest out of the terminal in Columbus, Georgia. I want to model almost 30 years after Central merged with the Southern Railway in 1963, and a few years after Southern merged into Norfolk Southern in 1982.

The line from Columbus to Andalusia was the M&G, the line from Eufaula to Montgomery was the M&E–the old Montgomery and Eufaula. Those two lines crossed at Union Springs, Alabama, where there was a wye and a coal chute. Trains going from Columbus to Montgomery used the M&G to Union Springs, then the M&E from Union Springs to Montgomery.

Starting in 1983, the line died a slow death when service ceased to Andalusia. In 1985 the line to Montgomery from Union Springs was abandoned, and the line from Hurtsboro to Troy via Union Springs was abandoned in 1989. By the time I model, the line was down to a stub branch from Columbus, GA, to Hurtsboro, serviced by a local from Columbus GA.

Here’s the layout plan, below, which fits into a nine by 16-foot spare room in my house. Layout height is 48 inches. 31 feet of benchwork are already built and I’m having air conditioning installed next summer.

Staging at the bottom represents Columbus, Georgia and Nuckols, Alabama. Nuckols is not seen on the map, but that is where the branch line to the paper mill splits off the main line from Columbus to Montgomery and Andalusia. Trains leave staging at Nuckols and like the prototype, arrive at Hatchechubee to work Walker Williams Lumber there. Then, the train continues to Hurtsboro to work US Sand and Silica. When that work is finished the engines run around the train and return to staging.

There was a Georgia Pacific facility at Hurtsboro that loaded logs, but by the late 80s they didn’t do a lot of business and really didn’t fit, so I left it out. There was also a CSX (formerly Seaboard Coast Line, originally Seaboard Air Line) crossing in Hurtsboro, but that was pulled up in 1985 or 1986 so I omitted that as well.

Below. A recent Google Street View of the yard at Nuckols, Alabama. The small stub-end yard here still serves the G&W’s Columbus and Chattahoochie, Norfolk Southern, organizing cars for the paper mill a Mahrt down on the Chattahoochee River. Nuckols serves as staging on the layout plan.

In the year I’m modeling, 1989, the line to Hurtsboro was switched by the Mahrt Turn (Train A71) out of Columbus. A71 originated in Columbus and handled traffic to and from the large paper mill at Mahrt (Cottonton), Alabama. Since A71 could handle the work on the line within the 12 hours of service law, it wasn’t necessary for the carrier to establish a new job.

Normally trains from Nuckols to Hurtsboro were short, with 10 to 12 cars at most and sometimes a caboose, although the crew usually left the cab at Nuckols and used a “blinkie” (a flashing light) to mark the end of the train. Most of these cars were empty covered hoppers for USS&S at Hurtsboro, with boxcars of lumber and plywood for Walker Williams for pressure treating, and finished lumber in box cars and bulkhead flats coming out of Walker Williams. Speed was 25 MPH, but many of the old trestles were rated at only 10 MPH, as were the industry tracks. So it’s a slow speed railroad–right up my alley.

Another plus: There were still a lot of Southern-painted locomotives running here in 1989. Southern high-nose GP-30s and GP-35s were still on the roster, and the occasional Norfolk & Western GP-35 wandered down here too. The job had a full crew and a caboose as well. The layout lets me run power my father and I both ran (GP30s, GP35s, and GP38 family); I really like that aspect.

Above. Southern GP-38 2860, seen at Spencer, North Carolina in 1972, was typical of power assigned to Train A71. A71 usually used three four-axle units to service the paper mill and the last remaining industries at Hatchechubee and Hurtsboro. Warren Calloway photo. Below. A typical late-1980s, post-merger lashup on the M&G. Photo at Columbus, Georgia by Tom Holley.

Any locomotive in the NS inventory could run down there, including the U23Bs. Below. Southern 3929 seen at Varina, North Carolina in 1979. Photo by Warren Calloway.

In 1989 trains on the M&G still operated on Train Orders. Norfolk Southern implemented Track Warrant Control (TWC) on the Alabama Division in 1992, (verified date) marking a coordinated, division-wide activation where TWC definitions and initial rule variances were formally injected into the active rule books across several non-signaled branches on the division.

Below. Walker Williams Lumber Co. at Hatchechubee, Alabama, seen in this aerial from the 1980s. The chip loader can be seen at the top left. Lumber and plywood loading is on the right.

Below. This NS Alabama Division track chart issued to me in the late 1994s shows the double-ended delivery track at Hatchechubee. There weren’t many shippers left on the railroad by this time.

In 1989 pressure treating lumber and plywood was the main business at Walker Williams. I don’t recall if chips were still being loaded in 1989, but they are on the layout plan. The sawmill closed in 1999.

Below. Lumber and plywood was brought to Walker Williams for pressure treating on cars like Southern 115328 below.

Below. Box cars like Southern 527754 could be seen unloading and loading plywood at Walker Williams. Johnny Winkler photo, Jason Greene Collection.

Below. The woodchip loader in this brilliant photo taken by Gerhardt Anderson in the 1980s looks a lot like the loader at Walker Williams in Hatchechubee. Cars lettered for Southern Railway like this one were still plentiful in the late 1980s. Photo courtesy Fenton Wells.

Above. Central of Georgia slab-side chip hoppers like could still be seen M&G in the late 80s. The mix of big chip hoppers, box cars, sand cars and bulkhead flats is part of the attraction of modeling the M&G and most lines in the Southeast. Photo by Tom Holley at Columbus, Georgia, early 1980s.

Below. This view at Saco, south of Hurtsboro, illustrates the nature and setting on the M&G in the 1980s. Photo by Bernie Feltman, Tom Holley Collection.

Below. An aerial of the US Sand and Silica plant, which loaded sand at Hurtsboro. US S&S is seen on the layout in front of staging.

Below. This is the NS Alabama Division chart for Hurtsboro, Alabama.

Below. US S&S used a large variety of cars for sand loading. A beautiful HO scale model of this PS car is now available from Tangent Scale Models. Photo courtesy Fenton Wells.

More sand cars, below. This photo was taken by Tom himself in Columbus, Georgia, and shows the variety of cars and fallen flag schemes seen during this period.

My Grandfather, Father, and I all worked down on the M&G. When the line was pulled up, I was on the extra that went to pick up the salvaged rail at Nuckols. It was a sad day for me, but at least I appreciated the significance of the event.

The photo below shows Train A72 rolling over the southern Chattahoochee River bridge into Columbus in 1975. The power mix was typical, and the head cars are from the sand plant. There are chip hoppers just out of the picture from Walker Williams. These would have been picked up from Union Springs after the Union Springs Switcher did the work and lined them up for 72 to pick up. My Dad is probably at the throttle of the lead engine.

So, a pretty simple model railroad plan, but a time machine that takes me back to a time and place I really love. I sure hope to build this when I can. Below. Tom’s Dad, O. R. (Bill) Holley at the throttle of A94 at Columbus, Georgia, on August 26, 1978, the day of his retirement.

Following twelve years in retail, Tom Holley started his railroad career in 1989. After working for a shortline and then MidSouth and KCS, he returned to Columbus, GA, and his roots on the NS. He retired in June 2019 with 30 years of service. Tom said “Had Norfolk Southern not reopened the line to Birmingham out of Columbus, I’d still be in Mississippi with CP-KC. But the Lord looked out for me and got me home where I needed to be. Proverbs 3:5 and Psalms 144:2.”

Thanks Tom for another excellent article. I hope you get started on that layout soon! – John