Sandersville Railroad (SAN)
Sandersville covered hoppers #702, #703, #704 and #705
The Sandersville Railroad (SAN), nicknamed the “Kaolin Road“, which was chartered in 1893, was originally a subsidiary of the Central of Georgia Railroad (CG) and was operated from Tennille to Sandersville, Georgia. The Kaolin Road is owned and was started by the Tarbuttons of Sandersville, Georgia who run the railroad to this day with Hugh Tarbutton as the President of the railroad and Charles Tarbutton as the assistant Vice President.
The Railroad was extended north 5 miles from Sandersville to a kaolin mine and processing plants and continues to operate that same nine miles as of 2005. And like the Arkansas & Missouri, the Sandersville is unique in that, despite its rugged profile, it’s a true short line railroad that has the all the makings of a Class 1.
Its line features heavy, welded rail and while the railroad only owns a small fleet of locomotives including 4 EMD SW1500 switchers along with an SW1200 and two slugs. They also owns two cabooses and many freight cars that can be seen all over the country, including hoppers, boxcars and woodchip cars.
The railroad interchanges with the Norfolk Southern at Tennille, Georgia.