Central of Georgia Railway 907

Central of Georgia Railway 907: From Segregation to Integration

The Central of Georgia Railway 907 stands as a testament to changing times. Crafted in 1947 by the renowned American Car and Foundry, this lightweight coach was initially designated as number 543 for the Central of Georgia Railroad, one of four new partition coaches delivered, numbered 540-543. It proudly served on the “Nancy Hanks II,” a passenger service connecting Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. As time progressed, the other 3 coaches were rebuilt and re-assigned, leaving only the 543. In 1963 the Central of Georgia was purchased and absorbed by the Southern Railway, after which coach 543 was repainted, re-lettered, and renumbered 907. During this time the original Nancy Hanks II livery was replaced with Southern Railway’s “Coach Green” or “Pullman No. 4 Green” with block lettering.

Ultimately the Southern Railway found the 907 surplus, and the car was donated to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in 1982. A few years later, after service with its original electro-mechanical air conditioning, Southern Railway lettering, and other machinery, TVRM rebuilt the car to be “self sufficient”, with a 220v A.C. diesel generator replacing the 32v D.C. battery system. This was the first coach in TVRM’s collection to be so rebuilt, enabling a wider operational area, and no longer limiting which coaches it could run alongside. or what locomotives could pull it. The rebuilt car was turned out in TVRM’s Colonial Red Livery, with a refinished grey interior.

The 907 shares design elements with its numerical counterpart, the 906 (despite that car having been built more than 20 years earlier, as a ‘heavyweight’). Both started as segregated partition or “Jim Crow” cars, marked by a central dividing wall. However, with the end of railroad segregation, the wall in the 907 was dismantled over the winter of 1954-1955, converting it into a standard coach. Its dual restrooms at each end remain as silent witnesses to its segregated past.

Of note, these Nancy Hanks II coaches all featured ACF’s “Sunliner” lighting set-up, with curtains, and light fixtures mounted across the windows, designed to direct light upwards as if sunlight was always shining down. The Nancy Hanks II was the only trainset to ever be fitted with this technology. Although the fixtures were later relocated to a position above the windows, like standard fluorescent coach lights, they remain in place to this day.