The Georgia Railroad's Macon Branch, which split off from the Atlanta-Augusta mainline at Camak, had been losing traffic for years, at least until Georgia Power's Plant Harlee Branch came online in the mid-1960s. The steam plant was located on a former Central of Georgia line between Milledgeville and Eatonton, but received coal from both Southern and GARR/L&N. GARR even built a new connector on the west side of Camak between the main and the branch to eliminate 'end-swapping' for trains to and from Atlanta. Here, a pair of GP40s have a train of empties headed for interchange with L&N in Atlanta, and are just moving on to the mainline from the connector. Because Lithonia Church Road doesn't even have crossbucks, a crew member is on the ground to flag auto traffic. Alas, the steam plant closed about five years ago, and much of the Macon line has been removed. The Atlanta-Augusta main isn't much better, having steadily lost favor ever since the 1967 SCL merger reduced its utility.
