In 1916, Ben Tarbutton was asked to take over the operation of the Sandersville Railroad by the organizing group. They were getting older and wanted a young businessman to run the company. The owners agreed to sell him the company at a favorable price if he agreed to operate it for five years. Back in those days, the railroad hauled freight, mail, express, and passengers.

In the 1930s, it was common practice for railroad officials to exchange passes for passenger rail travel allowing the recipient to ride for free. Ben Tarbutton wrote the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad and asked for a pass. The Pennsylvania Railroad president wrote back that the Pennsylvania covered many thousands of miles while the Sandersville Railroad went only three miles. Tarbutton replied, "Yes, that is true, but my railroad is just as wide!"

Ironically, the Sandersville Railroad is still operating today while the Pensy is not.

Sandersville Railroad

The Sandersville Railroad might well be called the poster child for a successful shortline railroad operation.

Albert M. Langley, Jr. / 2005

KAOLIN, also called china clay, soft white clay that is an essential ingredient in the manufacture of china and porcelain and is widely used in the making of paper, rubber, paint, and many other products. Kaolin is named after the hill in China (Kao-ling) from which it was mined for centuries. Samples of kaolin were first sent to Europe by a French Jesuit missionary around 1700 as examples of the materials used by the Chinese in the manufacture of porcelain.

In its natural state kaolin is a white, soft powder consisting principally of the mineral kaolinite, which, under the electron microscope, is seen to consist of roughly hexagonal, platy crystals ranging in size from about 0.1 micrometre to 10 micrometres or even larger. These crystals may take vermicular and booklike forms, and occasionally macroscopic forms approaching millimetre size are found. Kaolin as found in nature usually contains varying amounts of other minerals such as muscovite, quartz, feldspar, and anatase. In addition, crude kaolin is frequently stained yellow by iron hydroxide pigments. It is often necessary to bleach the clay chemically to remove the iron pigment and to wash it with water to remove the other minerals in order to prepare kaolin for commercial use.

Encyclopaedia Britannica