Chamblee54

The morning started in Saturday MARTA fashion. There was an OTP family going downtown, and they were staying together. At Brookhaven, a lady told the driver that a man had tried to assault her. The train was stopped until a police officer came to investigate.
After a long wait at five points, PG got on the west train. He had never been to the Bankhead Station before, and was not sure how the system worked down there. PG left the train at the Ashby station, and saw Will and Eli. PG had met them the week earlier on the machete hike. A train soon came along, with the message board saying Vine City. A lady from MARTA then came by to tell people that this was the train going to the Bankhead station.
At Bankhead, a crowd of 30 or so people was milling around. By their backpacks and water bottles, it was easy to guess that this was the urban hiking group. A few more people were en route, so the start of the hike was delayed by a few minutes. By this time PG had stashed his phone in his pack, and was blissfully unaware of time.
The plan was to walk along the beltway corridor, from Bankhead station to Piedmont Hospital. The hardy hikers could go on to Piedmont Park. As it turned out, only about half of the hike was on the beltline route. The part from Bankhead station to the Howell Mill gulch was needed for access to the beltline path.
The hike began through a wooded area behind the Bankhead Station. This area had a few homeless shelters, whose residents were not around. The first rail portion was behind the Fulton County Jail and Dog Pound. It was a pleasant stroll, with kudzu on both sides. There is an abandoned quarry in this area, which is going to become a city park.
The rail tracks the hike was on are active tracks. While approaching a tunnel, a train was heard in the distance. A decision was made to get off the tracks while the train passed.
The ground beside the tracks was muddy, with the algae of run off sewerage apparent. Eli took a leadership role in jumping off the tracks. His right boot sank a foot deep in sewage enhanced mud. PG saw this, and decided to be careful where he stepped.
The train passed by, and the group proceeded through the two tunnels. The second tunnel was an old concrete tunnel that was about 100 yards long. PG said to himself, this is so #@%&* cool.
Before long, the group made a ninety degree turn, and was on another line. Soon, another train came down the tracks, this one pulling only another engine. A white truck pulled up on a gravel road, and had a chat with the hikers at the end of the procession.
According to Eli, the man was very nice. He said he got nervous when his crew tells him there are thirty people hiking on the railroad tracks. People, please be careful. Soon, the engine carrying train came back in the opposite direction as before. PG suspected that the CSX railroad was just showing off.
The rest of the hike went smoothly. Soon, they reached Piedmont Hospital. No one needed to go to the ER. PG decided to retire at this point, and walked up the hill to Peachtree Road. After another hefty wait, a bus appeared. Some of the hikers were not used to the Breeze Card system, and there was some confusion while everyone got paid up. The cash customers had to pay again to use the trains. PG wondered if he saved much time by not hiking to Piedmont Park.