HISTORY HUNTS WAREHOUSE: The Red River and Gulf Railroad {All Pages}

Page 1.

This one has been a long time coming. On a historic trip, when my grandson was still shorter than I, we went to Long Leaf where we were given the million dollar tour. It lasted close to four hours. Evidently the fella showing us around sensed the wonderment his attentive group was exhibiting and enjoyed showing grandson, my wife and I through the living museum. That write is in the archives here at the house having been lost when Geocities cratered. I've never reposted it since the effort would be endless. In this one, I'll show you a few of those shots.

I'll start it off with a little history that Everett contributed to and was sent out in their newsletter as letter from Bob Carroll.

Southern Forest Heritage Museum Newsletter
Tracking the Red River and Gulf
Special Edition August 2009
Greetings!

Since our last Electronic Newsletter, we have had many of our readers show interest in the history of the Red River and Gulf Railroad. Therefore, our own Railroad historian, Everett Lueck, has compiled a timeline of events regarding this history. We hope this fills in some of the blanks and answers some of the questions you may have had. Read, relive, and enjoy!

Sincerely,

Bob Carroll
Executive Director

The Beginning- 1892

C.T. Crowell, impressed by the virgin pine timber that he sees from his train window, gets off , the brand new Kansas City, Watkins and Gulf R.R. in the brand new town of Glenmora, LA. Meeting local entrepreneur, John Evans, C. T. begins buying timberland, and shortly forms the Crowell and Spencer Lumber Co., Ltd. Crowell and Spencer builds a sawmill on Spring Creek at what will become Longleaf. The sawmill opens in Sept. 1893.

In This Issue
The Beginning-1892
1895-1900
1900's
1910's
1920's
1930's
1940's
1950's
1960's

1895
Having exhausted all of the nearby timber, Crowell and Spencer buy a shay locomotive and build a lumber tram into the woods southeast of Longleaf. R. Stamps Crowell, oldest son of C. T. comes to Longleaf to learn the lumber business.

1898
The lumber tram continues to grow and a second shay engine is purchased.

1905
George Gould, son of "robber baron," Jay Gould, obsessed with fulfilling his late father's desire of a single transcontinetal railroad under Gould control begins construction of the Western Pacific RR from Salt Lake City to Oakland. Shipping rates on all Gould railroads are raised to the maximum to pay for this construction. Since Gould owned St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern has taken over the KC,W&G RR, Crowell and Spencer are at the mercy of the Iron Mountain rates, and cannot compete in the lumber market. At the same time, the Crowell timber east of Longleaf is becoming more attractive for cutting. Thus, in 1905, the Red River and Gulf Railroad is incorporated as a common carrier to haul finished lumber 12 miles to the Southern Pacific, Texas and Pacific and the Rock Island connections in LeCompte thus giving Crowell and Spencer not only better rates, but a share of the shipping revenue. At the same time the railroad hauls timber to the mill at Longleaf. Shortly thereafter, RR & G service is extended to Bolton and the Louisiana Sawmill Co., and trains of the Glenmora and Western RR and the Rock Island RR use the RR & G tracks as well.

1906
RR & G service is extended to Ashmore, a Crowell logging camp southwest of Glenmora. C. T. Crowell, his son R. Stamps Crowell and W. D. Wadley form the Alexandria Lumber Company, Ltd. ALCo. cuts timber south of Glenmora at Pawnee and ships timber to its mill in Pineville. The Alco lumber railroad connects with the Ashmore extension of the RR & G.

1911
RR & G service to Ashmore is terminated, but the connection with the Alexandria Lumber Co. RR is maintained.
Construction of the Western Pacific forces the Gould financial and railroad empire into bankruptcy court, and Gould himself into personal bankruptcy.

1913
C. T. Crowell and A. B. Spencer form the Meridian Lumber Co. Ltd. to purchase timber located in Evangeline Parish east of Bayou Cocodrie. The new town of Meridian is established around the Meridian Lumber Co. mill there. The RR & G rebuilds the Crowell tram to Cocodrie, Meridian Lumber extends it to Meridian and the RR & G extends its service from Longleaf to Meridian, thus doubling its length.

1915
Crowell and Spencer build a new logging tramway 12 miles south from Cocodrie into St. Landry Parish. Red River and Gulf RR replaces worn, second hand, 45# rail with new 60# rail on main line from Longleaf to Lecompte. This is the rail still there in 2009. At the same time, the RR & G purchased thier first large locomotive, #102.

1916
C. T. Crowell puts together a syndicate to buy the Gould family timber holdings north and east of Leesville. The members of the syndicate are: Crowell and Spencer Lumber Co. Ltd., Alexandria Lumber Co. Ltd., Vernon Parish Lumber Co. (formerly Pawnee Land and Lumber Co. at Pawnee- Owned by the Kurth Family), and Peavy-Wilson Lumber Co., (Owned by A. J. Peavy and A. J. Hodges. The Red River and Gulf RR is extended west from Longleaf Jct. toward these timber lands, but stops at Bliss. There are no records of operation from Longleaf Jct. to Bliss for the next 3 years.

1917
Peavy-Wilson Lumber establishes a mill and town at Peason, building the Christie and Eastern RR to connect Peason with the Kansas City Southern RR..

1919
Construction resumes on the RR & G Extension into the "Gould Timber" and the railroad is completed to Kurthwood late in that year. Vernon Parish Lumber establishes the town of Kurthwood around its mill there. Kurthwood is located 10 miles southeast of Peason. Crowell and Spencer establish a logging camp at Hutton and begin construction of logging spurs north into the woods. Logs are carried by "mainline" log trains run by Crowell and Spencer crews, from Hutton to Longleaf over the tracks of the RR & G RR . Leesville Land and Lumber builds a mill and milltown at Dusenbury between Hutton and Kurthwood.

1920
Red River and Gulf RR establishes passenger service between Longleaf and Kurthwood in Apri1. Passengers have been hauled in cabooses on scheduled freight trains on the LeCompte and Meridian lines and that practice is continued there.

1921
Alexandria Lumber Co. moves operations from Pawnee to new location of Alco between Dusenbury and Kurthwood, building a new sawmill and model company town.

1923
Timber around Meridian mill is "cut out" and Meridian establishes logging camp in Sieper. Meridian Lumber Co. train crews haul Meridian "Mainline"log trains through Longleaf to Meridian over RR & G RR tracks. Leesville Land and Lumber Co. mill at Dusenbury burns and is not rebuilt.

1925
Direct connection between Kurthwood and Peason established. Crowell and Spencer builds west 5 miles to RR & G Jct. located on the Sabine Parish line. Peavy-Wilson Lumber builds east to meet at RR & G Jct. Christie and Eastern trains now run east to Lecompte over RR & G rails.

1927
Passenger train service between Longleaf and Kurthwood is ended.. Passengers now have to ride in the caboose as on all other R R & G lines.

1928
Meridian Lumber Co. mill at Meridian burns. Entire mill is a total loss. Meridian buys out Alexandria Lumber Co. mill and town at Alco. The town of Meridian is abandoned and population moves to Alco. Meridian "Main line" log trains now run from Seiper to Alco. RR $ G service to Meridian is also abandoned.

1929
Vernon Parish Lumber at Kurthwood shuts down and town is abondoned.

1930
RR & G service to Cocodrie and Bolton is aboandoned. Treadwell Lumber Co. at Cocodrie and Louisiana Sawmill at Bolton have both closed. Track from Bolton to Louisiana Jct. sold to Hillyer, Deutsch and Edwards for their Cocodrie Lake branch.

1931
Kurthwood mill and town sold to Anderson & Post Hardwood Lumber Co. and mill changed over to hardwood mill.

1935
Peavy-Wilson closes Peason mill and abandons Christie and Eastern RR. Track from RR & G Jct. to Kurthwood removed.

1941
U. S. Army attempts to buy RR & G to use for military training and transportation. Increased war demand for lumber prevents this. Army rebuilds Meridian line for Crowell Longleaf Lumber after having been dormant since 1928. RR & G RR aids Army construction of Claiborne and Polk Military RR.

1944
Alco mill cuts last log on Sept. 1, 1944 and is shut down.

1945
Scrapping commences at Alco Sawmill in January. Anderson-Post Sawmill at Kurthwood shuts down September 30. Last RR & G freight train from Kurthwood to Longleaf runs October 30.

1953
Last RR & G train runs from Longleaf to LeCompte on April 30.

1954
Longleaf mill and Crowell Lumber RR to Meridian is shut down in August. Property of the RR & G RR sold to Crowell Land & Mineral or otherwise liquidated. Rails removed between Longleaf Jct. and Lecompte.

1956-1957
Longleaf mill is rebuilt and reopens, June 1957. Railroad around mill and to Longleaf Jct. is still used as needed.

1969
Longleaf mill shuts down for final time in February and last Crowell locomotive diesel #44 is sold.

Or the personally autographed version I have from an authority, Everett:

We have spent over 6 years going through files at Longleaf, and visiting with the Crowell family, and the Peavy family trying to unravel the RR&G and C&E history. As best that I can do right now, it goes like this:

In 1916, the Crowells owned 3 logging companies, Crowell and Spencer at Longleaf, Meridian at Meridian, and Alexandria Lumber at Pineville and Pawnee. They also owned the Red River and Gulf which ran from Longleaf to LeCompte, and operated trains over the Meridian Lumber tracks from Longleaf to Meridian.
The Peavy family (funded in part by A.J. Hodges) owned the Peavy- Moore Lumber Company at Kinder.

The Kurth family owned the Pawnee Land and Lumber Co. at Pawnee

In that year, because of the construction of the Western Pacific RR, the bankruptcy of the Gould family forced the family to sell off their timber holdings in Louisiana, many of which the family had owned since the 1870-1880 period. The largest of these holdings was over 200,000 acres in Vernon, Rapides, Sabine and Nachitoches parishes. The Crowells along with the Peavy-Hodges families and the Kurths, formed a loose combine and bought this land, minerals, timber, everything from the bankruptcy court.

The Crowells then started extending the RR&G west from Longleaf, and the Peavys built the Christie and Eastern east from what was then called Christie on the KCS to Peason in 1917. For various reasons, it was not until 1919, that the Crowells completed the RR&G to Kurthwood where the Vernon Parish Lumber Co. (owned by the Kurths) built their mill. The Crowells harvested logs and set up their base of operations at Hutton (east of Kurthwood) while the Alexandria Lumber Co. built their mill at ALCO, half way between Kurthwood and Hutton. The RR&G hauled the finished lumber from Kurthwood and ALCO, and the Crowells hauled logs from Hutton to Longleaf. Vernon Parish Lumber logged west and southwest from Kurthwood, Peavy-Wilson south and east from Peason, but only in Sabine Parish, ALCO both south and north from ALCO, and the Crowells logged both north and south from Hutton.

It was not until 1922 that the Crowells and the Peavys connected Peason with Kurthwood. In that year, they built an unincorporated logging railroad between the two towns, owned from Peason to RR&G Jct. (on the Sabine-Nachitoches parish line) by the Peavys and from there to Kurthwood by the Crowells. Even though trains of the Christie and Eastern and possibly the RR&G operated over this trackage, it was never owned by either railroad company, but was owned by the two logging companies. The railroad was built to mainline standards however. The RR&G passenger train ran only to Kurthwood, and the C&E offered mixed train service only to Peason, so I still don't know how one travelled from Kurthwood to Peason, except in the caboose of the occasional freight train.

In 1934 the Christie and Eastern filed with the ICC to discontine service from Peason to RR&G Jct, and abandoned the entire railroad in 1935.

The whole history of the relationship between the Crowells, the Peavys, the RR&G and C&E is only very poorly known.

But, there's so much more to the story.

A Piney Woods Railroad

Peason
This is one page off the Piney Woods Railroad write.

The whole write is HERE.

The Great Depot Adventure

The Bone Yard

The Sunday Ride to Pondereance

Drawing up the Red River and Gulf

The Tap Line Case findings.
I've included it as it gives a little more info on the railroad.

1910

RED RIVER & GULF RAILROAD.

The Red River & Gulf Railroad Company was incorporated in April, 1905, and its capital stock, amounting to $101,000, was delivered to the Crowell & Spencer Lumber Company and distributed by the latter as a dividend to its stockholders. The lumber company constructed the track and deeded the property to the railroad corporation. The two companies are, and have been from their inception, identical in interest, and they have the same officers.

The tap line connects with the Iron Mountain at Long Leaf, La., and with the Rock Island, Texas & Pacific and Southern Pacific at LeCompte, the track between those points being about 13 miles in length. The timber has all been cut away along the main line; but the lumber company has an unincorporated track about 4 miles in length, connecting with the tap line and running into the standing timber. The equipment of the tap line consists of 1 locomotive, a combination passenger and freight car, and 3 flat cars. The lumber company itself owns and operates 3 locomotives and about 50 logging cars.

The mill of the lumber company is at Long Leaf, within a quarter of a mile of the tracks of the Iron Mountain. The lumber company loads the logs on its cars in the woods, and with its engines- hauls them over the unincorporated tracks and thence over the incorporated tap line to the mill under a trackage privilege, for which it pays the tap line 25 cents per 1,000 feet, log scale. In other words, the logs are moved to the mill precisely in the manner that they were before the incorporation of the tap line, with the exception that the lumber company goes through the form of paying a trackage charge. Before the incorporation practically all the lumber moved over the Iron Mountain and no divisions were paid. But at the time of the hearing the bulk of the lumber moved over the tap line to the Rock Island, a distance of over 12 miles, the divisions paid by that company ranging from 2-1/2 cents to 4-1/2 cents per 100 pounds. The allowance of the Iron Mountain is uniformly 3 cents, while the Southern Pacific pays 3 and 4 cents per 100 pounds. The Texas & Pacific grants no divisions.

There is an independent mill on the tap line about 5 miles from LeCompte, with a capacity of about 40,000 feet per day. It hauls its logs to the mill by wagon. The lumber traffic of the tap line for the year 1910 amounted to 37,820 tons, with 1,363 tons of other freight. The revenue from the freight was $29,576.56, in addition to which the lumber company paid $5,191.36 for trackage rights for its log trains, and the Rock Island paid $6,666.75 for the privilege of running trains loaded with gravel over a portion of the tap line. The Red River & Gulf runs one train daily in each direction, on which passengers are carried; and its revenues from passengers amounted to $1,213.40 for the year 1910. These figures are taken from the annual reports to the Commission, which show an accumulated surplus on June 30, 1910, of $6,865.74, after the payment of a 40 per cent dividend during that year, amounting to $40,400. In the year 1907 it paid a 15 per cent dividend, with 40 per cent in 1908, and 20 per cent in 1909, making a total of $116,150 distributed in four years to its stockholders, on a capitalization of $101,000.

The allowances paid here are clearly excessive and amount to a re-bate to the lumber company. The allowance by the Iron Mountain to the tap line for switching the product of the mill to its rails may not lawfully exceed $2 a car; and we fix the division out of the rates that may lawfully be made by the Rock Island and other trunk lines on the products- of the mill of the controlling company at Long Leaf at 2 cents per 100 pounds as a maximum.

Here are some of Everett's and my old shots. His first
since his are older, duh.
1997 Shots

These shots grabbed me like a bear trap. When Al
and walked it from the engine house to the UP main line
it was thrilling.

This switch, I think, has been refurbished and is now
part of the new Red River and Gulf RR. You'll see it later.

I would imagine the following shot ws taken in the Bone Yard.

2005 Shots below:

Everett:

"The engine in the car knockers shed at Longleaf, is the 106, which is the same engine pictured on the Peason Historical marker. That picture was taken in front of the Longleaf engine house in 1952. It was never owned by Peavy or the Christie and Eastern RR".

Everett's 2007
1 I took of the two crossings of the entrance road by the C&P, as well as the grade itself going to 165 and the nursery sign.

2 Some pictures from 10-7-07 from Longleaf Jct. yard

3 More pictures from last year at Long Leaf Jct

Here are a few of the main line, and LL Jct from January

Just to whet your appetite a little bit.

2008 Everett Lueck Shots
Below from the Bone Yard, Long Leaf Jct vacinity.

Everett, " Here are a few of the main line, and Long Leaf Jct
from January.."

Everett, "[Here are] some pictures from 10-7-07 at the
Longleaf Jct. yard".

Everett, "In your picture of the tank car, we have determined
that the tender in that picture came from Crowell engine 204,
which was a sister of the 202 and scrapped in 1955.

My 2008, Long Leaf to Long Leaf Junction are on the next page.
This one is getting too large.

Everett, " I have included a couple of pictures taken in 1954 by Edmund Hays, of logging on Crowell's line to Meridian. One shows engine 202 with the tank car on the log train, and the other shows the McGiffert working and loading logs".

Here's one of them:

202 in Long Leaf shed.

Here are a few map. They are large. Click them to expand.

Engines: I replicated Everett's article on the engines HERE.

If the shots looked worthwhile, they came from Everett or
the museum.

Here's the depot.

Here are some shots around Long Leaf. This page exists
only because I spent the time uploading the shots when
I was in a better mood. Take what you want, they won't
be around long.