Interstate Lumber Co. 1908-1913

Columbus Lumber Co. 1913-1924

Standard gauge, 40 and 50-lb rail Headquarters: Columbus, MS Mill Location: Steens, MS (Lowndes County) Mill Capacity: 100,000 ft/day  Years of Operation: Interstate Lbr. Co. 1908-1913                                  Columbus Lbr. Co. 1913-1924 Miles Operated: 25 miles in 1917 Locomotives Owned: see roster below	Other Equipment: 40 cars and 4 Lambert Loaders in 1910	Click Map for Larger Version
History by Gil Hoffman: In late 1906 the Interstate Lumber Company, of Curtiston, Alabama, acquired 15,000 acres of timber land near Columbus, Mississippi, and built a sawmill at Columbus. In October 1909 the controlling interest in the company was sold to J. W. Brown and A. E. Silverthorne. In 1910 the mill had a cutting capacity of 100,000 feet per day.  In 1912 the company went into receivership as a result of defaulting on a large mortgage and was sold at receiver's sale on June 19, 1913 to the Security Trust Company, of Michigan (holder of the mortgage), for $250,000. On July 9, 1913 the bank resold the property to the Columbus Lumber Company, also of Michigan, for the same amount. Besides a sawmill, the property included a planing mill, dry kilns, machine shops, lumber sheds, office building, hotel, commissary, dwelling houses, logging railroad and equipment and timber in Mississippi and Alabama.  The Columbus Lumber Company was incorporated in Michigan with capital stock of $100,000 and was apparently an adjunct of the Security Trust Company. In May 1914 the company bought 13,500 acres of timber land in Pickens, Lamar and Fayette counties, Alabama. The mill was shut down in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and reopened in February 1916.  In September 1924 the company cut out its timber in Lamar County, Alabama, after which the mill at Columbus shut down. At that time the company was operating 32 miles of logging railroad extending from Steens, MS, northward into Alabama to a point six miles east of Gattman, MS.
ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:    Road No.   Type   Builder   C.N.   Date   Cyls.   Dri. Dia.   Engine Wt.   Previous Ownership   Disposition   1   4-6-0   Glover   14202   5/1908   14x20       90000   New.   Columbus Lumber Co. #1, on 7/9/1913. Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #2022 Bamberg, Ehrhardt & Walterboro Ry. #1, Bamberg, SC, on 2/25/1925. Repossessed and returned to: Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #2284. Scrapped 12/31/1944.   2   0-4-0T   Porter   1847   5/1898   9x14       36000   H. B. Camp, Shreve, OH Williams-Jesser Construction Co., Talladega, AL, by 7/1907. Interstate Lumber Co. #2, by 10/1908.   Columbus Lumber Co. #2, on 7/9/1913.   3   22-2 Heisler   Stearns   1115   1906   12x10   30   44000   Interstate Lumber Co. #3, Bokhoma, OK Columbus Lumber Co. #3, on ?       4   40-2 Shay   Lima   383   4/1892   3-11x12   29½   80000   Oregon & Texas R.R. #383, Cammal, PA C. B. Howard & Co. #3, Emporium, PA, ca. 1900 (Emporium & Rich Valley R.R.). Summit Lumber Co. #3, Randolph, LA, in 10/1903. Columbus Lumber Co. #4, on ?   Boiler exploded 9/11/1922. Scrapped 6/1926.   5   23-2 Shay   Lima   768   6/1903   3-9x8   26   44900   Pine Tree Lumber Co., Ltd. no #, Dodson, LA Later at Winona, LA. Interstate Lumber Co., New Orleans, LA Columbus Lumber Co. #5, on ?       6   4-6-0   New York   264   5/1887   18x24   51   109700   Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia #106 Western New York & Pennsylvania #106, in 1887. Re. #116 in 1891. Pennsylvania R.R. #6252, in 1903. Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #579, on 4/15/1907. Dardanelle, Ola & Southern R.R. #2, Dardanelle, AR, on 9/17/1908. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Ry. #1149, in 12/1911. Retired 6/1922. Columbus Lumber Ci, #6, on ?       7   42-2 Heisler   Heisler   1180   12/1909   15x12   36   84000   Davidson, Hicks & Greene Co. #4, Wilder, TN Later at Cowan, TN. Georgia Car & Locomotive Co. #479 Columbus Lumber Co, #7, on 5/4/1923. Cost $6,500.   Georgia Car & Locomotive Co. #542 Beechwood Band Mill Co. #2, Rhine, GA, in 7/1929.

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