Washington & Choctaw Railroad

Standard Gauge Headquarters: Yellow Pine, AL Years of Operation: 1910-1927 Predecessor Roads: E. W. Gates Lumber Co. Successor Roads: none Miles Operated: Yellow Pine, AL to Bolinger, AL, 31 miles Locomotives Owned:	Equipment 1915: Locomotives: 4. Cars: 1 passenger, 110 freight, 60 miscellaneous.	Click Map for Larger Version
HISTORY by Gil Hoffman: The E. W. Gates Lumber Company was incorporated in 1904 and acquired a tract of timber and a narrow gauge logging railroad about 3 miles in length. The latter was abandoned and a standard gauge line built northward from Yellow Pine, AL, on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. This railroad went by the trade name “Washington & Choctaw Railway.”  The Washington & Choctaw Railway was incorporated in Alabama on December 13, 1910, for the purpose of acquiring and operating a railroad extending from Yellow Pine, AL in a general northwesterly direction to a point 18 miles south of Butler, AL. The new company took over the railroad of the E. W. Gates Lumber Company from Yellow Pine to Mathews, AL, 22 miles. The railroad issued $200,000 in capital stock to the lumber company in exchanged track and equipment. The railroad was laid with a mixture of 30 and 40-lb. relay rail, with a small amount of 56-lb. relay. The track was not ballasted.  As of 1910, the lumber company operated about 4 or 5 miles of logging railroad beyond Mathews. The sawmill of the lumber company at Yellow Pine was located about a quarter of a mile from the junction of the Washington & Choctaw and the Mobile & Ohio. By June 1915 the railroad extended from Yellow Pine to Rayton, AL, 24.405 miles. In 1918, during Federal control, the line had reached Bolinger, AL, on the Alabama, Tennessee & Northern Railroad, 31 miles from Yellow Pine.  The Gates mill at Yellow Pine cut out about 1918 and the portion of the line between Yellow Pine and Aquilla, about 20.5 miles, was abandoned on September 22, 1919.  About 1918 the C. W. Cochran Lumber Company of Meridian, MS built a sawmill on the Washington & Choctaw at Cantwell, AL (formerly Aquilla). On February 6, 1922, the sawmill plant, on the Washington & Choctaw, at Cantwell, AL, and timber holdings in Wayne County, MS, and Choctaw County, AL, were sold to J. A. McCain, P. C. Hargrave and Herbert Arky  for $100,000. The sale also included the Washington & Choctaw. The property was operated as the Turkey Creek Lumber Company with main office at Waynesboro, MS.  On January 25, 1924, the entire holdings were sold to Stark & Oldham Brothers Lumber Company, composed of A. M. H. Stark and Connie Stark, his wife, formerly of Orange, Texas. The purchase price was $215,000.  The mill at Cantwell, AL furnished almost all the traffic for the Washington & Choctaw. In June 1927 the mill cut out. On May 31, 1927,the Washington & Choctaw applied to the ICC for permission to abandon its remaining trackage, from Cantwell, AL northward to Bolinger, AL, 10.5 miles. Permission was granted on June 9, 1927. REFERENCES   1.        ”Washington & Choctaw Railway Company,” Valuation Docket No. 133, Interstate Commerce Commission Reports, Vol. 108, p. 491-8. 2.        ”Abandonment of Line by Washington & Choctaw Railway Company,” Finance Docket No. 6234, Interstate Commerce Commission Reports, Vol. 124. P. 673-4.
E. W. Gates Shay No. 3 and crew about 1908.	Another rare view of Shay No. 3 taken north of Yellow Pine.	A fine view of Washington & Choctaw 6 with a loaded log train.
Washington & Choctaw No. 100 at SI&E in Atlanta.	January 1912 Official Guide of the Railways	September 1910 Official Guide of the Railways
ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:     Road No.   Type   Builder   C.N.   Date   Cyls.   Dri. Dia.   Engine Wt.   Previous Ownership   Disposition   1   2-6-0   Rhode Island           16x24           Unknown. Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #305 E. W. Gates Lumber Co. #1,  on 8/23/1904. Cost $3,250.       2   33-3 Shay   Lima   1533   7/1905   3-10x10   28   66000   New by E. W. Gates Lumber Co.   Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co. Kaul Lumber Co. #11, Tuscaloosa, AL, on 12/11/1912. Scrapped 1929.   3   37-2 Shay   Lima   1552   8/1905   3-10x12   29½   74000   New by E. W. Gates Lumber Co.   Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #717, on 5/14/1909, in trade on 1st #5. Fort Smith Lumber Co. #103, Plainview, AR, on 8/31/1909. Re. #3. For sale 7/1928.   4   4-6-0   Baldwin   2294   11/1870   17x24   54       Western Maryland #7 Rebuilt by WM Ry. In 6/1886. Re. #71 in 1905 Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #587, in 4/1907. Washington & Choctaw #4, on 9/11/1907. Cost $4,390. Baldwin class 26½ D 27   In service 6/30/1915.   1st 5   2-4-4TB   Schen.   3502   6/1891   17x24   57   103000   Chicago & Eastern Illinois #51 Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #567, in 2/1907. Washington & Choctaw #5, on 5/14/1909. Cost $5,100 plus Shay #3 in trade for $2,600.   Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #792, on 12/24/1910, in trade on #6. Scrapped 1917.     2nd 5   2-6-0   Baldwin   11266   10/1890   19x24   52½   98690   Alabama & Vicksburg Ry. #417 Washington & Choctaw 2nd #5, on ? Baldwin class 8-32 D 400   Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #1185 Central Tuinicu #3, Cuba, in 10/1917 (Czarnikow-Rionda Co.)   6   2-6-0   IC RR Shops           16x24   56       Illinois Central # Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #614 Washington & Choctaw #6, on12/14/1910. Cost $4,350 with $2,000 allowed in trade on 1st #5.   Choctaw Lumber Co. #6, Bolinger, AL, in 1918. Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #1236, on 9/28/1917. Jose Lezama, Cuba, in 1/1919.   100   2-6-0   Brooks   1250   7/1887   18x24   56½       Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Ry. #645 Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Ry. #357, in 6/1889. New York Central Lines (CCC&StL) #6360, in 1905. Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #1151 Washington & Choctaw #100, on 7/5/1917. Cost $6,500.   Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #1602 Southern Mineral Land & Lumber Co., Winnfield, LA, on 7/6/1920.

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