New
Orleans & Northeastern
Standard Gauge
Headquarters: Cincinnati
Years of Operation: 1882-1916
Predecessor Roads: none
Successor Roads: Southern Railway
Miles Operated: 196
Route: Meridian, MS- New Orleans, LA
Locomotives Owned:
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Equipment:
1889- 31 locomotives, 10 passenger cars, 5 baggage mail
& express, 366 box and fruit, 126 flats, 934 coal, 19 cabooses, 150
other
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Click Map for Larger Version |
History by David S Price
and Tony Howe:
The idea of a railroad running the 196 miles between Meridian and New
Orleans was conceived by William H. Hardy. In his autobiography, Hardy
explains his dream:
“In
1868, while residing in Paulding, I began a study of future lines of
transportation in our reunited county. This study was initiated by the
thought of the miserable road over which I had to travel to reach the
nearest station, Enterprise, on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. It was
twenty miles from Paulding, over a dirt road which was almost impassable
in wet weather.
The
war was over, of course, and reconstruction was underway. I felt that
the South would soon begin to show it great recuperative power but that
if her former position of wealth and prosperity was to be regained it
must be through the building of new railroads.
I
got out a map of the United States and began to speculate upon a network
of new railroads, particularly in the South. Starting with the
hypothesis that New York, San Francisco and New Orleans, then the three
greatest commercial centers of the country, should be the starting point
for all great trunk lines, I drew lines on the map connecting these
three cities. The most direct railroad lines between these cities
obviously would be the most used and the best paying.
The
line I drew on the map from New York to New Orleans, I found ran through
Meridian and Jasper County. At that time the Alabama Great Southern
Railroad was nearing completion. It ran from Chattanooga, Tennessee,
through Birmingham to Meridian. The more I thought of a line from
Meridian to New Orleans the more I became convinced of its feasibility
as well as desirability.”
The New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad was incorporated on March
16, 1870, and preliminary surveys made in the following two years. All
work on the railroad came to an abrupt halt, however, because of a
severe depression in 1873.
Even though all funds dried up, Hardy refused to give up. In 1877, Hardy
contacted a New York banking firm of Otto Plock & Co. through
Montgomery, Alabama, banker Fred Wolf. Plock, in turn, arranged
financing of the construction of the NO&NE with Baron Emil
d’Erlanger, a German-born financier living in England. Because the old
NO&NE charter had expired, a new one was incorporated in 1880 with
Fred Wolf as president, and Hardy as vice-president. The Erlanger
Syndicate also owned other railroads, namely the Cincinnati Southern,
the Alabama Great Southern, the Vicksburg & Meridian, and the
Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific. These roads, along with the
NO&NE, were known as the Queen & Crescent System.
To oversee construction of the NO&NE, which started in 1881, George
B. Nicholson was appointed chief engineer of the southern division,
extending from New Orleans to the Pearl River, while Samuel Whinery
became chief engineer in charge of the northern division from Pearl
River to Meridian. Actual construction work started in February 1882,
and by August of 1883, trains were running as far south as Hattiesburg,
and the track was completed to a point about 26 miles north of the Pearl
River. Track was also completed between New Orleans and Pearl River,
with the exception of the long bridge over Lake Pontchartrain. The bridge was the last part to be
completed. It was considered the longest railroad bridge in the world,
and included 21 miles of wood trestle and two draw spans. Many miles of
the approach trestles were later filled in to reduce maintenance. The
first regular freight train from Meridian to New Orleans ran on
Saturday, November 3, 1883, while the first regular passenger train ran
on November 18th.
The Southern Railway acquired an interest in the New Orleans &
Northeastern, as well as the other components of the Queen & Crescent
System, in 1895. In late 1916, Southern finally purchased total control of
the NO&NE by buying out the remaining English-controlled stock. All
three lines (CNO&TP, AGS, and NO&NE) maintained their separate
corporate identities, but were owned by and operated as a part of the
Southern Railway system. The New Orleans & Northeastern was later
merged into the Alabama Great Southern on January 31, 1969. Southern
Railway merged with Norfolk & Western on June 1, 1982, becoming
Norfolk Southern, who continues to operate the line today.
.
Toney
A. Hardy, No Compromise With Principle, Autobiography and Biography
of William Harris Hardy (New York, 1946), p. 206-7.
.
Gilbert H. Hoffman, Steam Whistles in the Piney Woods, Volume 2
(Mississippi Great Southern Chapter, NRHS, Petal, MS, 2002), p. 1-2.
.
Toney
A. Hardy, No Compromise With Principle, Autobiography and Biography
of William Harris Hardy (New York, 1946), p. 210-11.
.
“Meridian to New Orleans. A Trip Through the
Promising Country along the Northeastern Road.” The Daily Picayune (New Orleans, LA),
August 30, 1883.
.
“Northeastern
Sparks,”
The Daily Picayune (New Orleans, LA), November 4, 1883; also “The Northeastern. The First
Regular Train Leaves for Cincinnati Across Lake Ponchartrain.” The Daily Picayune (New
Orleans, LA), November 19, 1883.
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NO&NE 0-6-0 235 and crew at the NO&NE freighthouses in New
Orleans. |
NO&NE's earlier depot in Hattiesburg sat at the crossing with the
G&SI until it was replaced in 1909 by the present depot. |
Even though its roof was severely damaged, the NO&NE depot in
Purvis was one of the few structures in town to survive the devastating
tornado that hit that town in April 1908. |
Another view of the NO&NE depot in Purvis after the 1908 tornado. |
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June 1900 Official Railway Equipment Register- Art Richardson Collection |
January 1915 Official Railway Equipment Register- Art Richardson Collection |
January 1904 Official Guide of the Railways |
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please contact
Tony Howe at tonyhowe76@yahoo.com David S. Price at davidsprice46@gmail.com
or Brian Johnston at
johnston127235@bellsouth.net
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