Swift Lumber Co.

Standard gauge, 35-lb rail

Headquarters

Mill Location: Knoxo, MS (Walthall County)

Mill Capacity: 40,000 ft/day 

Years of Operation: 1911-1922

Miles Operated: 15 miles in 1917

Locomotives Owned

Equipment:

 

 

Click Map for Larger Version

History by Gil Hoffman:

C. A. Swift & Son operated a sawmill at Bon Secour, Alabama, which cut out in early 1910. The Swifts then moved to Knoxo, Pike County, on the Fernwood & Gulf Railroad, where on September 21, 1911, they incorporated the Swift Lumber Company with $30,000 in capital stock. The incorporators were W. N. Hunter, of Mobile, and C. A. and G. R. Swift, both of Bon Secour, Alabama. A sawmill with a cutting capacity of 40,000 feet per day was built at Knoxo. 

In May 1922, the boiler room, sawmill, planing mill, dry kilns and a large quantity of lumber were destroyed by fire for a loss of about $100,000. Rather than rebuild, in the latter part of 1922 the company moved to Warnerton, Louisiana, on the New Orleans Great Northern Railroad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:   

 

 

 

Road No.

 

Type

 

Builder

 

C.N.

 

Date

 

Cyls.

 

Dri. Dia.

 

Engine

Wt.

 

Previous Ownership

 

 

Disposition

 

2?

 

2T Shay

 

Lima

 

1960

 

8/1907

 

3-8x8

 

26½

 

44700

 

Beaumont Lumber Co. #2, Newville, TX

(Duff & Eastern Ry.)

Valley Lumber Co. #2, Newville, TX

Returned to Lima, rebuilt & shipped to:

Swift Lumber Co. #2, on 1/26/1912.

 

For sale 5/1914.

Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co. #1096

Martins Mill Co. #2, Martin, SC, on 6/30/1916.

Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #1771

W. F. White Lumber Co. #1, South Gap, VA,

on 5/31/1923.

Candlewax Smokeless Coal Co., Candlewax, VA, ca. 10/1928.

 

?

 

4-6-0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16x24

 

 

 

 

 

Unknown.

Swift Lumber Co., on ?

 

For sale 5/1914.

 

?

 

2-6-0

 

Baldwin

 

 

 

 

 

13x18

 

 

 

 

 

Unknown - see Note.

Swift Lumber Co., on ?

Baldwin class 8-20 D

 

For sale 12/1917.

 

?

 

2-6-0

 

Porter

 

950

 

8/1888

 

14x20

 

44

 

60000

 

Sullivan Timber Co. #3 Gladys W., Wallace, AL

Manistee Mill Co., Manistee, AL, by 7/1907.

Alabama Iron Works, Mobile, AL, by 3/1912.

Howze Lumber Co. #7, McLain, MS,

by 10/1912.

Enterprise Foundry & Machine Co., Hattiesburg, MS

Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #1237

Swift Lumber Co., on 1/14/1918.

Cost $3,620.22

 

Unknown.

 

?

 

4-6-0

 

Baldwin

 

11795

 

4/1891

 

16x20

 

40

 

80000

 

Ordered by Huntsville Belt Line & Monte Sano Ry., Hunstville, AL. Cancelled and resold to:

New Orleans & Northwestern #5, Natchez, MS, on 11/16/1891.

Tensas River Lumber Co., Moreau, LA,

by 8/1912.

Baxter Lumber Co. #5, Wildsville, LA

Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #1057,

on 4/5/1916.

Poplarville Saw Mill Co., Poplarville, MS,

on 12/6/1916.

Swift Lumber Co., by 4/1920.

Baldwin class 10-26 D 94

 

Colmer-Green Lumber Co. #5, Colgreen, MS

Barnes-Creary Supply Co., Mobile, AL,

by 7/1925.

 

Note:    The possibilities for the Baldwin 13x18 Mogul are 13755 and 14088, with the first being the most likely.

 

   

 

 

 

 

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For more information contact Tony Howe at howe6818@bellsouth.net or David S. Price at dsprice46@bellsouth.net