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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