Frank and his brother
Charles Goodyear founded the Great Southern Lumber Company, which began operating in 1908. Building the mill and work camp that would become Bogalusa required lumber, which, when completed, needed a way to be marketed. The brothers founded the New Orleans Great Northern railroad in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1905.
East Louisiana Railway In June 1905, the East Louisiana Railway was acquired. that railway ran along the shoreline from
Pearl River, west to
Mandeville, then
Covington. The east terminus was at North Slidell. Whistle stops, some becoming communities and towns along this route include Hygeia, Oaklawn,
Lacombe, Forest Glen, Nott,
Mandeville, Ozone Park,
Abita Springs, Clairborne,
Covington, Ramsay, Pfalzheim, Red Bluff, Hood, Onville, and Folsome.
Louisiana The Southern Railroad provided track rights between Bogalusa and
Slidell. The railroad was originally the
New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad, before becoming the Alabama Great Southern Railroad, both (as well as the
Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific) were subsidiaries of the Southern Railroad. Whistle stops, with some becoming communities and towns along the NOGN route were New Orleans (Terminal Station), Slidell, North Slidell (Shoreline Junction), Amos, Ironsboro (Maud, Louisiana 1911G),
Florenville, Louisiana (Florenville Junction), Wortham, Graham,
Talisheek,
Bush,
Sun (Gravelpit),
Rio, Piercefield, (Pierce & Pounds Mill circa 1907),
Lees Creek,
Bogalusa, Mitch, Lipscomb, Marston, Piggotts,
Varnado, Bellamy,
Acme, and
Angie.
Mississippi The Mississippi route (1910) ran from Twin, Mississippi,
Sandy Hook, Hickman,
Cheraw, Jamestown, West Columbia, Claude, Lenoir, Tilton, Folwell,
Monticello, Wanilla,
Oma,
Rockport,
Georgetown, Hopwell, Gatesville, Rosemary,
Byram, Elton, Nogan, and
Jackson.
Bogue Chitto branch The Bogue Chitto branch consisted of 105.6 miles of track. Stops were from New Orleans, Floronville,
Rio, Isabel, Zona, Pinecliff, Jenkins,
Franklinton,
Clifton,
Warnerton, Lexie, and Tylertown.
Later history By 1929, the NOGN was failing. The
Gulf, Mobile & Northern (GMN) acquired control in 1929. When the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad acquired the GMN, the NOGN officially ceased existence circa 1933. ==Train depots==