Groveton, Lufkin and Northern Railway
Defunct East Texas shortline railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Groveton, Lufkin and Northern Railway (GL&N) was a standard gauge U.S. shortline railroad located in East Texas. Originally chartered on May 15, 1908, as the Texas Northern Railway Company, it changed its name on August 17, 1908.
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Main region | East Texas |
| Parent company | Trinity County Lumber Company[1] |
| Dates of operation | December 1, 1908–circa 1932[a] |
| Predecessor | Texas Northern Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
On December 1, 1908, the GL&N purchased the 21-mile (34 km) private logging railroad between Groveton and Vair from the Trinity County Lumber Company, its corporate parent; the rail line had been built in 1900 by lumber company owner James Stanley Joyce to serve the company sawmill near Groveton.[1][2][3] The sawmill, one of the largest in the Southern United States, was the predominant local employer.[4] The GL&N upgraded the railroad in 1909 and obtained trackage rights on the Texas South-Eastern Railroad from Vair to Lufkin. In 1926, the GL&N reported owning three locomotives and 104 cars, with passenger earnings of $8,000 (equivalent to $145,500 in 2025) and freight earnings of $233,000 ($4.24 million in 2025).[2]
At Groveton, the GL&N interchanged with a branch line of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway which later became independent as the Waco, Beaumont, Trinity and Sabine Railway (WBT&S).[5][6]
By the late 1920s, timber in the area had become badly depleted.[4][6] The Trinity County Lumber Company was able to maintain operations longer than other local lumber companies, but finally capitulated and shut down the sawmill at midnight on December 31, 1930.[4] In 1931, the sawmill was dismantled, the population of Groveton plummeted from around 4,000 to 1,046, and GL&N revenue drastically fell.[2][4] The GL&N was abandoned sometime between 1931 and 1934.[a]
