Russell Tedder 464 pages hardcover
This book is the story of railroads operated by Georgia-Pacific. Beginning in 1927 as a small lumber dealer, the company grew in the last half of the 20th century to become one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of forest products. Georgia-Pacific's phenomenal growth was mainly through acquisitions of existing companies which included extensive railroad logging and short line railroad operations. By 1900 lumbermen had recognized the efficiency of a steel wheel on a steel rail and the number of logging railroads grew rapidly. The coming of the railroads freed lumbermen from being tied to the river banks. Railroad logging could also be operated year round with little or no interruptions due to the weather. This made large areas of timber accessible to loggers. G-P's acquisitions have included 16 common-carrier short line railroads and five major private logging operations. Each short line was a separate subsidiary company of Georgia-Pacific. Although governed by boards of directors, the short lines were separately operated at arms-length due to government regulations.This book focuses on the operational characteristics of the railroads and, more importantly, their vital support of the logistics processes of the company's mills, plants, and distribution systems. The history of each railroad is told from its beginning. Certain unique and creative arrangements for preserving rail service at mills on non-company railroads are also discussed. The railroads covered in the book include: C.D. Johnson Lumber Corporation, Coos Bay Lumber Company, Hammond Lumber Company, Feather River Railway, Oregon, Pacific & Eastern, W.M. Ritter Lumber Company, Meadow River Lumber Company, Eagle Lumber Company, Gates Lumber Company, Jackson Lumber Company, Grant Lumber Company, Fordyce & Princeton, Ashley Drew & Northern, Arkansas Louisiana & Mississippi, Crosset Western Company, Brimstone Railroad, Carolina Western, swamp logging operations in the Carolinas, California Western, Amador Central, the Valley Line, the Columbia Route, the Soso Line, Valdosta Southern, Marientte Tomahwak & Western, Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad, Old Augusta, Columbia & Silver Creek, Woodland Maine Rail Operations, Port Edwards-Nekoosa Intermill, Blue Rapids Railway and Moscow Camden & San Augustine. The book also looks at the mill and plant switchers, the rail car fleets and locomotives of the operations.
