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New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern |
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| The road was chartered in 1852.
Though fully operational when the war started, it was still expanding,
with grading underway in Mississippi to connect to the Mobile & Ohio
near Aberdeen (a leg that was not completed until after the war). When
the war started, it was one of the best roads in the Confederacy. It
actually had 7 locomotives and 11 passenger cars in reserve for an
expected increase in traffic.
When New Orleans fell under the guns of Farragut's fleet in April 1862, the road spent four frantic days hauling troops, supplies and equipment out of the city to the north. Only when General Butler's troops finally arrived on shore did the removal stop. For the rest of the war, the road operated with Ponchatoula as its southern terminal. There were numerous Union attempts to disrupt the road, and, little by little, it ceased to operate. By the end of the war, the road had only 4 locomotives (2 partially burned) and 40 cars on a limited piece of track. |
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| Black's Number | 88 (map) |
| Track | 206 miles of 5 foot gauge of unknown type and weight (some of it was 68 lbs) |
| Locomotives | 45; 45 names |
| Cars | 607 |
| Stations | 24 |
| Officers | Many |
| Passengers | 1861 |
| Locomotive Usage | 1861 |
| Tredegar Purchases | All |
| Produce Deliveries | 1862 |
| Significant Documents | |