Gulf & Ship Island RR - History

"Biloxi Daily Herald" Twentieth Century Coast Edition 1902 Page 79 [page 2]

Gulf & Ship Island RR History from Biloxi Herald

Gulf & Ship Island Locomotives

Gulf & Ship Island RR Locomotive Pictures

Saratoga: A logging Town

Contents:

Equipment

Gulfport Harbor and Terminals

Products of the Country

Equipment:

The present equipment includes 27 locomotives, 375 flat cars, 42 box cars, 20 ballast cars, 12 cabooses, 17 passenger cars, 3 combination baggage and mail cars, 1 official car and 24 camp cars.  Provision has been made for four additional locomotives, four hundred 80,000‑pound flat cars, and one hundred 80,000‑pound box cars.

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Gulfport Harbor & Terminals:

Mississippi heretofore has had no deep water harbor. The natural depth of Mississippi Sound for a long distance off shore is only from six to twelve feet but about twelve miles South of Gulfport lies the well known Ship Island, under the lee of which within the Sound, is the a anchorage called Ship Island Harbor, with twenty‑six fort of water over the bar.

In Ship Island Harbor the British Navy anchored its fleet when attacking New Orleans in 1814‑15, and there Admiral Farragut gathered and launched his great fleet in attacking New Orleans in 1862.

To this harbor ships have come for many years to obtain cargoes, which have to be lightered out from the mainland.

In order to overcome the disadvantages and the expense of loading ships at anchor at this distance off shore, the owners of the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad are under contract with the United States Government to dredge a channel extending from Gulfport to deep water, about six riles, which channel is to be 300 feet wide and twenty feet deep. One half of the channel is completed, and it is expected that the entire work will be finished during this year,

An anchorage basin of the depth of the channel and one‑quarter by one‑half mile wide in area is in course of construction at the shore end. Meanwhile the Company is constructing at Gulfport an extensive system of piers and docks. The main pier already well advanced, to about one mile long.

A part of the pier has been in actual use for some time for the transfer of lumber from cars to lighters. It is supplied with on automatic steam crane by means of which lumber to transfer from the cars to barges, a carload at a time.

The now harbor is well protected from the open Gulf by Ship Island and other small islands extending east and west for a number of miles.

Sailing vessels of considerable tonnage have recently been loaded and unloaded direct at the pier, carrying cargoes of lumber up to 710,000 feet out to deep water. The Italian ship “Trojan,” a view of which is shown herewith, left the Gulfport docks drawing sixteen feet.

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Products of the Country:

In the seven counties traversed by the line is situated one of the finest bodies of long leaf yellow pine timber still remaining uncut. Timbering operations are in progress actively on a larger or smaller scale at almost every station on the road. At the same time naval stores are produced in large quantities.

The combined actual output of the lumber mills on the line of railroad is upwards of 300,000,000 feet per annum, and the combined output of naval stores for the latest year reported was 22,100 barrels of turpentine, and 122,700 barrels of rosin. There are eighty lumber manufactories on the line of the road. During 1901 new industries were established representing a total capital of $1,596,500.

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