A Short History by Tom McKinney Center for East Texas Studies Angelina and Neches River Railroad Company, 1900 - 2000 The Angelina and Neches River Railroad Company was born when J. H. Kurth, Sr. bought the J. A. Ewing and Company sawmill at Keltys, Angelina County, Texas, on March 10, 1888. Although the shortline was not chartered as a common carrier until 1900, the railroad existed and operated before that time. Listed among the items in the bill of sale for the mill is "… one Shay Patent Tram Engine, [and] four tram cars…." This particular Shay engine, serial number 185, was shipped to Ewing's mill on September 12, 1887, and was a narrow gauge (36") locomotive. It had 26" driving wheels and 7" X 12" cylinders. This engine, known as the "Edna Ewing", pulled timber to the mill on wooden rails. There is no record of how many miles of road were constructed when J. H. Kurth, Sr. bought the mill. According to S. G. Reed's History of Texas Railroads, the A&NR operated over 10 miles of track that was constructed in 1895. The Texas Forestry Museum's East Texas Tram and Railroad Database reports that there was "… over five and a half miles of tram tracks." The database entry also speculates that this tram was the Lufkin South & Southeastern Railway Company which was incorporated in 1892 and operated until at least 1896, serving the Angelina County Lumber Company, The Clawson Lumber Company, and the Lufkin Manufacturing Company. According to the bill of sale from S. W. Henderson and J. H. Kurth, Partners, to the Angelina County Lumber Company, dated May 16, 1891, there were six miles of "…steel tram railroad…."     J. H. Kurth, Sr. founded the A&NR when he bought the J. A. Ewing and Company mill at Keltys, Angelina County, Texas, in 1888. In this formal portrait he is shown with his trademark cigar (A&NR Photograph Collection, A&NR Offices, Lufkin, Texas). The original office building of the A&NR at Keltys, Texas (A&NR Photograph Collection, A&NR Offices, Lufkin, Texas). Photograph of the occupants of a Camp Simon (Later New Camp) boarding house (A&NR Photograph Collection, A&NR Offices, Lufkin, Texas) Also listed in the bill of sale was another narrow gauge engine. This new engine was a 2-6-0 Mogul type manufactured by the Grant Locomotive Company. It had 40" diameter driving wheels, and 13X18 cylinders. The locomotive's date of construction and serial number are unknown. The Grant engine was purchased from the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad (Cotton Belt) on September 13, 1890, and was delivered to the mill at Keltys. The A&NR changed to standard gauge track in 1906 and sold off all of its narrow gauge engines and rolling stock. The A&NR owned three standard gauge engines by 1907, and extended its track length to 12.54 miles, terminating in Alco, Angelina County, Texas. Loading logs onto A&NR flatcars near Chireno, Nacogdoches County, Texas (A&NR Photograph Collection, A&NR Offices, Lufkin, Texas). The caption reads, "Angelina's first Trade Excursion to Chireno, Tex. May 30, 1912 Over the A&N Railroad." The passengers were taken to Chireno in borrowed Houston & Texas Central Railroad cars (A&NR Photograph Collection, A&NR Offices, Lufkin, Texas). The A&NR reached its full length in 1912, the year it built into Chireno, Nacogdoches County, Texas. This particular fete was accomplished with the aid of the the Citizens of Chireno who paid the A&NR $100,000.00 as an incentive to build into their town. The A&NR also contracted with the US Postal Service to carry mail and also with Wells-Fargo to carry express to all points along its 30.63 miles of line. In 1911, the railroad began operating into Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas by trackage agreement with the Houston, East, and West Texas Railroad (later Southern Pacific). The A&NR provided service to Nacogdoches and Angelina Counties through World War I, but perhaps its biggest obstacle was the Interstate Commerce Commission. The ICC nearly shutdown the shortline in the much celebrated Tap Line Case of 1912 - 1915, but the A&NR, like many other logging lines, survived the legal storm. During the Great Depression the A&NR suffered as all industries did. In 1938, Southland Paper Mills, Inc. was founded by E. L. Kurth. Southland Paper Mills was the first paper mill to make newspaper out of Southern pine and was an instant success. The paper mill became a stockholder in the shortline and this transaction helped to ease its financial woes. During World War II, the shortline continued to operate and it carried much-needed raw materials to the mills of Nacogdoches and Angelina Counties. Prisoners of War were housed at the Angelina County Lumber Company's logging camp outside Chireno, and they were used to cut down and load timber onto A&NR cars. The A&NR experienced a decrease in the demand for its services after the war. The train only left Keltys three times a week to pick up logs for the mill; freight service was sporadic at best. The tracks between Chireno and Dunagan, Angelina County, Texas, were abandoned in 1963, because of the Sam Rayburn Reservoir Project. Company officials decided that the cost of raising the bridge at the Angelina River was too expensive for the amount of traffic that section generated. Today the A&NR is still running. The paper mill and the other industries in Lufkin depend on the shortline to pick-up and deliver vital materials from the tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad. Although the A&NR could be considered a relic from the East Texas' Timber Age, the shortline is just as much a part of the modern age as it was of past ages. Main Page | Steam Locomotives | Diesel Locomotives  | Complete Engine Roster | Mill   © The Center for East Texas Studies Stephen F. Austin State University Nacogdoches, Texas 75962 U. S. A.