Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern
"Save Time and Money by Missing Bedlam and Confusion"
In 1923 W.S.F. Tatum, owner of the Tatum Lumber Company of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, established the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern Railway Company in order to purchase the Hattiesburg branch from the Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio Railroad. This twenty-seven mile branchline, staffed by nimble and elegant Baldwin steamers, connected the town of Hattiesburg to the GM&O main line at Beaumont, Mississippi.
Using the branch, Tatum would be able
to gain access to a new logging operation near Denco, Mississippi and
transport lumber from Bonhomie, where he owned a
sawmill, to the GM&O junction at Beaumont and connections eastward.
The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the sale on January 5, 1925,
and the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern Railway went into operation less than a month later.
The entire capital stock of $335,000 was sold to the
Tatum family, and all equipment for the railroad was leased from the
Tatum Lumber Company -- including five locomotives, three of which were new
Baldwin acquisitions.
The modest B&HS showed a profit for several years, but eventually slipped into financial deficit as its profit from lumber traffic declined. Tatum's logging operation near Denco ended when the GM&O abandoned its Blodgett Branch, a dummy line from Denco to Piave, Mississippi. In 1953 Tatum sold the then unprofitable B&HS to the Fernwood, Columbia, & Gulf Railway. The pike was well known in the 1950's and early '60's for continuing to operate the line with Baldwin steam locomotives 250 and 300. These two movers continued to operate until October 1961, when they were replaced with a pair of used SW1 switchers after the passing of the line's steam master mechanic. The B&HS, along with sister line FC&G, was included in the Illinois Central Gulf merger in 1972. The former B&HS trackage survives today as part of ICG-successor Canadian National's route from Jackson to Mobile.
The Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern rocks a profitable train of high cars across a wooden trestle near New Augusta, Mississippi, en route to is Gulf, Mobile & Ohio connection at Beaumont. The Bonhomie of this short-line's corporate title does not exist on the map of its operations, and its thirty miles of right of way are under the same management as the neighboring Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf, which owns forty-four miles of track. Their joint insertion in The Office Guide advises shippers: "Save Time and Money by Missing Bedlam and Confusion."
Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg, The Age of Steam, 1957
BHS route map / Mississippi Rails
1955 Official Guide ad / collection
Baldwin #200
Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern #200
Hattiesburg, Ms / Sep 1949 / collection
Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern #200
scrapped, 1953
builder's photo / Mar 1925 / collection
Baldwin #250
Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern #250
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern #250
to Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern, 1963
on display at Edaville Railroad, Ma
Hattiesburg, Ms / Jun 1941 / collection
Builder's photo / collection
Hattiesburg, Ms / c 1959 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / c 1959 / JCH
Beaumont, Ms / Dec 1960 / JCH
Beaumont, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Beaumont, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Beaumont, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Beaumont, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Especially in the lean years, many a steam-era shortline relied upon home-spun practices and simple shortcuts for keeping costs down and still getting the job done.
In the spring of 1961, dad uncovered a wonderful little slice of Deep South shortline lore while chasing #250 through New Augusta, Mississippi (pictured here).
Turns out it was common practice for the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern crew to roll into the little village of New Augusta, bring their train to a stop, and send the brakeman into the local mom & pop grocery store situated near the tracks. If there was switching work to be done, or new train orders to convey, it was the procedure of the B&HS main office in Hattiesburg to call down on the phone to Miss So-and-so, proprietor of said grocery store, and have her write the information down for the passing crew.
Surely this communication system was an integral component of the little railroad's famous pledge to help shippers "avoid any bedlam and confusion." This, plus one imagines that from time to time the crew took advantage of the pause to supplement their lunches.
Beaumont, Ms / Dec 1960 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
New Augusta, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Beaumont, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Baldwin 2-6-2 steam locomotive #250, built in 1926, is long gone from the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Railroad. The WK&S acquired locomotive #250 late in 1963 from the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern Railroad in Mississippi. The locomotive arrived in time to pull some trains before the end of the 1963 operating season. The B&HS was the original and sole owner of the locomotive up to that time. On its way to the WK&S, #250 rode a ship between Louisiana and New Jersey. Relatively speaking, #250 was a small engine. Yet it proved too big, expensive and complex for the diminutive WK&S. The locomotive was a popular attraction and an impressive sight, but was sold off when a cash strapped WK&S faced financial reorganization in the early 1970's. Locomotive #250 was the last piece of equipment to have left the WK&S by rail. The track south of N. Albany was scrapped soon thereafter. After leaving the WK&S, #250 went to the Strasburg Rail Road for re-tubing and then to the Wolfeboro Railroad in New Hampshire. The locomotive's next owner was the Hobo Railroad also in New Hampshire. The locomotive currently resides at Edaville USA in Carver, Massachusetts. The locomotive has been cosmetically restored, but as far as I know, hasn't run since leaving the Wolfeboro Railroad.
Baldwin #300
Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern's cap stacked 2-8-2 was, in proper perspective, a machine with which to move material for profit. Viewing it this way was not always that simple. Anyone with any emotion at all recognized this train in its rural Mississippi rounds as making for a deucedly pretty picture.
John Krause, Rails Through Dixie
Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern #300
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern #300
retired, Oct 1961
on display, Hattiesburg MS
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / Jun 1941 / collection
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / 1999 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / 1999 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / May 2000 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / May 2000 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / May 2000 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / May 2000 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / May 2000 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / rgusrail.com
Click to see the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern #300 display site plotted on a Google Maps page
Baldwin Sisters
BHS locomotive notes / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
Hattiesburg, Ms / Mar 1961 / JCH
In looking back over these images again with me, my father recalled how every time he stopped by the B&HS engine house during the late 1950s and early 60s, there was always a handful of railfans hanging around the place with cameras. Dad said, "No one ever said it, but it was as if we all knew this kind of thing could not go on forever." That thing was, of course, that handsome pair of Baldwins still under steam and still plying the rails. It did not go on forever, which is why we younger railfans are indebted to images such as these terrific 120 negatives taken by my father in Hattiesburg in the spring of 1961.
Rolling Stock
Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern #12
wooden caboose / Hattiesburg, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Lagniappe
correspondence / Sep 1959 / collection
Northbound Shuffle
near Beaumont, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
near New Augusta, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
near New Augusta, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Water Stop
near New Augusta, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Boy Scouts
Beaumont, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Watchful Eye
Beaumont, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Hustle Hour
near Beaumont, Ms / Dec 1960 / JCH
Train Time in New Augusta
New Augusta, Ms / Sep 1959 / JCH
Mississippi Mover and Shaker
near Beaumont, Ms / Dec 1960 / JCH
Thunderous
Hattiesburg, Ms / Dec 1960 / JCH
Back Porch
near Beaumont, Ms / Dec 1960 / JCH
Break Time in Beaumont
Beaumont, Ms / Dec 1960 / JCH
B&HS bad order card / collection
Links / Sources
- Mississippi Rails page for Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern
- New Hampshire Steam Locomotives - current information on #250
- University of Southern Mississippi - McCain Library and Archives
- John Krause, Rails Through Dixie (San Marino: Golden West, 1965) 139-141