Research: Tram & Railroad Database

Code: 322
Corporate Name: Westville & Crockett Northern Railroad
Folk Name:
Incorporated:
Ownership: West Lumber Company
Years of Operation: 1907 to 1919
Track Type:
Standard Gauge Wooden Rails
Track Length: Fifteen
Locations Served: Westville Harris
Counties of Operation: Trinity and Houston
Line Connections: Trinity and Sabine at Westville
Track Information:
Tram Road Logging / Industrial Common Carrier Logging Camp
Equipment: Keeling: fifteen rod locomotives
History: Keeling notes the Westville, Crockett & Northern tram road originating at Westville, Trinity County, the site of a major West Lumber sawmill site and mill town. Although he lists also fifteen rod locomotives operating on the road, the number reflects the inclusion of many of the several dozen engines and locomotives that West Lumber Company used on its various tram roads. The Westville, Crockett & Northern connected Westville to other West sawmilling interests in Houston County. W. W. West and his brother Jim “Silver Dollar” West, along with numerous sawmill interests in several counties, also were connected with two sites in Houston County. Lynch Davidson and Jim West owned a mill at Lovelady, which later passed under the control of W. W. West between 1907 and 1910. The Latexo Sawmill Plant at Latexo, located on the Interational and Great Northern and once owned by H. M. Maund [of Sabine County] and A. M. Jones, was sold in 1919 by Mrs. E. A. Blount, a widow, to West Lumber Company. The plant was a complete one with sawmill, planer, dry kilns, houses, shed, tram road, and steam machinery.