New Orleans Great Northern No. 56, an Alco-Brooks 4-6-0.
(Builders photo, Alco Locomotive Company via W. Lenheim Collection)
NEW ORLEANS GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD
The New Orleans Great Northern Railroad (NOGN) was incorporated in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1905. It started as a lumber hauling line, however, it was built to tougher standards than most logging roads in order to be a permanent railroad. The main line from Slidell, Louisiana to Jackson, Mississippi was completed in 1910. The NOGN obtained trackage rights on the Southern Railway to gain entrance to New Orleans and by 1929 operated 277 miles of track. The company was headquartered in Bogalusa, Louisiana.
Touted as the "Ozone Route", the line ran though Southeast Louisiana, which was advertised as rich in ozone and therefore a good place for a healthy vacation.
The Gulf, Mobile and Northern acquired the company in 1929.