North Louisiana & Gulf Railroad

he North Louisiana & Gulf Railroad Company was incorporated in 1906 with a line from Hodge, Louisiana, 25 miles north to the community of Bienville. The company soon purchased the southern portion of the Louisiana & North West shortline from Bienville to Gibsland. The NLG was organized twice under the same name, in 1927 and 1928. Control of the shortline was held by Continental Can Company until 1983, and interchange was maintained with Rock Island at Hodge and the Illinois Central Gulf and Louisiana & North West at Gibsland. Traffic was primarily paper, pulpwood, lumber, and chemicals.

In the early 1980s, Stone Container Corporation purchased the line and also created the adjacent Central Louiaiana & Gulf Railroad Company. Operated in conjunction with the NLG, the railroad worked a 70 mile portion of the old Rock Island mainline from Hodge via Winnfield to Alexandria, Louisiana. Interchange was kept with Missouri Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Kansas City Southern in Alexandria. Regional MidSouth Rail Corp purchased both routes in 1987 and named its new subsidiary MidLouisiana Rail. In 1993, Kansas City Southern purchased MidSouth, but starting in 2005 KCS has leased the former NLG/CLG line to shortline operator WATCO. Its operation, from Gibsland to Pineville, is known as the Louisiana Southern Railroad (LAS).