Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern Railway

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.