Oral History Interview

Mr. W. W. Mears

By Russell Crump

Agent Pitkin 1946 - 1948

Mears: My next job I was on the extra board and went into Military service 1943-1946. I came out my first job after came out of Military service was agent at Pitkin. LA.

16, View of Pitkin from depot platform sometime in 1921 an evauation photo from photo archives.

Russell: I understand at one time out of Pitkin Their were several lumbering branches in that area at least their were several different logging companies that owned particular pieces of track all over that place..

Mears: Out of Pitkin they had an operation trains operating over the Santa Fe out of Pitkin kind of like at Pineland for the Gulf Lumber company at Fulerton which was about five or six miles north of Pitkin They had their own line which connected to the Santa Fe at Nitram which was a couple of miles west of Pitkin. And they would come on to the Santa Fe and I am not sure of the extent that they operated over the Santa Fe but I they did operate pretty much like they operated out of Pineland for quite a number of years. The Fullerton Mill was already gone in 1946 when I went to Louisiana.

17, Looking east at the Nitram depot (Martin spelled backwards) jct. of line to Fullerton and mill of Gulf Lumber Co. Cica 1921 an evaluation photo from photo archives.

Russell: So it had been pretty will logged off by 1941 and slowed down at Pitkin.

Mears: the line had already been taken up Nitram to Fullerton a number of years before and the station at Nitram was completely gone.

Russell : What type of traffic was their at Pitkin during your tour of duty their.

Mears: Pulp wood, poles, log mostly timber products.

Russell: Poles were where they going.

Mears: They would go to creasoting plants mostly longbell lumber company at Derrider, LA or Joplin Mo and a number of other creosing plants over in East Texas like Conro and the like.

Russell: This time the pulp would then, their were already Paper Mills to take the pulp?

Mears: Yes their were paper mills their was a big paper mill at Elezabeth, LA which was 10 miles east of Pitkin on the Oakdale District and then their were a number of other mills on other railroads up in northern Louisiana the mill at Evadale,Tx had not been built at that time. The Easttex mill at Evadale

Russell: The main paper mill then was then at Elezabeth

Mears: Yes we shipped quite a bit of pulp wood to Elezabeth and quite a lot more to mills in the northern part of the state.

Russell: Those were basically the products out of Pitkin at that time.

Mears: We did have a gravel pit near Pitkin that we shipped gravel out of their to.

Russell; Was that Cravens?

Mears: Out of Cravens, North of Cravens about 5 miles.

Russell: Was that a Ballast pit

Mears: Ballast and commercial gravel to.

Russell: That Commercial gravel for Houston and places like that?

Mears: Mostly highway projects in Lake Charles and other parts of Louisiana very little of it went in to Texas.

Russell : So most of it was interchanged to KCS or somebody?

Mears: Either Derridder or Oakdale.

Russell: After Pikin where did you go

Mears: I went from Pitkin, LA to Winni, TX in 1948. I was in Winni for 10 years.

Transcribed in altered form for the Web By Russell Crump