🔹 What Kind of Trains?

• Logging tram trains — These were narrow-gauge trains (smaller than standard railroads) used specifically in the timber industry.

• They often used steam-powered locomotives designed to haul heavy logs over rough and temporary tracks laid deep into forests.

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🔹 Purpose of the Tram Trains in Laurel

• Transporting logs from cutting sites in the pine forests of Newton County to the Sabine River at Laurel.

• At Laurel, logs were dumped into the river and floated downstream about 25 miles to sawmills in Orange, Texas.

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🔹 Characteristics of the Tram Railways

• The tracks were temporary or semi-permanent, often moved as logging areas were cleared.

• These lines were part of what’s called a “tram road” — used exclusively for industrial purposes, not passengers.

• Tram engines and railcars were often smaller, built to navigate tight curves and rugged terrain in forested areas.

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🔹 Later Development

• In 1921, a more formal railway — the Sabine and Neches Valley Railway — was chartered to extend about 11.75 miles from Deweyville to Gist, Texas.

• This railway was partly built on old tram road alignments and allowed connection to larger rail systems like the Orange & Northwestern Railroad.