The New Orleans Great Northern was constructed to service the Great Southern Lumber Company. Built by NOGN's owners, the Great Southern's sawmill was built in Bogalusa, LA, to mill timber stands in southwest Mississippi and Louisiana in 1914.

The line eventually became controlled by the Gulf, Mobile & Northern, which later itself merged with the Mobile & Ohio Railroad to create the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio. She continued to serve as #72 during those years. When the GM&O began dieselizing, the locomotive was sold in 1946 to the Gaylord Container Company in Bogalusa, Louisiana. In 1960, she found her final duty at the Washington & Western, operating in gravel pit service for the Green Brothers at their pit near Franklinton, Louisiana.

She was retired from active service in late 1964. In 1981, she was donated to the Town of Franklinton.

In 2008, she was given a $50,000 makeover and a metal roof for cover.

Today, she rests here at the Washington Parish Fairgrounds in Franklinton, La, where she is displayed and preserved wearing her GM&N paint. She has become a BIG attraction for our fair and is seen by thousands of guests each year.

For more pictures and information, visit https://www.rgsrail.com