The GLSR began operation in 1990 and provided freight service from Gloster, Mississippi, to the Illinois Central Railroad (now Canadian National) interchange at Slaughter, Louisiana.

The line was owned by Georgia-Pacific (GP) which had purchased and refurbished 35 miles (56 km) of an abandoned branch line to provide service to a GP oakwood mill in Gloster.

The GLSR operated four or five freight trains per week until the plant closed in December 2002.

The McComb Enterprise Journal reported on April 2, 2008, that the Georgia-Pacific Corporation is closing its railroad and that the town of Gloster was interested in the rail bed.

[1] The Gloster Southern Railroad applied to discontinue service on its entire line in December 2009,[2] and crews began removing the railway and roadbed.