Although it is legally a common carrier, the line’s traffic consists entirely of outbound plywood, lumber, and other forest products originating from a single industry, the Georgia-Pacific mill in Camden.
Carter & Brother Lumber Company sawmill in Camden to the Houston East & West Texas Railway main line in Moscow.
Carter Company rail lines, incorporated as the Camden and Northeastern Railroad, that were used to transport freshly cut timber from remote logging camps to the sawmill.
In the 1950s, its popularity increased as tourists and railfans became attracted to the pleasant East Texas forest scenery, the old-fashioned wood combine, the rustic wooden train station at Camden, and the steam locomotives.
Other attractions in Camden included the quaint, old-fashioned company store and the “Locomotive Graveyard”, a portion of the railroad yard where a number of old MCSA and W.T.
After the line was purchased by Champion International, the new owners became concerned about the possibility of civil liability in the event of an accident, especially given the age of the railroad’s 1898 wood combine.