In 1918, North Carolina Farms Company hired Karl Lewis Ponzer, C.E., as its chief engineer over the entire lake development project. Ponzer advised the drainage commissioners on pumping and dredging issues and began addressing the engineering needs of the new owners of the lake. From the start, Ponzer enjoyed hunting and fishing in Hyde County.

Ponzer surveyed the railroad line and oversaw the contractor hired to build the 35-mile short line railroad named the New Holland, Higginsport, and Mt. Vernon Railroad, a mouthful for such a short railroad line. The railroad began operating in 1921, providing freight and passenger service to the people of New Holland and Hyde County. 

When North Carolina Farms Company went into bankruptcy in 1923, scheduled passenger service on the New Holland line ended forever. The next owner, New Holland Corporation, chose not to operate the railroad as a public carrier and used it as a private carrier for their freight.