You want a wide variety of railroading and a rich history? North Louisiana is the place. I grew up in North Louisiana in the town of Blanchard, just outside of Shreveport. This was the junction of the Kansas City Southern Texas Division and the Port Arthur-Kansas City mainline. I have many fond memories of chasing trains with my father all over northern Caddo Parish...of seeing KCS's fleet of F-Unit slugs...of cabooses still in use...of the Burlington Northern C30-7's on the Texas-bound coal trains.
North Louisiana is rich in railroad history. Below I will provide a narrative on what I have learned and what I remember.
BEFORE 1965
Kansas City Southern. The Kansas City Southern runs south from Rodessa Louisiana, into Shreveport. Along the way, it passes through some interesting places. In the town of Vivian, you can still see a white KCS caboose sitting outside the depot. In Oil City, the line passes by the Caddo Pine Island Museum, and a red KCS caboose parked outside. The track then winds through Mooringsport, where it crosses Caddo Lake. The track formerly crossed a wooden trestle with a swing span in the middle (a holdover from the old steamboat days). The trestle was replaced by a concrete bridge in the early 1990's, however the park below still offers great fishing.
The track continued South to Blanchard. This town was incorperated in 1896 as a stop on the railway. The main split into a double track North of Blanchard and rejoined the main just before Texas junction. The main came together with the Texas division at Texas Junction (this was the Louisiana & Arkansas Texas division). A loop connecting the main with the Texas division track in Blanchard was built in the late 1970's. This is used for west bound coal trains, as Blanchard is a crew change point. Deramus Yard is next, and is the location of much of KCS's maintenance on the GM fleet. Through Shreveport, the track split off into several lines. One went to Port Arthur. This section of KCS split off at DeQuincey, Louisiana, with the Lake Charles Branch. Another went east (we will get to that later).
Just south of downtown Shreveport, the KCS had joint trackage with the Southern Pacific. It crossed the red river, then split off on to its own trackage to Alexandria, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. KCS also shared trackage with SP north of this point, crossing the Illinois Central (later ICG and Midsouth) and then splitting off onto the Minden branch. This section of track went east to Minden, where it connected with KCS's trackage from Hope, AR. It went south, crossed the Illinois Central again, then headed toward Winnfield. At Winnfield, the KCS moved onto trackage shared by the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific. It continued on the Rock Island before rejoining the KCS main north of Alexandria. This was also the Louisiana & Arkansas.
Texas and Pacific. The Texas and Pacific entered Louisiana from two areas, one from Western Caddo Parish. This line went through the area of Caddo Parish known as Reisor. There, the line split. One part went through the city to the Hollywood Yard. Just south of Hollywood Yard, a wye allowed trains to bypass the yard all together, and head South to Alexandria and on to Avondale, just outside of New Orleans. The other part of the line that split at Reisor went South, through De Soto Parish, where it crossed the Southern Pacific at Keithville, and the KCS near Mansfield, and went through Pleasant Hill and Provencal before joining the main line south at Cypress, just south of Natchitoches, Louisiana. This was known as the Pleasant Hill branch.
The other section of the Texas and Pacific entered Louisiana from North Caddo Parish, about 40 miles north of Shreveport, near the town of Ida. The line went through Arkansas to Texarkana, and then curved west into North Texas. From Ida, the line went south, through Hosston, Gilliam, Belcher, and Dixie, and then into North Shreveport to Hollywood Yard.
Cotton Belt. The Cotton Belt split off from its Memphis-Dallas main at Lewisville, Arkansas. There, it went south, following, state Highway 29. It entered Bossier Parish, going through Plain Dealing and Benton, and into Bossier City, where it crossed the Illinois Central. The track then crossed the Red River, and entered Riverfront Yard, and connected with the Southern Pacific.
Southern Pacific. The Southern Pacific entered North Louisiana near Logansport. The trackage moved north through the piney woods, crossing the Texas and Pacific Pleasant Hill Branch at Keithville, and then crossing the T&P main near Garden Valley in Shreveport. The SP went north to downtown Shreveport and connected with the Cotton Belt.
Illinois Central. The Illinois Central crossed the Mississippi River at Vicksburg and headed west across Louisiana. It crossed the Missouri Pacific at Tallulah. The track then connected with a Missouri Pacific branch at Delhi, and crossed another MOPAC branch at Rayville. The track crossed the Missouri Pacific again at Monroe, then connected with the Arkansas and Louisiana Missouri. The track crossed the Ouachita River into West Monroe, and connected with the Tremont & Gulf (later purchased by the IC). IC headed west to Ruston, crossing the Rock Island main to Eunice, Louisiana, then to Gibsland, where it connected with the North Louisiana & Gulf, and the Louisiana & Northwest. Heading west, the line crossed the KCS at Minden, the SP at Bossier City, and then terminated in Downtown Shreveport.
Louisiana & Northwest. The Louisiana and Northwest runs from Gibsland, Louisiana, to McNeil, Arkansas, where it interchanged with the SP. At Gibsland, the railroad interchanged with the North Louisiana & Gulf, and the Illinois Central. The railroad has a small yard, and an engine shop at Gibsland. In its heyday, the L&NW had trackage from Gibsland to Natchitoches, but had to abandon it in the 1920's or 1930's.
Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific. The Rock Island entered Louisiana at Junction City. It continued south through Lillie, Bernice, and into Ruston, where it crossed the Illinois Central. The line went south from Ruston, to North Hodge, where it connected to North Louisiana & Gulf. It went through Winnfield, into Alexandria (where it connected with the Kansas City Southern, Texas & Pacific, and Missouri Pacific), and then south to Eunice, Louisiana, where it terminated into the Southern Pacific, and Missouri Pacific.
Missouri Pacific. The Missouri Pacific ran north from a Texas and Pacific connection at Alexandria, crossing the Louisiana Midland along the way. The MOPAC reached Monroe and curved Northeast to Arkansas. One MOPAC line went Northwest from Monroe, to Sterlington, where it crossed the Ouachita River, and continued north to Litroe, where it connected with the Farmerville Branch. The line then went to Felsenthal, and on to El Dorado, Arkansas. At Felsenthal, the line split off into a seperate branch to Bastrop, Louisiana. From Bastrop, the line crossed the MOPAC main to Arkansas at Collinston, then went south to Rayville, crossing the Illinois Central. From Rayille the line went to Clayton Junction, where it connected with the MOPAC branch from Tallulah. Going south, the track connected with the Louisiana Midland, and a branch of the Texas and Pacific from Lettsworth, just south of Ferriday. The line continued to Vidalia, where it terminated at a railroad car ferry terminal. There was no rail bridge, so the MOPAC interchanged cars with the Illinois Central at Natchez, Mississippi via a ferry.
Another MOPAC line went North from Clayton Junction to Tallulah, where it crossed the Illinois Central. It continued north to and beyond Eudora, Arkansas. At Eudora, another MOPAC branch split off and headed to Delhi, Louisiana, where it terminated into the Illinois Central.
North Louisiana & Gulf. The NL&G was a small short line that ran from a connection at Gibsland, Louisiana with the Louisiana & Northwest and the Illinois Central, to a terminus with the Rock Island at North Hodge, Louisiana.
Arkansas & Louisiana Missouri. The A&LM ran from a connection with Illinois Central at Monroe, Louisiana to Crossett, Arkansas. At Crossett, the line connected with the Rock Island.
Along the way, the A&LM connected with the Missouri Pacific branch from Felsenthal, Arkansas to Collinston, Louisiana, at Bastrop, about 30 miles north of Monroe.
Louisiana Midland. Louisiana MIdland ran from Winnfield, east to Georgetown and Jena Louisiana, before terminating into the MOPAC, south of Ferriday, Louisiana.
The line was acquired by the Louisiana & Arkansas, then later sold to the Illinois Central, then regained its independence in the late 1960's.
AFTER 1965
Kansas City Southern. Kansas City Southern continued to survive in the era of mega mergers. KCS purchased the Mid South Rail Corporation in 1993, and with that, extended service into Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.
Unfortunately, KCS has begun to abandon some sections of the branch from Hope, Arkansas to Winnfield, Louisiana. The line from Hope, to Springhill is almost completely abandoned. South of Minden, much of the trackage has been removed to Winnfield.
Mid South Rail Corporation. Mid South was one of Illinois Central Gulf's largest regional spin offs. The company began operating in March 1986, and one of its main lines was the former Illinois Central from Shreveport to Vicksburg.
Mid South also gained control of North Louisiana & Gulf. They were acquired by the Kansas City Southern in 1993.
Missouri Pacific, Texas and Pacific, Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt.
The Texas and Pacific branch from Ferriday to Lettsworth, Louisiana was abandoned in the late 1940's. Too often, the line fell victim to flooding from the Mississippi.
The Texas and Pacific had long been controlled by the Missouri Pacific. The MOPAC's presence was being felt on the Texas and Pacific lines in north Louisiana in the 1960's. It was decided that several branch lines would be abandoned. T&P abandoned the line from Texarkana, Arkansas, to Hosston, Louisiana in 1965. The remaining portion of the line served the oil and agricultural industries in North Caddo Parish for a number of years. When the oil bust came in the early 1980's, the line was doomed. Missouri Pacific abandoned the remainder of the line from Hosston, Louisiana to Grimmet Drive in North Shreveport in 1983. The track was not removed until around 1985. I still remember seeing the track in place as a child.
The next track to fall victim was the Pleasant Hill Branch. The line was abandoned from its connection to the main line at Cypress, Louisiana, to just south of Shreveport, Louisiana (Reisor) in 1965. The line ended just north of Keithville. That small section survived until around 1990, when the remaining track was abandoned to just east of Reisor Yard.
Missouri Pacific abandoned the branch from Farmerville to Litroe, Louisiana in 1955. The line from Bastrop to Felsenthal was abandoned in the early 1960's.
Around 1982, MOPAC abandoned the line from El Dorado to Felsenthal, Arkansas.
The line from Eudora, Arkansas to Delhi, Louisiana was abandoned around 1976. The section from Collinston to Clayton Junction was abandoned in 1983. Around 1988, the section from Ferriday to Vidalia was abandoned, and the car ferry over the Mississippi River was discontinued. Finally, the old MOPAC line from Quimby (Just south of Tallulah) to Clayton Junction was abandoned by Union Pacific around 1989, and rail service in that section of Northeast Louisiana was gone.
Of course, we all know the story of how the MP, SP, and SSW fell victim to the merger mania, being absorbed into Union Pacific. There were benefits from this, however: Burlington Northern Santa Fe gained trackage rights over the former SP and Cotton Belt lines through North Louisiana. Two BNSF trains head southbound daily, to Houston.
Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific. The Rock Island entered into its final bankruptcy around 1977. The railroad decided to abandon its line from Alexandria to Eunice, Louisiana in September 1977. The railroad liquidated on March 31, 1980. The line from Quitman to Ruston, Louisiana was severed around 1983, but the line from Ruston to El Dorado, Arkansas remained intact, and a short line took over operations on that end. However, business on the south end was severely lacking, and around 1985, the line from Ruston to Lillie was abandoned. The line now is operated by the Ouachita Railroad from Lillie to El Dorado. The line from Quitman to North Hodge was later abandoned. However, Kansas City Southern now operates a small yard at North Hodge.
North Louisiana and Gulf. The NL&G was taken over by Mid South, which was, in turn, acquired by KCS. The trackage remains in use by Kansas City Southern, and sees the Hodge Local run through several times a week.
Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Arkansas and Louisiana Missouri was taken over by Georgia Pacific in 1991. The name was later changed to Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Louisiana Midland. After gaining independence again from Illinois Central, the Louisiana Midland survived into the 1980's. But by then business had dried up, and the railroad folded in the late 1980's. All trackage was abandoned.
