Louisiana Railroading and Railfanning In "The Pelican State"

Louisiana railroading offers little in the way of mountainous operations and stiff grades, as the state is almost completely flat (saving railroads from the headache of such operations). While from a railfan perspective this might be a bit visually boring, the Pelican State is an important source of both originating and terminating traffic with the Port of New Orleans and the lucrative petrochemical industry both located there. Today, Louisiana is served by several Class I railroads and a number of shortlines making for an interesting mix of operations.

Louisiana railroading has its beginnings dating back to 1830 (just a few years after the Baltimore & Ohio was chartered!) when the Pontchartrain Railroad was chartered, the first railroad west of the Alleghenies. The railroad was built to connect New Orleans with Lake Pontchartrain, a distance of about five miles and operated for nearly 100 years until becoming part of the Louisville & Nashville in 1935. In the following years, even though deep in the South, Louisiana would become home to several famous Class I systems from the east, west and of course, south. These include the Southern; L&N; Illinois Central; Southern Pacific; Santa Fe; Rock Island; Missouri Pacific; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; and the Kansas City Southern.

Of these, perhaps the Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific had the greatest presence in Louisiana reaching all of the state’s key markets and both railroad’s key main lines reached New Orleans (Southern Pacific’s Sunset Route and Missouri Pacific’s Texas & Pacific main line, which it controlled). Both railroads were also fierce competitors, particularly in Louisiana dating all of the way back to the late 19th century when Jay Gould controlled the MP and Collis Huntington the SP.

Being such a large railroad, the history of the Southern Pacific is quite long and complicated. However, the Espee’s beginnings can be traced all of the way back to the State of California’s beginnings, in 1850. Around that time, railroad moguls Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and Leland Stanford set about to finance the famous Central Pacific to complete the first transcontinental railroad, which was accomplished when the CP connected with the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah in May, 1869.

By the 20th century the railroad continued to expand and was by this time well entrenched into the Southeastern markets of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast (it also leased the CP in the 1920s, eventually merging the railroad into its system with its main line becoming the Overland Route). By mid-century it owned a stunning 15,000 miles of track, stretching from the warm and sunny beaches of Southern California and Gulf of Mexico to the deserts of Arizona and mountains of the Sierra Range.

For all of the railroad’s wealth and prosperity, traffic pattern shifts and poor management would prove costly to the Southern Pacific beginning in the 1970s. After a failed merger with the Santa Fe it was purchased by the Denver & Rio Grande Western in 1988 (who assumed its name) and was eventually merged into the Union Pacific in 1996.

The Missouri Pacific, better known by railroaders and railfans as the “MoPac,” was never a strong company financially but it was always a fighter. The railroad was the first to be built west of the Mississippi River and would eventually come under the Jay Gould empire, who owned scores of railroads in the 19th century. The railroad is also well remembered for its beautiful paint scheme of blue and gray with an eagle adorning the flanks of locomotives.

The Missouri Pacific, like many now-fallen flags, was actually a hodgepodge of over smaller railroads put together throughout the years, even after the Missouri Pacific name was born. By owning the Texas & Pacific the Missouri Pacific reached nearly all of Texas’s major cities and by the early 20th century it had stretched across 11 Midwestern and Western states from New Orleans and Memphis to Denver, Colorado and El Paso, Texas. For all of the railroad’s mileage and size this did not necessarily turn into substantial profits and earnings. Between its earliest beginnings and the mid-1950s the railroad witnessed over a half-dozen bankruptcies and reorganizations (the final one being in 1956).

Due to the railroad’s financial situation it is not surprising that it would be purchased by another railroad, which happened in 1982 when the Union Pacific merged the railroad into its system. Interestingly when the UP purchased the MoPac the latter was much larger in both terms of route miles and locomotives. Similarly, for years the Missouri Pacific name continued to flank locomotives albeit in the Armour Yellow and Gray of Union Pacific, and the MoPac’s corporate identity was not officially dissolved until as late as 1997.

Today, Louisiana railroading is mostly the domain of Class Is CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National (which reached the Pelican State when purchasing the Illinois Central) and, of course, the Kansas City Southern. The rest is operated by a host of shortlines which include the Acadiana Railway, Delta Southern Railroad, Louisiana & Delta Railroad, Louisiana & North West Railroad, and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.

At one time, the Pelican State carried a rail network that totaled over 5,000 miles although today about half of that is still in place. For a more in-depth look at Louisiana railroading in terms of its remaining rail mileage please have a look at the chart below.

While Louisiana railroading no longer proclaims passenger trains like the original Sunset Limited, Crescent, and the Pan-American our national’s passenger railroad, Amtrak, continues to operate the Sunset Limited, City of New Orleans, and Crescent, all of which terminate and originate in New Orleans (at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal to be exact!).

Freight and passenger railroads aside, Louisiana railroading is also home to a number of railroad museums which include the DeQuincy Railroad Museum, Old Hickory Railroad, and Southern Forest Heritage Museum. For more information about Louisiana's tourist railroads and museums please click here.

All in all, while Louisiana is rather flat and offers little to see visually, railroading in the Pelican State has plenty to see, whether you are a vacationer, railfan, or just a local, perhaps interested in some sightseeing or something to do!