Louisiana and Arkansas Railway
Encyclopedia
The Louisiana and Arkansas Railway was a railroad
that operated in the states of Arkansas
, Louisiana
, and Texas
. The railroad's main line extended 332 miles, from Hope, Arkansas
to Shreveport and New Orleans. Branch lines served Vidalia, Louisiana
(opposite Natchez, Mississippi
), and Dallas, Texas
.
and northwest Louisiana
. Buchanan's partners were Harvey C. Couch
and William Edenborn
. Buchanan's primary company, Bodcaw Lumber Company, was headquartered in Stamps, Arkansas
, and that city also served as headquarters of the L&A until the late 1920s. It was reorganized in 1902 as the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway.
In 1910, the L&A Railway and Arkansas Southern Railroad were involved in a dispute over Louisiana taxes, a notable court case which ultimately was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
During the late 1920s, a group of investors led by Harvey Couch began acquiring Louisiana & Arkansas stock. These investors owned electric and telephone utilities in Arkansas and Louisiana and believed that railroad ownership in their service area would also be profitable. When control of the L&A was thus secured on January 16, 1928, a new company was chartered in Delaware
in 1928 to acquire the former Louisiana and Arkansas Railway Company and to acquire and lease the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company. Louisiana Railway & Navigation operated a marginally profitable railroad between New Orleans
, Shreveport
and Dallas
.
The L&A inaugurated a new premier passenger train, The Shreveporter, on December 30, 1928, operating between Shreveport and Hope, Arkansas
. This train carried a through Pullman
sleeping car between Shreveport and St. Louis, Missouri
, in conjunction with Missouri Pacific Railroad
. A second named passenger train, The Hustler, was added to provide overnight service between Shreveport and New Orleans, beginning on July 2, 1932.
The Harvey Couch interests began purchasing stock of the Kansas City Southern Railway
(KCS) in 1937. After gaining control of the KCS in 1939, a decision was made to merge the two properties. Kansas City Southern was the surviving corporation, with the Louisiana & Arkansas as a KCS subsidiary, but the KCS president and the controlling stockholders were all from the L&A. This merger created "single line" railroad freight service between Kansas City
and New Orleans, and on September 2, 1940, a new KCS-L&A diesel powered streamliner
, the Southern Belle
, was inaugurated to connect the two cities.
In 1948, in a letter to Ernest W. Roberts, Harry Truman described the difficult working conditions for certain black workers employed by this railroad.
The worst wreck in the history of the L&A occurred on August 10, 1951, when a northbound L&A troop train collided head-on with the southbound Southern Belle just north of Lettsworth, Louisiana
; Lettsworth is located approximately 55 miles northwest of Baton Rouge
, on a segment of the Texas and Pacific Railway
over which L&A trains had operating rights. The troop train was traveling 40 mph (64 km/h) and the Southern Belle was moving at the maximum speed limit of 55 mph (89 km/h) when the collision occurred on a long curve where vegetation obscured visibility. Thirteen people were killed, and another eighty-two were injured. It was determined that the accident had occurred because the troop train had overlooked a train order
to wait in a siding at Lettsworth to allow the passenger train to pass.
The identity of the Louisiana & Arkansas gradually disappeared in the 1950s and 1960s, as the Kansas City Southern name was adopted for all properties. By 1966, all reference to the Louisiana & Arkansas had disappeared from the annual stockholder reports of Kansas City Southern. The Shreveporter, once the pride of the L&A, was discontinued on January 24, 1962, and the Southern Belle was discontinued on November 2, 1969, ending all passenger train service on the former Louisiana & Arkansas.
In 1992, Kansas City Southern dissolved the subsidiary Louisiana & Arkansas Railway, although the former L&A route continues to be a major component of the Kansas City Southern.
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
that operated in the states of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. The railroad's main line extended 332 miles, from Hope, Arkansas
Hope, Arkansas
Hope is a small city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2008 United States Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 10,378...
to Shreveport and New Orleans. Branch lines served Vidalia, Louisiana
Vidalia, Louisiana
Vidalia is a city in and the parish seat of Concordia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,543 at the 2000 census.- Geography :Vidalia is located at and has an elevation of ....
(opposite Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
), and Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
.
History
The Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad was incorporated in Arkansas in 1898 for the purpose of acquiring former logging railroad properties in Arkansas and Louisiana. The railroad was constructed and initially operated under the leadership of William Buchanan, a prosperous timberman with extensive investments in southwest ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and northwest Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Buchanan's partners were Harvey C. Couch
Harvey C. Couch
Harvey Crowley Couch, was an Arkansas entrepreneur who rose from very modest beginnings to control a regional utility and railroad empire...
and William Edenborn
William Edenborn
William Edenborn was a businessman, inventor and philanthropist, born in Altena in the Westphalia region of the Ruhr River Valley of the former Prussia, since Germany...
. Buchanan's primary company, Bodcaw Lumber Company, was headquartered in Stamps, Arkansas
Stamps, Arkansas
Stamps is a city in Lafayette County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,131 at the 2000 census.Stamps was the shop headquarters for the former Louisiana and Arkansas Railway until the relocation in the early 1920s to Minden, Louisiana....
, and that city also served as headquarters of the L&A until the late 1920s. It was reorganized in 1902 as the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway.
In 1910, the L&A Railway and Arkansas Southern Railroad were involved in a dispute over Louisiana taxes, a notable court case which ultimately was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
During the late 1920s, a group of investors led by Harvey Couch began acquiring Louisiana & Arkansas stock. These investors owned electric and telephone utilities in Arkansas and Louisiana and believed that railroad ownership in their service area would also be profitable. When control of the L&A was thus secured on January 16, 1928, a new company was chartered in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
in 1928 to acquire the former Louisiana and Arkansas Railway Company and to acquire and lease the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company. Louisiana Railway & Navigation operated a marginally profitable railroad between New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
and Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
.
The L&A inaugurated a new premier passenger train, The Shreveporter, on December 30, 1928, operating between Shreveport and Hope, Arkansas
Hope, Arkansas
Hope is a small city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2008 United States Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 10,378...
. This train carried a through Pullman
Pullman Company
The Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s...
sleeping car between Shreveport and St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, in conjunction with Missouri Pacific Railroad
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...
. A second named passenger train, The Hustler, was added to provide overnight service between Shreveport and New Orleans, beginning on July 2, 1932.
The Harvey Couch interests began purchasing stock of the Kansas City Southern Railway
Kansas City Southern Railway
The Kansas City Southern Railway , owned by Kansas City Southern Industries, is the smallest and second-oldest Class I railroad company still in operation. KCS was founded in 1887 and is currently operating in a region consisting of ten central U.S. states...
(KCS) in 1937. After gaining control of the KCS in 1939, a decision was made to merge the two properties. Kansas City Southern was the surviving corporation, with the Louisiana & Arkansas as a KCS subsidiary, but the KCS president and the controlling stockholders were all from the L&A. This merger created "single line" railroad freight service between Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
and New Orleans, and on September 2, 1940, a new KCS-L&A diesel powered streamliner
Streamliner
A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
, the Southern Belle
Southern Belle (KCS)
The Southern Belle was a named passenger train service offered by Kansas City Southern Railway from the 1940s through the 1960s, running between Kansas City, Missouri and New Orleans, Louisiana.The service was inaugurated on September 2, 1940...
, was inaugurated to connect the two cities.
In 1948, in a letter to Ernest W. Roberts, Harry Truman described the difficult working conditions for certain black workers employed by this railroad.
The worst wreck in the history of the L&A occurred on August 10, 1951, when a northbound L&A troop train collided head-on with the southbound Southern Belle just north of Lettsworth, Louisiana
Lettsworth, Louisiana
Lettsworth is a small village located in the extreme northern tip of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. It lies on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River near its intersection with the Mississippi River and the Red River at the Old River Control Structure. As of 2005, the...
; Lettsworth is located approximately 55 miles northwest of Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, on a segment of the Texas and Pacific Railway
Texas and Pacific Railway
The Texas and Pacific Railway Company was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California....
over which L&A trains had operating rights. The troop train was traveling 40 mph (64 km/h) and the Southern Belle was moving at the maximum speed limit of 55 mph (89 km/h) when the collision occurred on a long curve where vegetation obscured visibility. Thirteen people were killed, and another eighty-two were injured. It was determined that the accident had occurred because the troop train had overlooked a train order
Train order
Train order operation, or more accurately Timetable and Train order operation, is a largely obsolete system by which the railroads of North America conveyed operating instructions before the days of centralized traffic control, direct traffic control, and the use of track warrants conveyed by radio...
to wait in a siding at Lettsworth to allow the passenger train to pass.
The identity of the Louisiana & Arkansas gradually disappeared in the 1950s and 1960s, as the Kansas City Southern name was adopted for all properties. By 1966, all reference to the Louisiana & Arkansas had disappeared from the annual stockholder reports of Kansas City Southern. The Shreveporter, once the pride of the L&A, was discontinued on January 24, 1962, and the Southern Belle was discontinued on November 2, 1969, ending all passenger train service on the former Louisiana & Arkansas.
In 1992, Kansas City Southern dissolved the subsidiary Louisiana & Arkansas Railway, although the former L&A route continues to be a major component of the Kansas City Southern.