masthead_shortlines
Featured Shortline
southern southern_shortline

tag_lagnLouisiana Southern Railway Company

tag_quote

As an aftermath principally of the financial depression of the 1930s, Southern Railway System companies went through a long era of abandoning unprofitable lines and segments of lines. The increasing industrialization of the South and the decision of large industry to find new sites in Southern System territory brought a turnabout in the 1950s, however, and prompted Southern and its affiliates to acquire certain shortline railroads, advantageously located, in which they had not theretofore had any financial interest, as potential feeders to their existing main lines.

John B. Hyde, Legal History of the Lines of Railroad of Southern Railway Company, 1958

nopb_state The Louisiana Southern Railway Company was chartered in 1897 as the successor to several defunct southeast Louisiana shortlines that operated below New Orleans along the Mississippi River, including the Mississippi River Terre aux Boeuf & Lake, the New Orleans & Gulf, and then the New Orleans & Southern in 1892. At its peak, successor Louisiana Southern operated a mainline that extended 45 miles, from Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans to Pointe a la Hache in Plaquemines Parish, with a 15 mile branch from Poydras Junction to Shell Beach on Lake Borgne. For twelve years, beginning in 1911, the property was leased to the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico Railroad Company. Independent operation followed, struggling until a war-era boost in traffic made the line profitable and attractive for purchase. Through its regional subsidiary, New Orleans & Northeastern, the Southern Railway acquired the shortline in 1953.

map

LAS company map / E. Hence / collection

map

LAS tracks in operation in 2001 / drawn by JCH

Steam Motive Power

Louisiana Southern #5

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:4-4-0 American
  • built:Dec 1891, Baldwin #12352
  • fuel:_________
  • notes:
  • 15x22 cylinders, 56" drivers
  • blt New Orleans & Southern #5
    to Louisiana Southern #5, Feb 1897
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #6

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:4-4-0 American
  • built:Dec 1891, Baldwin #12353
  • fuel:_________
  • notes:
  • 15x22 cylinders, 56" drivers
  • blt New Orleans & Southern #6
    to Louisiana Southern #6, Feb 1897
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #8

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:4-4-0 American
  • built:Jul 1870, Baldwin #2194
  • fuel:_________
  • notes:
  • 16x24 cylinders, 60" drivers
  • blt St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute #21
    to Louisiana Southern #8
    tender lettered "Gulf Coast Lines"
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #10

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:4-4-0 American
  • built:Sep 1876, Baldwin #3992
  • fuel:_________
  • notes:
  • 17x24 cylinders, 63" drivers
  • blt Texas & Pacific #43
    renumbered Texas & Pacific #519, 1882
    renumbered Texas & Pacific #43, 1886
    to Louisiana Southern #10, 1910
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #11

  • builder:Danforth & Cooke
  • arrangement:4-4-0 American
  • built:Feb 1881, Cooke #1154
  • fuel:_________
  • notes:
  • blt New Orleans Pacific #63
    to Texas & Pacific #63, 1881
    renumbered #530, 1882; later #63, 1886
    to Louisiana Southern #11, 1915
  • Louisiana Southern #12

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:2-6-0 Mogul
  • built:Sep 1887, Baldwin #8790
  • fuel:oil/water
  • notes:
  • 19x24 cylinders, 56 1/2" drivers
  • blt St. Louis & San Francisco #214
    to New Orleans Texas & Mexico #314
    to New Iberia & Northern #45, May 1916
    to Louisiana Southern #12, Sep 1923
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #13

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:2-6-0 Mogul
  • built:Mar 1914, Baldwin #41168
  • fuel:oil/water
  • notes:
  • 18x24 cylinders, 54" drivers
  • blt Cape Girardeau Northern #11
    to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive
    to Louisiana Southern #13, Jan 1925
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #14

  • builder:American Locomotive Company
  • arrangement:2-6-0 Mogul
  • built:Sep 1913, Baldwin #53978
  • fuel:oil/water
  • notes:
  • 18x24 cylinders, 54" drivers
  • blt Cape Girardeau Northern #9
    to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive
    to Louisiana Southern #14, Jan 1925
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #16

  • builder:ALCo - Schenectady
  • arrangement:2-8-0 Consolidation
  • built:_________
  • fuel:oil/water
  • notes:
  • 18x26 cylinders, 57" drivers
  • blt for Texas Central
    to Missouri Kansas & Texas #685
    to Louisiana Southern 16
    retired, Dec 1948
    to Westwego Salvage Co, Aug 1950
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #17

  • builder:Cooke Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:4-6-0 Ten-wheeler
  • built:May 1901, Cooke #2402
  • fuel:oil/water
  • 20x24 cylinders, 61" drivers
  • notes:
  • blt Missouri Pacific #765
    renumbered Missouri Pacific #2516
    to New Orleans & Lower Coast #2516
    to Louisiana Southern #17, Mar 1948
    retired, Oct 1948
    to Southern Scrap, New Orleans, July 1953
  • Diesel Motive Power

    las_roster_clipping1973

    from Railroad magazine
    - Sy Reich - Jul 1973 / collection


    Louisiana Southern #501

  • builder:General Electric
  • model:45 tonner
  • type:B-B yard switcher
  • built:Dec 1941, GE #15061
  • engine:(2) Cummins HB1 (300 hp)
  • notes:
  • single traction motor on each truck
  • to Pacolet Manufacturing Co, 1954
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #502

  • builder:General Electric
  • model:45 ton centercab
  • type:A1-1A industrial switcher
  • built:Sep 1941, GE #13190
  • engine:Cummins HBI-600 (300 hp)
  • notes:
  • blt North Carolina Shipbuilding #3002
    to U.S. Maritime Commission #2
    to Alexander Railroad #1
    to Louisiana Southern #502
    to Southern Railway #6841
    to Little Giant Company
  • builder
    sou6841_clipping

    from Diesels of the Southern Railway 1939-1982
    - Paul K. Withers - 1997 / collection

    Louisiana Southern #503

  • builder:Whitcomb Locomotive Works
  • model:65 tonner
  • type:B-B yard switcher
  • built:_________
  • engine:_________ (550 hp)
  • notes:
  • ex United States Army
    to Pan American Engineering (dealer)
    to Louisiana Southern #503
    to Wheeling Steel, 1950
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #504

  • builder:General Electric
  • model:80 tonner
  • type:B-B industrial switcher
  • built:Nov 1937, GE #12187
  • series:7 produced by GE, 1937
  • engine:(2) Cummins, 500 hp
  • notes:
  • blt Northeast Oklahoma #253
    to Louisiana Southern #504, 1949
    retired by Southern Rwy, 1966
  • builder

    Louisiana Southern #505

  • builder:General Electric
  • model:80 tonner
  • type:B-B industrial switcher
  • built:Nov 1937, GE #12188
  • series:7 produced by GE, 1937
  • engine:(2) Cummins, 500 hp
  • notes:
  • blt Northeast Oklahoma #254
    to Louisiana Southern #505, 1949
    retired by Southern Rwy, 1966
  • builder

    tag_pinLocations

    tag_pin

    Click to see the Chalmette Battlefield plotted on a Google Maps page

    tag_lagnLagniappe

    LAS promotional material / collection

    LAS promotional material / collection

    LAS promotional letter / collection

    Links / Sources

    This page was updated on 2020-12-12