Louisiana & Delta Railroad

ldrr_state The Louisiana & Delta Railroad was formed in 1987 with the purchase of several non-contiguous Southern Pacific branchlines in the coastal south-central region of Louisiana. The initial power fleet consisted of five ex-SP locomotives, including three GP-9E units and two SW-1200 switchers. Later, many used CF7 models were added to the roster. Traffic includes carbon black, salt, rice, sugar cane, processed sugar, molasses, oilfield chemicals and supplies, pipe, fertilizer, and bauxite ore. The shortline was one of the original Genessee & Wyoming operations, and today interchange is with the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe -- current joint-owners of the former Southern Pacific Sunset Route across south Louisiana.

1994 Official Guide listing / collection

LDRR operations map / web

HawkinsRails thanks railroad historian and friend Louis Saillard for use of his Louisiana & Delta images

Motive Power

Louisiana & Delta #1200

New Iberia, La / Jul 1987 / JCH

Louisiana & Delta #1200

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:SW1200

type:B-B yard switcher

built:Feb 1964, EMD #28895

series:737 produced 1954-66

engine:EMD 567C (12 cyl, 1200 hp)

notes:

blt Cotton Belt #1062

Louisiana & Delta #1500

New Iberia, La / Feb 1989 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #1500

builder:Santa Fe Cleburne Shops

model:CF7 rebuild

type:B-B road switcher

rebuilt:Jun 1972

series:233 produced 1970-78

engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500hp)

notes:

rblt from ATSF F3A #27C, blt May 1948
from Santa Fe as CF7 #2616
sold to GWI Switching Services #1500

Louisiana & Delta #1501

New Iberia, La / Apr 2002 / JCH

Louisiana & Delta #1501

builder:Santa Fe Cleburne Shops

model:CF7 rebuild

type:B-B road switcher

rebuilt:Jun 1972

series:233 produced 1970-78

engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500hp)

notes:

rblt from ATSF F3A #19L, blt Nov 1946
from Santa Fe as CF7 #2622
named "City of New Iberia"

New Iberia, La / Feb 1989 / Saillard

New Iberia, La / Feb 1989 / Saillard

New Iberia, La / Feb 1989 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #1502

New Iberia, La / Apr 1994 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #1502

builder:Santa Fe Cleburne Shops

model:CF7 rebuild

type:B-B road switcher

rebuilt:Feb 1977

series:233 produced 1970-78

engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500hp)

notes:

rblt from ATSF F3A #339L, blt May 1953
from Santa Fe as CF7 #2479
to Falls Creek Railroad #2470
to Buffalo & Pittsburgh #2470

Louisiana & Delta #1504

Baldwin, La / Apr 1994 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #1504

builder:Santa Fe Cleburne Shops

model:CF7 rebuild

type:B-B road switcher

rebuilt:Dec 1974

series:233 produced 1970-78

engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500hp)

notes:

rblt from ATSF F7A #206C, blt Jul 1949
from Santa Fe as CF7 #2489
to Cadillac & Lake City #48
to Louisiana & Delta as second #1504

Louisiana & Delta #1507

New Iberia, La / Apr 2002 / JCH

Louisiana & Delta #1507

builder:Santa Fe Cleburne Shops

model:CF7 rebuild

type:B-B road switcher

rebuilt:Aug 1972

series:233 produced 1970-78

engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500hp)

notes:

rblt from ATSF F3A #29L, blt Jun 1948
from Santa Fe as CF7 #2609
to MidSouth #7002, later KCS
to LDRR as #1504, later renumbered
named "Breaux Bridge"

New Iberia, La / Apr 2002 / JCH

New Iberia, La / Apr 2002 / JCH

Lake Charles, La / Dec 2000 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #1513

Broussard, La / Nov 2000 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #1513

builder:Santa Fe Cleburne Shops

model:CF7 rebuild

type:B-B road switcher

rebuilt:Jun 1973

series:233 produced 1970-78

engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500hp)

notes:

rblt from ATSF F9A #284C, blt Jun 1956
from Santa Fe as CF7 #2504
to MidSouth #7007
to Kansas City Southern
to GWI Switching Services #1511

Louisiana & Delta #1751

New Iberia, La / Nov 1991 / JCH

Louisiana & Delta #1751

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:GP9R

type:B-B road switcher (rebuilt)

built:Apr 1956, EMD #21362

series:3436 produced 1954-59

engine:EMD 57C (16 cyl, 1750 hp)

notes:

blt Southern Pacific #3502
to Louisiana & Delta #1751
named "Evangeline"

Louisiana & Delta #1752

New Iberia, La / Jul 1987 / JCH

Louisiana & Delta #1752

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:GP9R

type:B-B road switcher (rebuilt)

built:Jan 1957, EMD #22920

series:3436 produced 1954-59

engine:EMD 57C (16 cyl, 1750 hp)

notes:

blt Portland & Western #1803
to Southern Pacific #3740
to Louisiana & Delta #1752
named "Ivanhoe"
to Willamette & Pacific #1803

New Iberia, La / Jul 1987 / JCH

Louisiana & Delta #1850

Baldwin, La / Nov 1998 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #1850

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:GP10 "Paducah rebuild"

type:B-B road switcher

built:Jan 1956, EMD #20773

series:_________

engine:EMD 567C (16 cyl, 1850 hp)

notes:

ex Illinois Central Gulf #8110
rebuilt by Paducah Dec 1974
to Mountain Laurel #12
to Louisiana & Delta #1850

Louisiana & Delta #2000

New Iberia, La / May 2013 / collection

Louisiana & Delta #2000

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:GP38

type:B-B road switcher

built:Nov 1967, EMD #33700

series:706 produced 1966-71

engine:EMD 645 (16 cyl, 2000 hp)

notes:

blt Chesapeake & Ohio #3869
to CSX Transportation #2069
to Helm Financial Leasing #107
to Rail Link Inc. #2000
to Louisiana & Delta #2000

New Iberia, La / Dec 2000 / Saillard

Lake Charles, La / Dec 2002 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #14

Lake Charles, La / Dec 2000 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #14

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:GP10 "Paducah rebuild"

type:B-B road switcher

built:Mar 1955, EMD #20171

series:3458 produced 1954-59

engine:EMD 567C (16 cyl, 1750 hp))

notes:

blt Illinois Central #9092
to Illinois Central Gulf #8061
rebuilt by Paducah Feb 1975
to Mountain Laurel #14
to Louisiana & Delta #14

Louisiana & Delta #16

Baldwin, La / Nov 1998 / Saillard

Louisiana & Delta #16

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:GP10 "Paducah rebuild"

type:B-B road switcher

built:Mar 1955, EMD #20178

series:3458 produced 1954-59

engine:EMD 567C (16 cyl, 1750 hp))

notes:

blt Illinois Central #9099
to Illinois Central Gulf #8416
rebuilt by Paducah Mar 1974
to Mountain Laurel #16
to Louisiana & Delta #16

Locations

Louisiana & Delta offices

ex Southern Pacific Station / New Iberia, La / Nov 1991 / JCH

Nov 1991 / JCH

New Iberia, La / Apr 2002 / JCH

Close Up — Sunset Limited

In later summer of 1987, my parents and I rode Amtrak's number 2, the eastbound Sunset Limited, from Los Angeles all the way home to New Orleans. Dad and I made a fair amount of photographs throughout the trip, but we were poised and ready in the door of our Superliner sleeper to spot the Louisiana & Delta equipment as we rolled into New Iberia for a brief station stop. At this point, the LDRR was a relatively new phenomenon -- one of the first pikes in the now ubiquitous but then newcomer Genesee & Wyoming shortline group. The GW orange was easy to spot down the line, and the two first gen locomotives did not disappoint.