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Louisiana & North West Railroad Company
Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg, The Age of Steam, 1957
1988 Official Guide listing
First incorporated in 1889, the Louisiana & North West Railroad Company operates 62 miles of shortline between Gibsland, Louisiana, northward to McNeil, Arkansas. The LNW interchanges on both ends of the line: with the Union Pacific (former St. Louis Southwestern) in McNeil; Kansas City Southern (former MidSouth, ICG) at Gibsland.
For many years the road was well-known among railfans for its unusual stable of F7 "covered wagons" -- unusual motive power of choice for a backwoods southern shortline. In the early 1990s, the F units were sold off to various places, gradually replaced by Geeps from various locations. The LNW shops are located at Gibsland, a few hundred yards from the one the busiest interchange diamonds in all of the state. For decades, three different railroads interchanged in the otherwise obscure north Louisiana town of Gibsland. The switching activity could get so hectic the daily routine was known among railfans as the "Gibsland shuffle." More recently, three railroad have gone back to two: Just before its merger into the KCS, the MidSouth had purchased the North Louisiana & Gulf, which had been the other shortline connecting in Gibsland.
Steam Motive Power
Louisiana & North West #22
Baldwin 4-6-0 (1911) / Homer, LA / 1941 / collection
Louisiana & North West #22
- builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
- arrangement:4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler"
- built:1911
- fuel:oil/water
- notes:
- _________
Louisiana & North West #37
Baldwin 2-8-2 (1916) / Gibsland, La / 1941 / collection
Louisiana & North West #37
- builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
- arrangement:2-8-2 light Mikado
- built:1916
- fuel:oil/water
- notes:
- blt as Arizona Lumber & Timber Co. #1
to St. Louis, Troy & Eastern #1
to Georgia Car and Locomotive Co. #630
to L&NW in 1930 for $15,000
Diesel Motive Power
Louisiana & North West #44
EMD F7A / Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #44
- builder:Electro Motive Division
- model:F7A
- type:B-B cab unit
- built:1952?
- series:2261 produced 1949-53
- engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500 hp)
- notes:
- note snow plow and headlights
Louisiana & North West #45
EMD F7A (1952) / Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #45
- builder:Electro Motive Division
- model:F7A
- type:B-B cab unit
- built:Jul 1952, EMD #16561
- series:2261 produced 1949-53
- engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500 hp)
- notes:
- _________
Gibsland, La / 1975 / JCH
Louisiana & North West #47
EMD F7A / Gibsland, La / 1983 / collection
Louisiana & North West #47
- builder:Electro Motive Division
- model:F7A
- type:B-B cab unit
- built:unknown
- series:2261 produced 1949-53
- engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500 hp)
- notes:
- note snow plow
Gibsland, La / 1975 / JCH
Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #50
Gibsland, LA / Jan 1986 / collection
Louisiana & North West #50
- builder:Electro Motive Division
- model:GP7 (rebuilt)
- type:B-B road switcher
- built:Jun 1953, EMD #18570
- series:2610 produced 1949-54
- engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500 hp)
- notes:
- ex Union Pacific #111
shopped chop nose
Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
567B prime mover / Gibsland, LA / Aug 1993 / RWH
Gibsland, LA / Aug 1993 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #51
Gibsland, La / Jan 1986 / collection
Louisiana & North West #51
- builder:Electro Motive Division
- model:GP9 (rebuilt)
- type:B-B road switcher
- built:Jan 1954, EMD #19116
- series:3436 produced 1954-59
- engine:EMD 567C (16 cyls. 1750 hp)
- notes:
- ex Union Pacific #286
shopped chop nose
Gibsland, La / Aug 1993 / RWH
Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #52
EMD GP7 (1950) / Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #52
- builder:Electro Motive Division
- model:GP7 (rebuilt)
- type:B-B road switcher
- built:Jun 1950, EMD #10140
- series:2610 produced 1949-54
- engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500 hp)
- notes:
- shopped chop nose
Louisiana & North West #53
EMD GP7 (1951) / Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #53
- builder:Electro Motive Division
- model:GP7 (ATSF rebuilt)
- type:B-B road switcher
- built:Jan 1951, EMD #13187
- series:2610 produced 1949-54
- engine:EMD 567B (16 cyls. 1500 hp)
- notes:
- ex Santa Fe; rebuilt by ATSF shops 1979
Gibsland, La / Aug 1993 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #4152
EMD GP7 (ex Kansas City Southern) / Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Rolling Stock
Louisiana & North West #215
caboose / Gibsland, La / 1975 / JCH
Louisiana & North West #215
caboose / Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Louisiana & North West #216
caboose / Gibsland, La / Jan 1986 / collection
Locations
LNW - KCS diamond crossing
looking north on LNW / Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Louisiana & North West shops
Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Gibsland, La / 1989 / JCH
Lagniappe
Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Gibsland, La / Aug 1993 / RWH
Gibsland, La / 1975 / JCH
Covered Wagon Retirement
Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
RWH
Gibsland, La / 1989 / RWH
Attending Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La., for a year afforded me many wonderful opportunities to spend the day in Gibsland, La. - the smallest town with the biggest railroad interchange. There was so much happening at the Gibsland diamond most days that the local rail fans called it the "Gibsland Shuffle" - and the L&NW was a big part of the action. While I missed seeing the famous F7's in operation, I was able to see them in storage before they began leaving the property. That a Western Pacific F7A built for the famous "California Zephyr" (including a snowplow) would find its way to a piney woods shortline in northwest Louisiana is exactly why I love shortline motive power. And I always thought the L&NW shop in Gibsland was a classic little shortline scene, worthy of modeling.
Links / Sources
- Wikipedia article on Louisiana & North West
- Edward A. Lewis, American Shortline Railway Guide - Fifth Edition (Kalmbach, 1996) 182