Louisiana Arts & Science Center

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german_h oused in a historic railroad depot on the banks of the Mississippi River, the Louisiana Art & Science Museum offers educational entertainment for visitors of all ages. The art galleries showcase changing fine art exhibitions and selections from the permanent collection. In the interactive art and science galleries designed just for children, creative and enlightening fun comes in many forms. The Ancient Egypt Gallery houses ancient artifacts and a Ptolemaic-era mummy that rests in a re-created rock-cut tomb. The Irene W. Pennington Planetarium features sky shows, large-format films, visual music shows, and galleries devoted to space science. In the Museum Store at the Art & Science Museum, visitors enjoy shopping for unique handcrafted merchandise, books, toys, and a large selection of objects related to the museum's exhibits.

Louisiana Arts & Science Museum

lasc_state egyptian_l ocated along the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Arts & Science Center was developed in the early 1970s on the site of the former Yazoo & Mississippi Valley (later Illinois Central) riverside depot. Once a busy downtown station hosting as many as 20 trains a day from three different railroads, passenger service ended at the station by 1967. The building was subsequently acquired by the City of Baton Rouge and leased to the new Museum. In the mid 1970s, a display train was developed consisting of an Illinois Central steam switcher and several passenger cars. By 2000, the train had fallen into disrepair; the museum — now known as the Louisiana Art & Science Museum — decided to get rid of the railroad display. The diner went to the Monticello Railroad Museum, the leased passenger cars went to Hammond, Louisiana, and the steam was eventually moved to Tioga, Louisiana.

Click to see the Louisiana Art & Science Museum plotted on a Google Maps page

Baton Rouge, La / Oct 1977 / Michael Palmieri

Baton Rouge, La / Oct 1977 / Michael Palmieri

Illinois Central #333

Tioga, La / Sep 2019 / rgusrail.com

Illinois Central #333

builder:Alco - Cooke

arrangement:0-6-0 Six-coupled

built:1918, Alco #58999

fuel:soft coal / water

notes:

blt Illinois Central #333
to Charles Black Sand & Gravel Co.
to Arts & Science Center, Baton Rouge, La
to Tioga Heritage Park, Tioga, La

Baton Rouge, La / c 1975 / Louis Saillard

Baton Rouge, La / Oct 1977 / Michael Palmieri

Baton Rouge, La / Mar 2003 / JCH

See also our Illinois Central featured steam scrapbook in Mainlines

The Illinois Central depot at Baton Rouge was completed in 1926, and in 1928 it was being used by 22 trains a day: 14 Yazoo & Mississippi Valley (Illinois Central), six Gulf Coast Lines (Missouri Pacific) and two Texas & New Orleans (Southern Pacific) trains. Passenger service on the Espee ended around 1931 and on the IC in 1950, but MP trains ran until 1967. The building was subsequently acquired by the City of Baton Rouge and leased to the Louisiana Arts and Science Center (now the Louisiana Art and Science Museum).

In 1975-76 LASC set up a display train next to the station consisting of IC 0-6-0 333, IC RPO car 95, Southern Railway coach 1064, IC dining car 4112 and IC office car 4. The locomotive and diner were owned by the museum; while the RPO, coach and office car were leased from the Southeast Louisiana Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Over time, the train fell into disrepair; and in 2000 the museum decided to get rid of it. In late 2006 the three NRHS cars were moved to Hammond, Louisiana and diner went to the Monticello Railroad Museum in Illinois. The 0-6-0 was moved to Tioga, Louisiana.

Michael Palmieri