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Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas
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1898
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1992
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The 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 .
The Louisiana & Arkansas Railway 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
Arkansas and northwest
Louisiana . 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.
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.
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During the late 1920s, a group of investors led by
Harvey C. 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, 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, Louisiana 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
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.
[http://cehs.unl.edu/tcforum/spring/crm/truman.html
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 and the ''
Southern Belle '' was moving at the maximum speed limit of 55 mph 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 .
- ''The Louisiana & Arkansas Railway,'' Fair, James R., 1997. 0875802192
- ''Southern Timberman, The Legacy of William Buchanan,'' Mayor, Archer H., 1988. 0820309990
- ''Harvey Couch, An Entrepreneur Brings Electricity to Arkansas'', Wilson, Stephen, 1986. 0874830257
- ''Harvey Couch, The Master Builder,'' Wilson, Winston P., 1947.
