Shreveport Union Station was a passenger station on Louisiana Avenue, at Lake Street,
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...
. Built in 1897 by the Kansas City, Shreveport & Gulf Terminal Company, it was the oldest of Shreveport's four passenger railroad stations. With a tall tower, the station became a landmark in downtown Shreveport. It had its highest levels of service in the 1920s, typically hosting 35 passenger trains a day.
As a
union station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
, it was served by trains of the
Kansas City Southern Railway
The Kansas City Southern Railway Company is an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operates in 10 midwestern and southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and ...
,
Illinois Central
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...
,
St. Louis Southwestern Railway
The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", is a former Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Ten ...
(Cotton Belt), and
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
.
Passenger operations
Noteworthy passenger trains in 1958 included:
*Illinois Central:
**''
Southwestern Limited'' (Shreveport -
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...
)
*Kansas City Southern:
**''Shreveporter'' (Shreveport -
Hope, Arkansas
Hope is a city in Hempstead County in southwestern Arkansas, United States. Hope is the county seat of Hempstead County and the principal city of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Hempstead and Nevada counties. As of ...
)
**''
Southern Belle
Southern belle () is a colloquialism for a debutante in the planter class of the Antebellum South.
Characteristics
The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wide-b ...
'' (
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
-
)
**unnamed train Kansas City to
Port Arthur via Leesville and Beaumont
Noteworthy passenger trains in 1951 consisted of:
*St. Louis Southwestern Railway:
**unnamed Shreveport to Lewisville train (connecting with St.L.Sw. mainline and ''
Lone Star'' in Lewisville)
*Southern Pacific:
**unnamed Shreveport to Galveston via Houston trains
Decline and demise
By 1965, service reduced to the Illinois Central's ''Southwestern Limited'' and the Kansas City Southern's Kansas City, NewOrleans and Port Arthur trains.
The ''Southern Belle,'' the last train to serve Union Station, had its final run on November 2, 1969. The station closed the next day. The station burned two days after the station's closing. The fire department indicated that the fire began in the basement. The remaining parts of the building were soon demolished.
[Newsletter of the Red River Valley Railroad Historical Society, June 2009, 'Shreveport Union Station Burned 2 Days After Last Passenger Train' http://www.rrvrhs.org/linked/rrnewsletterjune2009.pdf] The
Texas and Pacific's remnant of its ''
Louisiana Eagle
The Louisiana Eagle was a long distance night train operated by the Texas and Pacific Railway that from New Orleans to Fort Worth, Texas. The route was distinct in contrast to other routes running west from New Orleans to major Texas cities. It ra ...
'' was the final train to serve Shreveport, at the T&P station in the city.
See also
*
Shreveport Central Railroad Station
Shreveport Central Station is a historic train station in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was built in 1910 by the Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad, a railroad that was eventually acquired by the Kansas City Southern Railway. (However, the KCS used Unio ...
References
Buildings and structures in Shreveport, Louisiana
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1897
Railway stations closed in 1969
Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
Former Kansas City Southern Railway stations
Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
Former Southern Pacific Railroad stations
Union stations in the United States
{{Louisiana-railstation-stub