Thought many of the readers would find this picture taken on January 3, 2009 of the 117 year old Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railroad building that still remains in the old KCS yard ( IC / Midsouth / KCS ) yard in Vicksburg Mississippi interesting.

The building sits basicailly in the middle of the KCS yard area in Vicksburg and has the original date stone with the railroad initials and principal officers above the door.

Amazing how something of this age, totally neglected and abandoned, can survive so long.

I was unfamiliar with these initials and through the help of a friend and some on line research, found the following


"C.P. Huntington completed a transcontinental line from Chesapeake Bay to San Francisco Bay, with the last spike being driven on the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas near Bobo Station (near Hushpakana, MS). This last spike completed the line from Newport News to New Orleans, where Huntington's more famous line, the Southern Pacific, was waiting. The Mississippi River crossing was handled by a ferry between Harahan and Avondale. By 1888 the alliance was beginning to unravel, the C&O was on the verge of bankruptcy, and within a few years Huntington lost control of large segments of the route.
Louisville, New Orleans & Texas Ry (the Mississippi Valley Route) operated 455 miles, between Memphis & New Orleans, via Tunica, Lula, Clarksdale, Leland, Vicksburg and Baton Rouge. At Leland, a branch extended westward to Greenville and to Huntington, a point on the Mississippi River where cross river connection was established with Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas at Arkansas City, AR. Through Pullman car service operated, without change, between New Orleans, Arkansas City, Little Rock and St. Louis, and between New Orleans, Memphis, and Louisville [north of Memphis, thru car operated via CO&S-W.] "

Thought many of you would find this as interesting as I did.


Dean Levin