Shreveport Union Station

Shreveport Union Station
General information
Location	Shreveport, Louisiana
Coordinates	32.5088°N 93.7482°W / 32.5088; -93.7482
History
Opened	1897
Closed	November 3, 1969
Services
Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station Terminus Vicksburg Route Division Bossier City toward Meridian Preceding station Kansas City Southern Railway Following station Blanchard toward Kansas City Main Line Forbing toward Port Arthur Terminus Shreveport – Minden Silver Lake Junction toward Minden Preceding station Missouri Pacific Railroad Following station Reisor toward El Paso Texas and Pacific Railway Main Line Keithville toward New Orleans Preceding station St. Louis Southwestern Railway Following station Terminus Shreveport – Lewisville Brownlee toward Lewisville

Shreveport Union Station was a passenger station on Louisiana Avenue, at Lake Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. 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, it was served by trains of the Kansas City Southern Railway, Illinois Central, St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt), and Southern Pacific.

Passenger operations

Noteworthy passenger trains in 1958 included:

• Illinois Central:
  • Southwestern Limited (Shreveport - Meridian, Mississippi)
• Kansas City Southern:
  • Shreveporter (Shreveport - Hope, Arkansas)
  • Southern Belle (Kansas City - New Orleans)
  • 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. The Texas and Pacific's remnant of its Louisiana Eagle was the final train to serve Shreveport, at the T&P station in the city.

See also

• Shreveport Central Railroad Station

References

Bibliography

• Cox, Jim (2011). Rails Across Dixie. McFarland and Company, Inc. ISBN 9781476666013.