Hidden in the brush in a field just south of the town of Lecompte, LA sits the former depot of the Red River & Gulf Railroad. The depot, built in 1906, served the railroad until it was abandoned in 1954.
If you look past the depot to the left, you can see a break in the treeline where the Red River & Gulf tracks used to be. The line continued past the depot to the southeast where it crossed Bayou Boeuf and connected to the Texas & Pacific Railroad (Became the Missouri Pacific and is now the Union Pacific). 
The Red River & Gulf Railroad depot in Lecompte served as junction point with the Rock Island Railroad. Lumber was offloaded from the RR&G and loaded onto Rock Island trains. The lumber supplied by the RR&G would eventually find it's way to New Orleans (via the Rock and Southern Pacific) where it was used to build boats used in the Second World War.
The depot is in bad disrepair and will likely not be standing for very much longer.
NOTE: The former Red River & Gulf depot is located on PRIVATE PROPERTY. I was granted special permission from the owner of the property to photograph it. For this reason I'm not going to disclose the exact location. DO NOT TRESPASS!
Update:
I just received some photos of this depot when it was in use by the Red River & Gulf!
Check out more photos at the bottom of this post!
Check Out:
Great history! Thanks.
ReplyDelete