Louisiana Through My Lens - DeQuincy Railroad Museum

 After seeing the way that vintage steam locomotives are treated here in Louisiana it was heartwarming to find out that someone actually decided to preserve one and not let it rust away into nothing. After traveling around the state photographing and reporting on the decaying remnants of former Illinois Central locomotive 333 and the abandoned logging locomotive graveyard in Longleaf I discovered ex Southern Pacific 0-6-0  number 124 in the collection of the DeQuincy Railroad Museum. To my surprise the locomotive is in pristine condition and under the protection of a shed that also houses a 1947 Santa Fe passenger car, and two Cotton Belt and Missouri Pacific cabooses. Every piece of equipment in this collection looks like they just came off a train yesterday.

Inside the old DeQuincy depot that once received passengers on the Kansas City Southern are artifacts from that railroad as well as the Missouri Pacific and Union Pacific. There is also a fine display of model trains as well. 


Steam Locomotive No. 124 built in 1913 for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Purchased by the City of DeQuincy in 1975 for display at the museum.


Passenger Car No. 4472 built for the Santa Fe Railroad by the Pullman-Standard Company in 1947. It is a 44-seat coach car, 85 feet in length with two restrooms and two lounges and is currently undergoing an interior renovation.


Caboose No. SSW2 originally built by the International Car Company for the St. Louis-Southwestern Railroad (the Cotton Belt) which was a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is known as an extended vision caboose due to the enlarged and overhanging cupola which gave the conductor a better view of the train ahead of him.


Caboose No. 13487 is located behind the steam locomotive and is a Missouri Pacific caboose built in 1950 donated to the museum in 1984 by the Union Pacific and Western Pacific Railroads.


The museum is housed in the 1923 Kansas City Southern Railroad Depot which has been exquisitely restored to its former grandeur. The depot is one of the most outstanding examples of the Mission Revival style of architecture in the South. The facility includes meeting rooms for public functions and may be rented for private events as well.


I should mention that the museum sits right in the center of of a wye that is still a functioning mainline of Kansas City Southern. It is great place for railfans to sit and watch trains traverse the trackage on all sides of the classic depot.

There is also an adjacent park and playground for the whole family to enjoy.





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