Louisiana Through My Lens - Trains Around The Pelican State - Spring 2024 Edition

 Living in Louisiana offers a railfan like myself so many great opportunities to photograph a great variety of different and unique trains in action due to the fact that every Class 1 Railroad in North America operates here. Over the past few months I have managed to grab and handful of train photos, most of them taken of CPKS trains in Leesville due to the fact that I have been doing a lot of work lately in the area. I honestly haven't been concentrating on taking pictures like I used to. I have been really trying to focus on taking images of cool abandoned locations and nature shots that showcase just how beautiful this state truly is. That being said, when an opportunity to get a good train shot presented itself, I took it.

I captured the image above of an approaching Union Pacific train just after sunrise south of Lecompte. I was originally taking pictures of the sunrise through the clouds when I heard the train coming from off in the distance.

I've taken pictures of the abandoned LTEX (Former Santa Fe) locomotive 2533 before, but a trip through Eunice provided me an opportunity to visit with this old friend.

Not a train picture, but I thought that the old Kansas City Southern depot in Cullen was a really cool subject for this photo.

Like I said before, I took a lot of photos of CPKC trains around Leesville. I caught this one roaring through town back in April.

At the beginning of April I caught this Union Pacific freight, being pulled by two Norfolk Southern units, entering the yard in Alexandria.

Now, here comes the barrage of CPKC action in Leesville. Most of these feature units still in Kansas City Southern paint. I'm trying to get as many of these as I can before CPKC repaints them in their new colors.

I took this image just last week.

I was surprised by this Timber Rock Railroad train back in May. I had just passed through DeRidder when I saw the lights for this one as I passed over the grade crossing. I quickly made a U-turn and got in position to get the shot.

 I have to say that the Louisiana & North West Railroad has the most beautiful paint scheme in this part of the country. I spotted these units while traveling through Gibsland.

I found this Union Pacific train waiting patiently for clearance to proceed into the next block just east of DeQuincy. This particular train had an interesting consist of UP, KCS and NS power.

  I couldn't pass up ending this piece with a picture that I took of the Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 steam locomotive, known as 'The Empress' during its stop in Shreveport. 

I hope that you have enjoyed these and I will be out scouting for more trains to photograph over the next few months.

Check Out:

My Date with 'The Empress' | CPKC Final Spike Tour in Shreveport Louisiana

From The Archives of Rails West - Roaming the Grounds of the Southern California Railway Museum

Louisiana Through My Lens - Louisiana Steam Train Association in Jefferson

Louisiana Through My Lens - DeQuincy Railroad Museum Revisited