Southern Pacific train No. 5, the westbound ARGONAUT, was making it early afternoon station stop at Lake Charles, Louisiana. No. 5 was powered by PA1 207 and another Alco; and if the train was on tine, the time would have been around 2:30. (approximate date of photo)

This Missouri Pacific Bicentennial unit was built as the 481 in December 1962 and was renumbered 1976 in the general system renumbering of 1973. It was repainted into bicentennial colors in 1976 and was retired in 1984. Somewhere along the line, it received paper air filters, a feature that was not very common on older MP geeps.

This modest engine terminal served the Missouri Pacific at Lake Charles, Louisiana. The locomotives are GP7 159, GP38-2 2083, and GP9 1823. Behind the 2083 are GP7 1647 and bicentennial GP18 1976.

This was the Southern Pacific yard office on Shattuck Street in Lake Charles. Upgraded NW2 1324 sits right outside, while another NW2 and a GP9 are at the little engine terminal on the north side of the yard.

U33C 8614, SD45T-2 9376 and SD45 8808 accelerate an eastbound extra past Mallard Junction, on its way out of Lake Charles yard. The switch was the beginning of the Lake Arthur Branch, and is still the connection with the Lake Charles Harbor & Terminal District's railroad. Notice the block of Pacific Fruit Express reefers right behind the locomotives.

Kansas City Southern SW1500's 4360 and 4353 rest in the old Lake Charles Yard, in the shadow of I-10.

EMD SW9 2306 working the yard at St. Charles LA

A pair of KCS geeps sit at Lake Charles in Feb 1983. It's the era of white paint and tiny cab numbers for the KCS.

A Cotton Belt GP 20 seen from Amtraks Sunset. There were quite a few of these units still in service on western roads in the mid 80s.

Missouri Pacific GP15-1 1657 was at the railroad's little yard in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Missouri Pacific GP15-1 1657 and Union Pacific (former MP) GP38-2 2229 were parked around the former MP yard office and freight house on Gestner Memorial Drive in Lake Charles.

The Southern Pacific only owned a dozen MP15DC units, and here was one of them. The 2691 was parked at the yard in Lake Charles, Louisiana as a westbound train prepared to leave on the right.

UP (former MP) office and freight house on Gerstner Memorial Drive (Louisiana Highway 14). The freight house has had truck doors on three sides, but no rail access. Although the emblems have been changed on the building, GP38-2 2201 is still painted in its proper color!

Here are the yard office and engine terminal at Lake Charles yard. SW1500 2472 and MP15AC 2709 are coupled cab-to-cab, while SW1500 2669 is by itself. The track curving off to the right was once the beginning of the branch to Deridder.

In this view facing south, the SP main line from New Orleans to Houston runs from left to right. The track comming in from the top is a UP (ex-MP) branch by which the UP interchanged with the SP and also served customers north of the SUNSET ROUTE. The UP-SP interchange is on the right.

In this view looking west shows the I-10 and SP crossings at the north end of Lake Charles. The Calcasieu River flows into the lake right under the highway bridge. The former KCS right-of-way into Lake Charles is visible through the trees on the right. In the background are some of the petrochemical plants in Westlake. These produce large amounts of traffic for both the SP and KCS.

The Southern Pacific's SUNSET ROUTE bridge across the Calcasieu River, at the north end of Lake Charles (the lake) and on the west side of Lake Charles (the city). The high-level bridge is Interstate 10/U.S. Highway 90. The KCS had a bridge right off to the right, and the SP had a second bridge across the Calcasieu River a little further upstream, for its branch to Deridder.

Looking west along the Southern Pacific's SUNSET ROUTE at the west end of Lake Charles Yard. The engine terminal is on the right and the yard office is on the left at the Shattuck Street grade crossing. Lake Charles (the lake) is on the upper left and the Calcasieu River is on the upper right.

SD45T-2 9288 and GP60 9784 lead eastbound train LBCXT (Long Beach-CSX-Intermodal) over the fill and trestle at the north end of Lake Charles (the lake) and into Lake Charles (the city).

An eastbound SP train crossing over an old trestle just east of the SP yard. The bridge has since been replaced with an open deck cement bridge.

This was the first revenue run of the BNSF as they shifted power towards Lafayette. With six engines and two cars the first BNSF train heads east from the SP yard to the west and is passing under the I-210 bypass.

This eastbound Santa Fe, actually a BNSF train is passing the SP depot which is now gone.

I always enjoyed my time working in Lake Charles. I was always shooting trains here at the boat launch next to I-10.

SP yard job 7811 is headed from West Lake and is headed for the SP yard in Lake Charles, LA. Now BNSF trackage, the wooden trestle is now replaced with a non-photgenic cement bridge. It was also high tide.

The Cane Train arriving in Lake Charles from New Iberia where the empty, topless containers were loaded with locally grown sugar cane and then transported to the sugar mills in the New Iberia area. The trains consisted of engines on both ends to avoid turning engines.

This is the trailing unit of a push/pull "Cane Train" in Lake Charles.

A view of the SP yard office and tracks looking west back in 1999. While I was taking this shot a westbound passed with some colorful Mexican engines in the consists.

The westbound train has units headed to the Cerrejon Coal Mine in Colombia, and were going to be exported from Houston.

Cab detail

Golden State Limited

Howard Fogg

Sherman Hill

Idaho

Union Pacific 1375 was wearing a nasty patched paint scheme at Lake Charles, Louisiana on 21 August 2005. It had been built in November 1974 as Southern Pacific 3199, and was one of only three GP40P-2 units (SP 3197-3199) ever produced. This unit had its steam generator removed, received a larger fuel tank and was renumbered second 7602 in June 1985. (First 7602 was a Cotton Belt GP40 that had been upgraded into GP40-2 7961 in February 1982.) SP 7602 was assigned UP number 5274 in September 1997, but not but not renumbered before the railroad’s renumbering plan changed. It was assigned 1374 in December 1999, but was renumbered 1375 in August 2001 because the number 1374 was still occupied by an MP15DC which had not yet been renumbered Y1374. UP 1375 was repainted yellow on 7 October 2007 and upgraded into a GP40N in March 2019.

An SD70ACe is on the point of UP’s MAVBT-09 (Manifest Avoneale, La-Beaumont, TX) as it waits to depart UP's Lake Charles Yard.

West of the Lake. See also: http://railfan44.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=988917

West of the Lake. See also: http://railfan44.rrpictureauchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=988909

To take the picture I had to hold my camera above my head above the chain-link fence and shoot through that prison wire.

Shoving Platform on Local Industry Switch job in Sulphur. There is a coke transloading facility at the end of this track.