Ken Hulsey
Dec 28, 20197 min read
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FEATURED RAILROADS
Red River Railroad
A trading post developed at this site on Bayou Boeuf in the early nineteenth century was known as White's Landing. The landing was well used, but the bayou was an unreliable means of transportation for planters to get their crops to market due to fluctuating water levels and narrow twisting passageways. An area engineer, Ralph Smith Smith, had experience building railroads and understood the settlers' shipping problems. He decided a railroad was the solution and ca. 1840 built the first one west of the Mississippi River from Alexandria to White's Landing. It was known as the Red River or Ralph Smith Smith Railroad and was 16 miles long. Though rather crudely built and very slow, the train could make one round trip a day and operated for over twenty years. It served its purposed well by enabling the settlers living in the Bayou Boeuf Valley to get their crops to market more efficiently. White's Landing then became known as Smith's Landing. In 1854 the landing was renamed for the famous racehorse Lecomte. The railroad was destroyed in 1864 during the Civil War. In 1881 Smith sold his railroad to the New Orleans Pacific Railway Company. Smith RR track bed and relics were discovered in Lecompte during work on Jefferson Highway.
Red River & Gulf
Built by Crowell & Spencer during the second half of 1905, the railroad reached a junction with the Texas & Pacific at Lecompte in December of that year. By the time the railroad reached this point, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific was already building south from Alexandria and would pass through Lecompte. Satisfied with 3 additional interchange partners, the railroad was stopped at Lecompte and never constructed further east. In February 1906, Crowell & Spencer transferred the completed railroad to the Red River & Gulf RR. At the same time, the Rock Island reached Lecompte and connected with the RR&G. The Rock immediately reached an agreement to run its trains over the RR&G to the gravel pits at Forest Hill in order to obtain ballast for additional construction in Louisiana. By the end of 1907, the payments by the Rock Island for the ballast trains paid for almost half the cost of building the RR&G.
Rock Island Railroad
The Rock Island actually passed though the west side of Lecompte, crossing the Red River and Gulf south of the bayou, then crossing the bayou (part of the trestle is still there) and connected with the T&P tracks at Lamourie. Before highway 167 was four laned, it actually crossed the T&P at Lamourie, and ran between the highway and the T&P tracks into Alexandria. The old crossing diamond from the RR&G crossing and the Rock, is in the junk pile at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum in Longleaf, west of Lecompte. - Everett Lueck
This line ran behind my grandparents' home in Lecompte. They lived on the west side of Railroad Avenue near the old Lecompte High School. I remember seeing and hearing the train come thru back in the early to mid 60's and walking across the trestle next to La Hwy 112 going squirrel hunting in the late 60's & early 70's. - Robert Johnson
About
ABOUT US
A lot of places like to brag about being under six flags, but the central Louisiana town of Lecompte has been served by seven railroad flags:
The Red River (Pre Civil War)(First Railroad West of the Mississippi River)
The Red River & Gulf
The Texas & Pacific
Rock Island
Missouri Pacific
Southern Pacific
Union Pacific
Since the town has such a long railroad history it would seem like the logical location for a new proposed railroad museum. It is the mission of this website to explore the feasibility of such a project and raise awareness for it.
The Town of Lecompte
Lecompte (/ləˈkaʊnt/) is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The town of Lecompte, Louisiana, was named after a famous race horse owned by the Wells family who lived on a plantation south of the town. The horse's name was LeComte. He won races at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. During the days of the Lecompte High School, the yearbook was named The LeComte with a picture of the horse on the first page. When the railroad company painted a sign for the town on the side of the train depot, a "p" was accidentally added to the name and it has remained there ever since. The horse was named after horse breeder Ambrose LeCompte who lived in the area and was a great lover of fine stock and owner of a fine string of race horses.
Contact
CONTACT
We are currently looking for more information about the railroads that served Lecompte. If you have any photographs, maps, history or personal stories we would love to hear from you.
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