Chasing Shadows of the Past: A Railroad Adventure with Kansas City Southern's Vintage F-Series Locomotives

Photos and Story by Ken Hulsey

In April 2022, I received a tip from a fellow railfan on Facebook that the Kansas City Southern Executive Train would be in Baton Rouge. To my excitement, I spotted a set of vintage FP9/F9B diesel locomotives resting on a bridge over the 110 freeway while driving toward downtown.

My enthusiasm for the F-series locomotives compelled me to navigate some of Louisiana's poorly designed streets (and that’s saying something) to get close to the railyard. I made my way through what felt like a jungle that belonged somewhere in Borneo, only to climb a steep hill to reach the railyard.

For clarity, I did not go past the "No Trespassing" sign to take these photos. Remarkably, I managed to do this without being bitten by a snake or encountering any other dangers.

My adventure paid off, and I was rewarded with a photo opportunity featuring the beautifully painted locomotives and the perfectly restored passenger train behind them. Railroad history buffs would quickly note that, despite the Kansas City Southern once owning a large fleet of F-series diesel-electric locomotives, the three units I saw here—FP9 #KS1, F9B #KS3, and FP9 #KS2—actually came from the Canadian National Railroad through Canada’s VIA Rail.

Louisiana and Arkansas Railway: The Story of a Regional Line (Railroads in America) - Hardcover – by James R. Fair (Author)

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The Louisiana & Arkansas Railway, known as "The Better Way," ran its first trains at the turn of the century and expanded over the years to connect New Orleans to Dallas. Well-maintained and enduringly profitable, this regional railroad succeeded because of the tenacity of three men who consecutively oversaw all aspects of operations.

The story of the L&A is largely a collective biography of William Edenborn, William Buchanan, and Harvey Couch—the men who built and extended the line by shrewd acquisitions. These successful businessmen combined wisdom, foresight, and propensity for hard work—traits they had first demonstrated in other careers—with their longtime love for trains. Each applied remarkable talents for industry and commerce toward the development of the L&A to mold it into a model regional railroad.

In this first history of the L&A, Fair traces the line's development from the early boom days of railroading to its dissolution in the modern era of takeovers. Although for much of its existence the L&A operated under the control of a parent company, the KCS, it long maintained independence. The eventual takeover by the superline in 1992 finally dissolved the L&A entirely.