Known in the Pelican State as the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway's "The Hustler," train No. 4-203, northbound, arriving in Shreveport, Louisiana from New Orleans on an April morning in 1939. A Ten-Wheeler type 4-6-0 locomotive, which heads this passenger train, carries the train's name etched on a metal plate attached to the boiler front, positioned below the headlight. Click to enlarge.
(["The Hustler" arriving in Shreveport, Louisana], photograph, April 1939; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth28912/m1/1/: accessed June 6, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Museum of the American Railroad.)
HUSTLER (L&A)
Not to be confused with the Texas & New Orleans (SP) Hustler passenger train.
The Hustler was an overnight passenger train of the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway (L&A) between Shreveport and New Orleans, Louisiana. Service began on July 2, 1932. It was the L&A's second named train, the first being the Shreveporter, which ran between Shreveport, Louisiana and Hope, Arkansas.
The overnight train operated between New Orleans and Shreveport and was popular over a long span of years, making the approximate 329.4 mile run in about 10 hours. A portion of the route was over Louisiana and Arkansas rails and also over Louisiana Railway and Navigation company's rails. This subsidiary of the Kansas city Southern Lines was known as the "Edenborn Line".
The L&A's main line extended 332 miles, from Hope, Arkansas to Shreveport and New Orleans. Click to enlarge.
(Poor's Manual of the Railroads of the United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Kansas City Southern
In 1939 the L&A was acquired by the Kansas City Southern Railway Company, and certain operations were consolidated. Although the L&A continued to operate as a separate railroad, financial results were reported on a system wide basis beginning in 1969. On July 1, 1992, the L&A was merged into the Kansas City Southern.
L&A 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler No. 392, former power for the Hustler, shown here with a freight ca. 1940s. The metal name plate is still intact.
(Photographer unknown, W. Lenheim Collection)