More Railroad Advertisements from 1925.
Railroad Advertisements
Two more ads from November 3, 1925. That makes five railroad advertisements in the first section of the Times-Picayune newspaper for that day. Railroads, like streetcars, hit a peak of activity in the 1920s. WWI ended. The economy boomed. Americans embraced public transportation. Businessmen traveled by train, then took families on excursions. While many excursion trains operated seasonally, some destinations appealed to the traveler year-round.
Gulf Coast Lines
The Gulf Coast Lines operated as a system. GCL consisted of three railroads:
- St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway – The railroad opened in 1904. They operated from Robson, Texas (near Corpus Christi) to Brownsville. In 1907, the railroad extended to Houston, then further west to the Rio Grand Valley
- Beaumont, Sour Lake, and Western – B. F. Yoakum, owner of St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico, purchased this railroad. He joined the two in 1905. This extended the system eastward.
- New Orleans, Texas, and Mexico Railway – Yoakum acquired this company in 1909, extending his trackage to New Orleans.
The Gulf Coast Lines system fell into bankruptcy in 1913. The entities were rolled up into the New Orleans, Texas, and Mexico by the receivers. Missouri Pacific acquired GCL in 1925. So, this ad dates from the MoPac ownership.
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Louisville and Nashville
The New Orleans & Florida Limited, “Carries Through, Drawing Room, Compartment, Section Sleepers from New Orleans to Jacksonville. This overnight train operated as a “Limited” route. That meant fewer stops, not every small town along the way. L&N trains arrived and departed from their passenger terminal by Canal Street and the River, where the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas stands now. Their trains ran down the river to Elysian Fields, then turned north, then East at Florida Avenue. So, L&N trains crossed the Industrial Canal, then followed (more or less) Highway 90, crossing Lake Pontchartrain at the Rigolets Pass.
Amtrak attempted to extend the Sunset Limited eastward from New Orleans, following the L&N route to Jacksonville. Additionally, the railroad plans to resume this portion of the route in 2022.
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