We were running ahead of the steam train to take photos as she followed the "Meridian Speedway" from Shreveport to Jackson. The scanner radio told me that she was going into the siding to meet several westbound trains at Calhoun. I crossed the tracks and saw a school. I was walking toward the school to let the people there know that a steam train was coming, but a KCS employee had already stopped. Teachers and children were coming out to see the once in a lifetime experience. Most had never seen such a spectacle, right here in Calhoun !! And might not ever again.

Many thanks are due to the Kansas City Southern Railroad for their help and support making this journey possible. Thanks are also due to the Canadian National Railroad for their part. On a personal note, I wondered why Union Pacific (the owner of Southern Pacific) did not let T&NO 745
traverse Louisiana on it's tracks toward Shreveport. I was told by railfans - not railroad personnel - that UP does not allow any steam on their tracks other than UP company maintained steam.

The Louisiana Steam Train Association is dedicated to educate the public about railroading and steam railroading in particular. The pride of the organization is it’s SP (T&NO) 745. The only surviving steam engine built in Louisiana. It was built by Southern Pacific in Algiers and served mostly in Texas, It was decommissioned in the 1950’s when diesel engines replaced steam. The engine was donated to Audubon Park and sat on static display there until 1997 when a group of enthusiastic steam volunteers descided to restore her.

In December 2004, she made her first mainline run between New Orleans and Reserve Louisiana. In 2005, she made a historic trip with displays in the theatre cars showcasing the Bicentennial of Louisiana. From New Orleans to Lake Charles, Shreveport, Jackson Mississippi, Baton Rouge, and back to New Orleans.

An historic trip indeed, with many people seeing a steam train in operation for the first time in their lives.

Hurricane Katrina came along that summer, and scattered many of the volunteers who lovingly restored her. But she was taken to Kansas City for the Grand Re-opening of Union Station there, and there are plans to have the grand engine tour the state again in 2012 to commerate the bicentennial of Louisiana’s statehood.

For more information about LASTA see their website
http://lasta.org/