Note the rail arrangement above.
I questioned this photograph's description. The writer was placing the Rayne depot on the north side of the
tracks. I've been through Rayne a million times, no exaggeration, and knew that the Rayne Depot Park was
on the south side of the old Southern Pacific RR tracks. Why would that be? A renowned Southern Pacific
expert agreed with the writer. After the wave of depression had passed over and flowed out, I gathered my
wits and continued researching because I knew this was a special circumstance and the question, "Where
was the Rayne depot?" had more than one answer and both were right.
The first order of business was to go to the Sanborn maps.
Yes, if you have a Louisiana library card, these are available to you, too.
With glee I produced the 1909 Sanborn map.
The depot was, indeed, on the south side of the tracks.
I blew it up to show the rooms. The majority of the space was devoted to the freight side.
Segregated waiting rooms and probably a ticket counter were located on the east end.
The next available map was "1926". What seemed like a small passenger depot had been built on the north
side of the tracks. What a personal epiphany. Everything I've read seems to refer to "one depot".
Didn't THEY know?
Enlarging that map shows that the telegraph office was now in the waiting rooms area.
The main line rode between the outer tracks, it seems. The illegible writing says, "Center of corporate limits
extending 3/5 mile each direction". So, I'd guess "Center of Town" would have been a more efficient explanation.
So, enters the Rayne Passenger Depot into my life.
The SP rail historian expert produced this excerpt from a mural.
I started my investigation, for some reason, asking Mr. Google, "When was the Rayne depot torn down", an
odd way to begin this battle for the truth (s). But, the question had arisen.
He spat out an interesting book title, and, later another. There are actually two books, full of images, on the
history of Rayne. Who knew?
One was here and what was on the cover, no more than a huge crowd gathered at a Rayne depot.
The text below does two things, it gives the exact date, between my 1909 and 1926 maps, when the
passenger station was built. It, as I would realize later, clarifies at which station public occasions would
take place.
Below, you can see the freight depot to the right, and to the left is the passenger depot across the tracks.
Another event at the freight depot:
This is the platform end of the freight depot. See maps above.
This is the passenger depot with the freight platform on the opposite side of the tracks.
This is a familiar corner I pass all the time. I've seen 3 name changes for restaurant attempts where the car is
parked. Evidently, nothing has stuck since the beginning. The freight depot can be seen to the left.
Here, I'll stray from the Southern Pacific DepotS. But, I'm not done with Rayne depots.
Rice Rice Rice, but not always. Cotton was once King around here.
Above: I just realized that this is the freight depot and not the a siding at the cotton mill.
1890's picture of the Mathilde cotton mill, mentioned farther down the page..
Later, rice would rule. I believe that transition coincided with the arrival of the boll weevil.
But, of course, Rayne being Rayne, there is was another customer of the freight depot.
Above: That does not look like the freight depot. I believe it is the passenger depot.
One last look down these tracks.
But, there's more. There was another railroad in town, first the OGNE and then the T&P.
For more, hold your nose and Click Here.
The origin of these photos can be found Here & Here.
A couple of rare photos and then I'll let you wade into the links above.
South of the SP main line was the OGNE / T&P loop west.
This was the Texas & Pacific depot just before it was demolished, early 1980's, by Everet Leuck.
This concludes this one.
