Cotton Belt Railway in Louisiana — Shreveport Division, East Louisiana Yard & Bossier City

The St. Louis Southwestern Railway (“Cotton Belt” or “SSW” — founded 1877; acquired by Southern Pacific 1932 and operated as an SP subsidiary through the asbestos era; merged into Union Pacific 1996) operated Shreveport as a Louisiana division headquarters and used it as the pivot point between its Arkansas and Texas main lines. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, Cotton Belt’s documented Louisiana shops, division points, roundhouses, and yards during the U.S. asbestos era allegedly included:

  • Shreveport LA — Cotton Belt Louisiana division headquarters; freight yard, engine terminal, roundhouse, car-repair facilities, and interchange with Kansas City Southern, Illinois Central, Texas & Pacific, and Louisiana & Arkansas. A principal division point and crew-change hub for the entire southern half of the SSW system.
  • East Louisiana (Marshall-East / East Shreveport-area) yard — Cotton Belt freight yard and interchange facilities on the Texas-Louisiana border corridor near Marshall TX, handling the Shreveport-Tyler leg of the main line.
  • Bossier City LA — Cotton Belt yard and interchange facilities across the Red River from Shreveport.

Plaintiffs allegedly experienced railroad-worker asbestos exposure at these Louisiana premises during the steam and diesel eras through asbestos-containing brake-shoe dust at the Shreveport rip tracks and car shops, allegedly asbestos-lagged steam-locomotive boilers and diesel engine-room piping serviced at the Shreveport engine terminal, allegedly asbestos pipe covering on shop and roundhouse steam mains, allegedly asbestos block insulation on shop boilers, allegedly spray-applied asbestos fireproofing on shop structural steel, allegedly asbestos ceiling and partition board in shop, roundhouse, and division-office buildings, and allegedly asbestos brake dust on freight cars received from every southern-tier interchange partner.

Workers Exposed at Cotton Belt Louisiana Operations

  • Railroad car repairmen at Shreveport, East Louisiana yard, and Bossier City
  • Locomotive engineers, firemen, and hostlers on Cotton Belt trains
  • Railroad shop machinists, boilermakers, pipefitters, sheet-metal workers, and electricians
  • Roundhouse and locomotive-servicing workers at the Shreveport engine terminal
  • Cotton Belt yard switchmen, conductors, and brakemen on the Shreveport division
  • Division-office and building maintenance workers exposed to alleged building asbestos

FELA — Railroad Workers Have a Different Statute

Railroad workers exposed to asbestos on the job are covered by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), not state workers’ compensation. FELA claims have their own limitation periods (three-year discovery rule), causation standards (any part of the injury caused in whole or in part by railroad negligence), and procedural rules. FELA liability follows the railroad through successor entities — for Cotton Belt, that means Southern Pacific and Union Pacific as successor employers.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 237-3332

Mesothelioma Resources for Louisiana Workers

Railroad asbestos exposure like this is a leading cause of mesothelioma, often diagnosed decades later. If you or a family member worked here: