Looking at the map of the Frisco in the 1920s-1950s, there's something of a "hole," that being New Orleans, and Louisiana as a whole. The Frisco controlled the Gulf Coast Lines for a time, but did they have plans to provide a more direct connection, probably from the east?
On June 20, 1911, the Frisco inaugurated two new trains between New Orleans and Houston over its “Gulf Coast Lines”. The Frisco placed The Gulf Coast Special in overnight service between the two cities. The trains’ consist included two, 12-1 Pullmans, an observation-diner, a first-class coach, a combination chair baggage, and baggage car; an oil-burning locomotive handled trains 1 and 2. The train was electrically lit, cooled by electric fans, and the windows had screens to keep the Gulf Coast insects at bay. The train also handled a through San Antonio-New Orleans Pullman, which was interchanged with the Katy at Houston. Number 1 left New Orleans at 9:15 PM and arrived at Houston at 9:45 AM The eastbound “Special” left Houston at 7:15 PM, and it arrived in New Orleans at 7:45 the next morning. The new Frisco’s “day-light” train departed New Orleans at 7:00 AM, and it arrived in Houston’s new station at 9:00 PM. The eastbound train left Houston at 8:00 AM and it arrived in New Orleans at 9:55 PM. The day train carried a Fred Harvey Grill (buffet-lounge). The train was short-lived, and the bankruptcy of 1912 ultimately removed the GCL and the C&EI from the Frisco. The Frisco returned to the Gulf Coast when it completed its Pensacola line, but it would pale in comparison with what the CGL became with the development of the gulf coast petro-chemical industry which came into being after the MP acquired the GCL. To this date, a Frisco Street is extant in Houston; it is a small nod to the Frisco’s past in this city.
From a book I'm completing on the Rock Island lines south of Little Rock (old Louisiana Division)..... The Eunice Branch (Alexandria-Eunice) was the last major part of the lines south of Little Rock to be built by the Rock Island. The line from Alexandria to Eunice was built by the Rock Island, Arkansas & Louisiana, and constructed by the Dalhoff Construction Company, who was the primary contractor for much of the line. Construction on the Eunice Branch began in August 1906, and the line was completed and opened for operation in 1908. The initial date when the Rock Island, Arkansas & Louisiana was expected to be finished laying track into Eunice was October 1, 1907. The date then changed to December 1, 1907, and then Christmas Day in 1907. Reports indicate that it finally opened on February 1, 1908. According to several newspaper articles, passenger service between Winnfield and Eunice was expected to begin on August 1, 1908. There were also reports that at Eunice, the Rock Island would use the tracks of the Colorado Southern, New Orleans & Pacific (CSNO&P) into New Orleans. This did happen by November 1909, as the Rock Island Lines timetable showed that trains No. 681-4 and No. 3-682 provided a daily first class coach between Alexandria and New Orleans, using the Frisco Lines past Eunice. It also showed a connecting service from Eunice to Houston, Texas. The route to New Orleans was always part of the plan for the Eunice Branch, a plan that evaporated when the two railroads (Frisco and Rock Island) were separated. The CSNO&P was chartered in Louisiana in May 1905, and became the New Orleans, Texas & Mexico (NOT&M) in April 1910. The railroad had track from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Brownsville, Texas. It used trackage rights over the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The railroad was the NOT&M Division of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway until the NOT&M went into receivership in July 1913, and the Frisco lost its control of the railroad. Why is this important? At the time, the St. Louis & San Francisco and the Rock Island, as well as the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, were all controlled by the Reid-Moore Syndicate. The Syndicate planned to consolidate the three railroads, or at least their facilities. Therefore, the line from Little Rock south to Alexandria and on to Eunice would be extended to New Orleans using the Frisco, basically a joint project of the Rock Island-Frisco Lines. However, these grand plans were expensive, especially as the Reid-Moore Syndicate was also pulling enormous sums of money out of the railroad companies. On May 27, 1913, the Frisco went into the hands of receivers and the Rock Island-Frisco Lines was dissolved. With this went the plans for the Little Rock to New Orleans service by the Rock Island Railroad.
