Louisiana Eastern Railroad
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Reporting mark | LE |
| Locale | Midwestern to Gulf Coast, United States |
| Dates of operation | 1947–1963 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 31 miles (50 km) |
The Louisiana Eastern Railroad (reporting mark LE) was a proposed railroad that was to serve as an alternate line bypassing the congested rail lines in New Orleans, Louisiana. The railroad was envisioned by Paulsen Spence in the late 1940s and early 1950s. While most US railroads had begun replacing their steam locomotives with diesel locomotives, the LE was to operate exclusively with steam locomotives collected by Spence over time. Spence died in 1961, and the railroad never fully materialized.