Followers of railroading in the Deep South — especially in Louisiana and Mississippi — are mourning the loss of rail historian Louis Saillard, a Louisiana native who died unexpectedly Nov. 13 at age 75.
A prolific writer and photographer, Saillard wrote several articles for Trains and Railfan magazines and had numerous picture credits in a variety of railroad publications. He was also a noted preservationist, having saved rare motorcar M4 of the long-lost Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf Railroad and donated it to the Southern Forest Heritage Museum in Longleaf, La., which runs the car on its Red River & Gulf Railroad.
Born May 14, 1949, in New Orleans, Saillard grew up in Hammond, La., and graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a master’s degree in science education. He ended up getting a job with Exxon Chemical in Baton Rouge and stayed with the company until retiring from successor Exxon Mobile after 30 years.
Saillard’s bylines in Trains reflected his abiding love of the region he called home. In the June 1979 issue, he covered the West Feliciana Railroad, known as the oldest railroad in Mississippi, later part of Illinois Central. In April 1989, he participated in the magazine’s noted “Regionals in Review” series with “Rebirth of the Vicksburg Route,” a profile of the new railroad MidSouth. In the September and October 1991 issues he followed up with a two-part history of the Louisiana Midland, called “The Rise and Fall of the Natchez Route.”
In the latter article, Saillard proved to be a writer with the human touch that comes with knowing the territory. “The employees of the Louisiana Midland were the rare breed typical of down-home short lines, willing to sand a locomotive by carrying heavy bags of sand up the engine’s ladders and pouring sand in by hand,” Saillard wrote. “When the locomotive’s sanders didn’t work, they were willing to ride the engine steps and pour sand on the rails by hand — an almost forgotten art. That the Louisiana Midland did not prosper was not the fault of its people.”
Saillard also found the time to write an important book on southern railroads, “Delta Route: A History of the Columbus & Greenville Railway,” published under The Railway nameplate in 1981. He was a familiar face at various times on the Reader Railroad, the Louisiana Midland, and with the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Historical Society, among others.
Known for using a 2¼-inch, square-format Rollei camera, he developed negatives and made prints in his own darkroom. He also collected the photographs of other practitioners, notably C.W. Witbeck, one of the deans of railroad photography of the South. Saillard’s own collection and elements of others, including Witbeck’s, are now part of the Louis Saillard Photograph Collection at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La., 60 miles southwest of New Orleans.
Saillard is survived by his wife of 31 years, Judy Bourgeois Williams Saillard, and several step children and step grandchildren. The family suggests donations in Saillard’s name to either the American Diabetes Association or the American Heart Association. Services were held Nov. 19.
