Engine Number 3

Engine Number 3, a rusting steam locomotive stationed near the main rail line in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, stands as a monument to the town’s history. Once a workhorse in the cypress lumber industry that shaped the region a century ago, the engine is now a symbol of both industrial heritage and childhood wonder.

relic of the cypress boom

For more than 80 years, Engine Number 3 has remained idle, one of the few remaining artifacts from Ponchatoula’s lumber heyday. In 1921, two massive cypress mills opened in the swamps south of town, transforming Ponchatoula into a bustling center of commerce. “Population of the town quadrupled almost overnight. It was a boom town at that time,” said Jim Perrin, a local historian with the Collinswood Museum. The museum, housed in an old one-room schoolhouse, is located next to the train display.

The mills laid tracks deep into the swamp, using steam engines to haul cypress logs back to the mills. “They put the tracks down in a very efficient way and were able to extract the cypress and bring it back to the mill and put it in a pond and later cut it into lumber of various dimensions,” Perrin explained.

Engine Number 3 was decommissioned around 1940 and became a static landmark, parked in front of the Louisiana Cypress Lumber Company on U.S. Highway 51.

engine number 3 featured on tv

childhood memories of engine number 3

For many, the engine is more than a historical artifact—it’s a part of childhood. Perrin remembers playing on it as a child when the engine was in much better shape and safe to climb on.  “Most kids love trains, I love trains,” Perrin said.  I also have memories of climbing into the cab of Engine Number 3 in the early 1960’s.  It was my favorite thing to do when I visited my grandparents who lived in Ponchatoula. 

Museum volunteer Vincent Thibodaux also remembers climbing aboard the engine years ago.  With the help of a ladder, we climbed aboard Engine Number 3 again.  The metal was rusting and some of the floor panels were missing and now covered with wood.  But it still looked familiar, the large boiler and the wood-paneled interior roof.

enjoy from a distance

Today, Engine Number 3 is gated off for safety reasons. A metal roof has been built over the locomotive and tender to protect them from further decay. “We really want to try to do the best we can to preserve it and get it back to where people can enjoy it,” Thibodaux said.

Engine Number 3 may no longer move, but it continues to transport locals and visitors alike—back to a time when Ponchatoula thrived in the cypress trade, and when the thrill of climbing aboard a train engine created memories that still endure.

getting there

The old locomotive is on display next to the railroad tracks in downtown Ponchatoula on East Pine Street (LA Hwy 22). The Collinswood Museum is next door at 101 East Pine Street.

101 E Pine St, Ponchatoula, LA 70454