Cotton Belt / St. Louis Southwestern Railway (SSW) — Plants in Illinois

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that they were exposed to asbestos while working at Cotton Belt / St. Louis Southwestern Railway (SSW) plants in Illinois. This page documents the Illinois portion of Cotton Belt / St. Louis Southwestern Railway (SSW)’s multi-state operations. For the full corporate summary and plants in other states, see the Cotton Belt / St. Louis Southwestern Railway (SSW) manufacturer page.

Premises Description

St. Louis Southwestern Railway (“Cotton Belt” or “SSW” — founded 1877, headquartered Tyler, Texas with St. Louis Missouri as its northern terminal and namesake; acquired by Southern Pacific 1932 and operated as an SP subsidiary through the asbestos era; merged into Union Pacific 1996) was through the 20th century one of the principal U.S. Missouri-to-Texas Class I freight railroads. The Cotton Belt system spanned Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas — anchored by the St. Louis MO to Dallas/Fort Worth TX main line via Pine Bluff AR and Texarkana. Cotton Belt’s flagship shop and yard complexes included Pine Bluff Shops (Pine Bluff AR — the railroad’s largest locomotive and car-repair complex, employing thousands through the asbestos era), Tyler TX (historic headquarters and shop), East St. Louis IL / Valley Junction MO, Illmo MO, Jonesboro AR, Texarkana TX, Dallas TX, and Fort Worth TX — all major regional workplaces through the asbestos era.

Because Cotton Belt’s northern terminal, corporate name, and interchange gateway centered on St. Louis, Missouri, its FELA workforce and asbestos-exposure cases have a direct St. Louis MO venue nexus.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) that Cotton Belt / St. Louis Southwestern Railway exposed its railroad workforce to asbestos through:

  • Asbestos brake-shoe dust at Cotton Belt rip tracks, car shops, and locomotive servicing facilities
  • Asbestos locomotive insulation on steam-era boiler lagging and diesel engine-room piping
  • Asbestos pipe covering on shop and roundhouse steam mains
  • Asbestos block insulation on shop boilers at Pine Bluff and Tyler
  • Spray-applied asbestos fireproofing on shop structural steel
  • Asbestos ceiling and partition board in shop, roundhouse, and office buildings
  • Asbestos brake dust on freight cars received from interchange partners

Cotton Belt / St. Louis Southwestern Railway has been named as a Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation under FELA — including in cases venued in St. Louis MO courts. Successor liability has been asserted through Southern Pacific and Union Pacific.

Workers Exposed

  • Railroad car repairmen at Pine Bluff Shops, Tyler, Illmo, Jonesboro, and Texarkana
  • Locomotive engineers, firemen, and hostlers on Cotton Belt trains
  • Railroad shop machinists, boilermakers, pipefitters, sheet-metal workers, and electricians
  • Roundhouse and locomotive-servicing workers
  • Cotton Belt yard switchmen, conductors, and brakemen on the St. Louis-Texas corridor
  • Shop-building maintenance workers exposed to building asbestos

If You Worked for the Cotton Belt

If you worked for St. Louis Southwestern Railway / Cotton Belt — at any Cotton Belt yard, shop, roundhouse, or facility in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, or Texas during the asbestos era — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), which is preserved through Union Pacific as successor. Cases have a direct venue tie to St. Louis, Missouri.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956