On August 5, 1942, a southbound train collided with a westbound Greyhound bus at the Marion Avenue railroad crossing, killing fifteen bus passengers and injuring many more. The bus, traveling from New Orleans to Jackson, had stopped at the east side of the crossing to await the passing of a northbound freight train. As the last train car passed, the bus crossed the tracks and was struck in the rear by an unseen southbound troop train. Of the fifty-two bus passengers, twenty-six were U.S. Army Air Corps cadets.