By 1910 the original building was deteriorating, with locals calling it a "barn full of bats", and the I&GN promised a modern replacement.

[4][5][6] Plans called for a large, two-story brick depot with passenger services and a restaurant on the first floor and offices on the second.

The train never provided direct service to Mexico, but passengers could self-transfer to N de M by crossing the border to Nuevo Laredo.

The move severed Laredo from the Amtrak network and ended service to the Missouri Pacific depot for the second and final time.

[15][16]: 114 Passenger rail service briefly returned to Laredo from 1986 to 1989 with the Tex-Mex Express to Corpus Christi, which stopped at a different station.