But, by accident, I found where Google was stashing the pictures I'd uploaded. I downloaded them, but I have found they are not of high quality, obviously being placed on a diet.
OK, maybe they were poor to begin with, but, it's so easy to blame others.
Having a moment to waste (which is not true) I sat down and separated the 1600 shots, first using a neat little program called "DupDetector", a very valuable necessity to anyone who deals with photos. Copies have a way of reproducing. (Again, blaming not a person but a computer). You may be next.
These are the preliminary folders. I say, "preliminary" because there are sub-subjects within most of them and I got tired and started being less defined in my sorting.
I'll probably not relate stories to these shots but simply post them with a location unless I remember a very interesting situation which occurred on that location.
AMTRAK
Impending storm at Hammond.
The Baldwin Rail Bridge taken form the Old US 90 Bridge, looking south out at the New US 90 Bridge and the Cleco Power Station at Baldwin. I don't know if I've seen another like this one. Who else would let loose of motorcycle handlebars while crossing a high bridge in the wind to take a picture of a train crossing a bridge. This shot may qualify as evidence in my sanity trial.
Wonder if anyone has dusted the insides?
Old baggage car.
Newer?
Newer?
BATON ROUGE
These are from an old write. Baton Rouge was the starting point of the KCS route to Alexandria which, in part, occupies the original Texas & Pacific rails.
The flight highlighted the naming of the streets in the "KCS Yard".
Moisant Airport architecture. KCS "depot" at BR. If you know of what I speak, you're "dirt old".
"BB"
The BR Line to Breaux Bridge.
The truck stopped. A young fella got out and I approached him in an attempt to identify myself as benign. He had just "signed on" with Louisiana & Delta and loved his job which didn't seem too demanding. Having a captivated student, I proceeded to teach him all there was to know about the historic route upon which this high rail truck sat. With open mouth he was a sponge, with "wow" and "awesome" being uttered at the end of each fact filled sentence. When we parted he said he'd tell the other guys. ChiChing.
Of course I have a hundred more pictures of the BR, but not in the ONCE UPON ... folder. So, rules being rules, this one is the best of what is.
Oh, did you notice the fast approaching L&D tug?
A few more "Baton Rouge" Branch pictures were found in our folder. These are from the "Dump Road side of the Vermilion River crossing.
Teurlings Road Crossing
Larabee Pit, mentioned in the Dump Road segment, is to the right. Intrusion is a no-no. It's a shooting range.
The Mike Baker BR approach from the SP/ BNSF mainline is not the original configuration of the semi-diamond in Lafayette. First, I found the Lafayette cut across the SP did which provided a straight through route from Scott to the Basin without dipping into Lafayette.
I am sure it went away with the demise of the BR. The scar in Lafayette is still very clear.
The approach to the original BR from the south was moved north making a more gentle curve eastward from the west. That is below. That configuration does no favor for the L&D who use these tracks. L&D trains to Lafayette use a front and rear engine so that they can get in and out of the Lafayette yard and negotiation the flipped up BR approach. Maybe it is on purpose since accessing the Lafayette yard from the BR works. I'm glad I figured that out.
An old map to back me up.
BOGALUSA LINE
Again, I have many elsewhere. But this one says a lot about Bogalusa.
CN
The Canadian National RR, once the proud Illinois Central, in my world, drops down from Mississippi and lands in New Orleans. Along the way it scenically traversed piny woods and awing swamps and lakes. But, the stars are the little towns and preserved depots. Above is the pride of Magnolia, Mississippi, the IC depot, which is a prideful place. I would have to check, but possibly the depot may predate the IC.
COSSINADE
When I was doing the Kaplan investigation, a donor wrote, and wrote, sent pictures and wrote some mores. It seems she was the Kaplan historian, having inherited that post from her father. I'm including this shot, found in the folder, though not a RR shot, it is. Cossinade is the back story on Kaplan.
Cossinade was not on the railroad. Kaplan was born by the tracks. Cossinade could not compete.
This old bridge, in the middle of a pasture speaks volumes.
CROWLEY
The Southern Pacific RR shot like an arrow across Southwestern Louisiana. It went by the several names. Morgan's Louisiana & Texas was one, Louisiana Western was another, the Texas & New Orleans was yet another. Then, enough of all that, "Southern Pacific" became the recognized moniter .
Sadly, the SP depot is gone, except for this large hunk of concrete.
The old Missouri Pacific depot is preserved, to an extent.
This area, once a year, is the location of the Rice Festival, thus the attention.
DUMP ROAD
Lafayette can name and rename this road and it will always be the "Dump Road".
It's railroad history is deep. It borders Larribee Pits, the souse of the dirt that supported, in part, the BR line as it crossed the Atchafalaya Basin on its way from Lafayette to Baton Rouge.
To the left you can see, barely, the rails which had passed by this recycling business, now torn down.
Again, have more but not within our working folder.
ELTON
Of course, Elton is all about rice. That's today. In the past, Elton was the connection to the Missouri Pacific, or earlier named railroad, to the lumber industry reaching up into the Oakdale area. This, crossing .....
I believe is the remnant of that historic connection.
IOWA
Or, more exactly, "Iowa Junction".
Iowa was a mystical place for me. So much had happened there and for a long time, while my interest persisted, it was the border between what Union Pacific and BNSF Railroads controlled. It was also part of the Missouri Pacific's entrance into south Lake Charles. That connection mandated learning all there was to learn about Lake Charles railroads which mandated learning about the railroads to the north of Lake Charles. In other words, Iowa Junction was a huge vacuum.
Today, Laccasine, a short ways to the east, and a new yard, is the name heard on the radio. Iowa Jct. is forgotten in the BNSF world. Of course, when dealing with UP, it retains it's importance, I assume.
Relegated:
JEANERETTE
Two humps, two railroad, well, actually 3. The old folks call the hump nearest you, "The Frisco". The hump down the way is the active, once Southern Pacific, BNSF rails.
The fact that the one closest, is called "The Frisco", involves a bit of history of the Missouri Pacific RR.
Port Barre's depot sat on "Frisco Street".
JENNINGS
Railroading in Jennings centered around the depot. I am sure there were multiple spurs.
But, I found something east of town, within sight of the first stop light on the east side.
What I found was a mill with rails in the ground.
Those rails have come off the mainline, gone past the mill and were headed toward Jennings. I believe they either deadended or rejoined the mainline. After I was there, a cover was added to the end of the building. That black thing to the right is in earlier GE pictures.
Look over you shoulder from the top shot and look east to the mill. The rails crossed the road (above) and went to the end of the mill (above) where there is a cover now
"Rails at Turn" above.
KINDER
I thought I'd accidentally mixed up Kinder with an old Lafayette rail layout.
It's all Union Pacific now, but once all Missouri Pacific.
The article was, "Why Would You Go to Kinder?"
I once had a better idea than railroads. A real good idea.
Down and dirty rail sniffing.
The question remains, "Why?"
KROTZ SPRINGS
For once going to Krotz Springs was not about the rail bridge or the proximity of Easy Rider Rd.
It was about the road south that took you here.
With twin fireplaces.
Tell me we are not a rich country.
LA 1 & 415, The Mother Road and the River Road.