I just took a closer look at Google Earth. It seems that there was another possibility concerning the actual route to the main line toward La.182. I don't think Lady of the Lake Road, in red, on it's last stretch west after the chicane, was the route. I believe B.Beyt Road was the route, marked in green.
This makes a lot more sense.
Past the houses you can see the tilt of the land.
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After the chicane I came to a side road that went down the edge of the escarpment that faced to the south and Spanish Lake. The rise is easily seen here. Possibly there has been a slide along a fault.
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Next is on top, where you see the power lines is where the rails were, you can bet on that. This was past the chicane where Lady of the Lake was the rails.
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These two old places were before the drop off into what was the old Mississippi River.
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This is one my favorite old places. It sits on the edge. The barn and small building were near the rails.
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I went down the bluff into the bottom land, and stopped where Delcroix was, seen in the top right corner.
Here's looking up the "hill".
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The farm highlands are cut off from the Coteau Ridge by Bayou Tortue.
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The following pictures were taken from Granger Road looking back west toward the escapement and the farm. This field below was traversed by the rails to go on into St.Martinville.
The gas pipeline is a good candidate for the possible route. It lines up perfectly.
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And here's how it went on into town hooking up with Railroad Street. The green line shows the amendments which I've added because of elevation lines and looking closer at Railroad Street, the southern entrance for the Railroad. Click map to enlarge.
Of course the epiphany of this evening means a visit to the green line is in order for tomorrow. That's it for tonight. Click Here for Page Three