The Southern Pacific p.5 BB (Page 1)

Dude: If you expect all of what is below to be correct, you are a gambler. Please do not use my pages as a reference. I probably know your prof and we will have a big laugh at your expense.

This part of the SP/Cade to Port Barre ride report would be a pleasure. I could spend 100% of my time on the work of discovery because I would only have a 15 minute ride to and from the area to be investigated. Knowing that advantage, I threw 100% of my effort into the search. Knowing that, I pegged both the time and effort meters to the aforementioned 100% . Prepare yourself for The Southern Pacific: Breaux Bridge. Buckle that helmet.

For those not following along, the Southern Pacific branch began in Cade, and rode their rails south on the main line until it hit a switch and went east on a dedicated branch that would eventually take it to the shores of Bayou Courtableau in Port Barre where the engine would be turned on a manually powered turntable for the return trip. By the way, a complete investigation of Port Barre will follow this edition. This one will be exciting, the next one may be too much to handle for the faint of heart.

Here we go. I hope you are sitting.

I'm having a hard time placing a time period on these different sections. I know some were ripped up before others. I do know that in 1935 it was intact. Let's pretend it's 1935 when the age of steam was in flower and men were men and women were women.

I just found this, "1895: A branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad connects Cade to Port Barre, signaling the end of the Steamboat Era on the upper Teche". So there you go, a starting point in history.

This might interest some while we are dating stuff. This is evidently a list of SP "local" branches as of 1920 compiled by a amateur. Where do I find this stuff? I had to fix some speling so I know hes not a preaux.

LAFAYETTE
June, 1920

New Orleans, Algiers, Raceland Junction, Schriever, Morgan City, Bayou Sale, Baldwin,
New Iberia, Lafayette, Midland, Lake Charles, Echo

Batton Rouge Branch - Lafayette, Breaux Bridge, Anchorage, Batton Rouge

Cheneyville Branch - Lafayette to Cheneyville

DeRidder Branch - Lake Charles to DeRidder

Eunice Branch - Midland, Eunce, Mamou

Gueydon Branch - Midland, Abbeville, I & V Junction, New Iberia

Houma Branch - Schriever to Houma

Lake Arthur Branch - Mallard Junction to Lake Arthur

Leonville Branch - Breaux Bridge, Leonville, Point Barre

Lock Port Branch - Raceland Junction to Lock Port

Napleonville Branch - Thibodaux Junction to Napoleonville

? Branch - Breaux Bridge to Saint Martinville Juction

Saint Martinville Branch - Cade to Saint Martinville Junction to Saint Martinville

Salt Mine Branch - I & V Junction to Salt Mine

South Bend Branch - Bayou Sale to South Bend

Youngsville Branch - Davids to Youngsville

Weeks Island Branch - F & A Junction, Cypemort, Weeks Island

You can see that the Cade to Port Barre Branch was segmented at the time.

Coming from the south, the SP left La.31 to prepare for it's grand entrance into Breaux Bridge.



Here's looking back south from Veteran Drive. The ROW seems to be some perpetual neutral ground. Fine with me, it makes it easy to follow.



Here's looking toward where the station was. A horse lives there now. Taken from Webb Street.



I think this is an appropriate place to post the map, always an exciting moment on a page.



If you click on the map it will get bigger.Open it in a new window to follow along.

On the map you can see (rails in heavy black) that there is a crossing further north. There, two branches of the Southern Pacific crossed. One from Lafayette was headed to Baton Rouge on a very interesting route, straight across the Atchafalaya Basin. It conquered the Basin long before I-10 did. You can still see what is left of the bed from that super slab. The floods of 1927 wiped out the swing bridge at the settlement of Atchafalaya, eventually condemning the route. Atchafalaya was where the Basin Welcome Center is. That story later.

Our route, the Cade-Port Barre continued northeast. I was going to get started on this write earlier but started rummaging around and found some ancient ICC, or other governing body, probably the La.Public Service Commission records. It seems that the SP, then known as Morgan's Louisiana and Texas.... wanted to move the depot down to the cross tracks. That would make sense to me but the people of Breaux Bridge objected. That story below.

You'll have to click on it to expand it. I couldn't copy the text so I took a picture of it. It's all "public domain".



It continues



And continues



And finally a decision: NO!!



You cannot move your depot 300 yards up the tracks. Someone had pull on the commission and it wasn't Morgan.

This is where the depot was:



This is probably what it looked like. This is the Mansura Southern Pacific Depot. Mansura and Breaux Bridge were probably similar in size. It will have to do. I have no picture of the BB Depot. I've been in one exactly like this one. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that the small town depots were pretty much alike.



Just to the south of it I saw these two cement blocks preserved by trees. Careful examinatin reveals that treaded studs were sticking out of the top of the one examined. I suggest that there were at least 2 more which formed a square or rectangle and supported something. I would say it was a water tower or oil tank.



Things are getting ready to get complicated and I think we need another map. They can help.



I feel better. Now we will approach the cross tracks mentioned above. My pulse quickens as it did that day. These are a progression of shots taken at each road that crossed the SP on its way to the X rails.





I aligned myself with the right of way, zoomed toward the junction and saw this. Those rails were on the Cade to Port Barre bed!!!



I know that I promised you the Junction on the last page. This has been too emotional and I must take a break.

I've recoverd, CLICK HERE FOR BB 2