The Ride to Mallard Junction P.7

Next up was Niblett. It seemed in the middle of nowhere but I was determined to find it. I came to one road and told Lt. Al, along with all the deputies, as he insisted that I address them, that this was the road to Niblett. I swear I heard a chorus of moans or maybe it was the wind.



We took 380 to 99 south to Cherokee west to Watkins north.
The picture above was taken at (018), Watkins Road.



(019)



This was on Watkins Road, too. Al said that he'd read somewhere
about a Watkins that helped bring railroading here. He,
being into genealogy, don't we know, might be onto something.
I just spent an hour on Thornwell. Lt. Al, if you want to
pursue Watkins, be my guest. I think that's a water well derrick.

(020)



I was struck by the old oak forest. We were near a place called Oak
Island. Maybe we were on it. Islands are high places down here.
They don't have to be surrounded by water, though, don't we know,
it happens.

(021)

We were approaching Niblett. The fact that something
was there was surprising.



Yes, that's the Niblett dryer. It looks like Rita might have had
her way with the structure. But that's OK since it gives an
idea of what is beneath the metal skin. Those are huge
vertical silos for drying the rice.

We came to the rail crossing.



Here again there was an "in and out" siding.
This is the main line shot.



Al said to zoom out. Look closely, you can see the Thornwell dryer.



Here is the siding side:



I was getting the idea of what the railroad carried.
Cypress and seafood and oilfield supplies, to and from LA,
and agriculture along the way.

There were even railroad ties in the road. Oh, the arrows?
We had been on Cherokee Road. That made me think of
Chief Broken Arrow.



We had de-biked and were mulling around. I'd gone off in the
woods to commune with nature and came eye to eye with this.



I ran from the woods with it stuck to my face thinking I was
having an Aliens moment.

Just kidding, it's a Banana Spider. Gorgeous creatures and they
get quite large. Look at that cute face, cher.

Al was calling in for a pizza.



After the pizza, it was off to the Lorraine Bridge. We really
lost the rails en route. Bayou Lacassine has a huge back
swamp which the rails were evidently able to cross. I saw no
road we could take. Our next depot hunt would be in Hayes.



We were en route to the Lorraine Bridge which goes over
Bayou Lacassine.



We approached the Niblett Canal. There was a guy fishing
from the bridge.



It was a moment. I saw 2 Fingers against the pump house.
Al pulled his gun and ordered the two Fingers to get away
from the pump house and stand in the ditch.



Obviously, Lt. Al had had experience with Finger People.
These were young ones and simply into mischief. He
scared them and then let them go, telling them that they
better get back in school and stop hanging around pump
houses where there was nothing but trouble waiting for them.

They scurried off the best that finger people can.
I next got a shot of the canal which is used for irrigation.



We continued west toward Lorraine. It got low. We were
definitely in Finger People country.



Approaching the bridge, I heard an un-muffled 4-wheeler
approaching, it passed us in a blur. Sure enough it was
an old crazy Finger Guy.



We continued on constantly vigil.



Finally, we came to the Lorraine Bridge. It is a rebuild of
the first Lorraine Bridge, of which I have a picture.





You have to shoot from the bridge. History is thick here.
The early settlers quickly made friends with the Finger People.
They traded and all was well. Then the bridge was built
and the settlers started using Niblett Road to get to, where else,
Niblett. Bad feelings continued until the Settlers agreed to
not improve Niblett road and go to Hayes to get to Niblett.
All has been fine since. The Finger People live in the back
swamp and of course have a school provided for them.
They are thinking about opening a casino in the near future.



This is looking toward the village.



Next, we'll be looking for the depot at Hayes.
CLICK HERE to go there.