That interruption caused me to miss the Sunset Limited going east. No big deal, finding a new place to photograph it would have been a real pain being in the mood I was in. I hit the usual spots and took some follow up pictures to support what Lowell, aka Agent 00-L, had seen from afar. That had to do with a urban history hunt that we've been involved with for a while. Maybe, one day, I'll assemble the hunt and post it for the few who might appreciate that sort of thing.
I had the scanner running at full volume and heard that a train had just gotten a track warrant for Iowa Junction to Roanoke which is all west of Jennings, a fur piece from Lafayette. I ran at a hard clip to Roanoke and found nothing. Then I heard the dispatcher answer an Emergency Call. The other party said that the train (the one I'd gone after) had hit a Ford SUV at Mile Post 180 something. At Esterwood I found the accident. US 90 was blocked. I jumped the tracks and went over and through the thick gravel on Old Spanish Trail to the point of the accident. I couldn't get around and got stuck trying to return to the highway which was then open. I was now more physically spent trying to keep 500 lbs upright in 2 feet of lose rock for a mile.
Wait, I have to vent:
I got pretty ticked at one of the big mouth cops on the scene. He was out of order and acted stupidly. I'll leave it at that.
I saved shots of Lake Martin, done yesterday, for moments when I need to clear my mind and reel back the high blood pressure. Being there is like going to a mental spa.
It is a natural paradise.
This is the real world of the train chaser.
The BR today.
Agent 00-L, here is one of the angled warehouses off the Alex.
To all:
I'll be finished with the inner office stuff in a minute.
L: Here's the Baker Brick sign. There is nothing marking a
property line between the different fields, if they were
different fields now or before the happenings of yesteryear.
There is no satisfactory way of documenting this stuff. There
has to be a book on how to infer fact without substantiating it.
At the West Yard, a couple of tugs waited their turn.
I'd see them later, but reversed in order. I guess it was
BNSF's turn to lead?
I went to the West Rayne overpass and waited for them beneath .
They never came.
Back on 90, I turned south on Lenore Rd, then onto Standard
Mill where I visited the Lost Loop of the OGNE/T&P once more.
You Lost? Read History Hunts and Abandoned Rail Rows. Then
you'll know all about the lost loop.
In Crowley, as on Lenore, the east end of the Crowley sidetrack,
a lot of work was being done.
At Midland, a loader was shoveling old ties into gondolas.
I asked the operator if he'd checked them for date nails first.
I told him what one would bring on Ebay. He started unloading
the gondolas. I told him I'd help him look. He said I couldn't
be on RR property. See, you try to help people and that's what
you get. It never fails.
What has changed in the next picture?
I decided I wanted to jump the tracks for a look at the
gorgeous Old Spanish Trail. It is a hidden secret. It is an
example of beauty so close, but inaccessible because of our
need for speed.
These are the rails I jumped. I caught air for about 2o feet.
It I'd gone faster, it would have been better.
Unfortunately, I missed a dry landing.
Those are rice fields with the green growth just breaking through.
I found a favorite trestle on an irrigation ditch. The next
shots are a study of that trestle, the ditch and some rail shots.
Enjoy.
And the valve assembly for the ditch.
Looking east at the siding west of Midland.
Old Blue, who sees me through.
I like to include a little poetry in these things.
Then, at Mermentau, I saw this business with the nice inclosed
loading facility.
I have no idea what they are loading. If it's not rice, I haven't
the slightest.
I was there.
Crossing Jennings, I popped the US Post Office. It is a gorgeous building.
Al knows these people.
Then the day went downhill. I was in Roanoke, as I said.
The incident was reported. I rushed back east.
US 90 was blocked, the OST was blocked.
The train was sitting just west of Esterwood.
It was a work train, someone said. L has added that it carried
rail assessment tools.
I tried to forget about the accident and concentrate on
why I was there, to study train stuff. If you start getting
into the "whys" of train / vehicle accidents, you are wasting
your time.
I copied this from somewhere. The car was named the "Columbia River".
Columbia River
The Columbia River was built in 1950 by American Car & Foundry as the Western Wonderland, a 12-roomette (single), 4-bedroom sleeper. It was converted to an 11-bedroom car, the No. 1611 Sun Slope, in 1965. The car resembles traditional passenger sleeping cars because upper berths still remain in some rooms. In 1989, it was named the Columbia River.
I knew the work train would have to move somewhere. It was getting
time for the Sunset Limited, going west. I went to Crowley. I decided,
of all places to watch it all come down, that the depot would
be the best place. Train chasing and historical places seem to go hand in hand.
The old Missouri Pacific and priors depot was behind me.
I must have been on the Southern Pacific / Louisianan Western
depot, freight house foundations.
The building had a rock type facade, it seemed. At least the
base did.
Being old, I looked for the restrooms. Yes, there they were.
There had been a walkway down to rail level. Right to the present rails.
Looking west into the heart of the mills.
Looking east at more mills and other businesses. Had the
railing been for a parking lot?
There was a ramp from a lower section to the raised one
where the plumbing was.
Could it have been prettier than this? I don't think so.
Crowley is MP 166. The door was locked. I didn't want
to bang on it though I sure did need it.
Here came the work train.
There it went to the east Crowley switch where it would back into
the siding to make room for the also anxiously awaiting Amtrak train.
I love Crowley. The backgrounds cannot be beat. You modelers
should replicate this place.
Then with the big freight and the work train tucked away
on the Crowley siding, here came Queen Sunset heading
into the sunset.
All Aboard!!
Hey, what did I say about "backgrounds"!!
BNSF 1608 and the black beauty Norfolk Southern waited.
Then they moved. You know that was the train I saw first
this morning. No it's not. The other pair was a BNSF and NS.
I could have fooled you but then when you'd realized I was
you'd get mad because you woke up at 3am thinking about it.
I had taken up another position. I would use the old depot
as a back drop.
The work train was still at Elenore. (east Crowley switch)
I went to Rayne, my other favorite background. She never came.
The young man's voice seemed very distraught. I don't
know if he was the conductor of engineer. But, he could only
whisper. The dispatcher had to continuously ask him to speak up.
I find it hard to believe a replacement was not brought in to
bring the train home. Or maybe one was. That being the reason
the train didn't move.
Rayne is lovely. Ending the day with something pretty and
unique helped, but still it was an awful day on the tracks.
It happens all the time.
My Journal: Wednesday, March 18, 2011