Trying to think of a title for this one, I only had to look at the folders in which I had placed the pictures. Folderizing the shots does, at times, makes the writes go a bit slower which is OK with me.
My wife says my journal's strength is that it is boring and "may replace water boarding in the future". OK, have someone tie you up and follow along.
I've taken to riding in the afternoon when I've either succeeded at domestic chores or I became so aggravated I've chucked them. I try to be the ruler of my universe and chucking chores is a useful, if somewhat self destructive means of expressing that power. {reminder to not send this one to her}
Enough psychiatry.
I was off to Cade, the fulcrum in my local train world, sitting almost dead center between the Lafayette Yard and the bastions of the Louisiana and Delta Railroad. Of course that measurement may not be exact.
I heard on the scanner that there was suppose to be a train that had to take a long break. Indeed it was broken to allow traffic to cross on Captain Cade Road.
I think this is Conductor Milfred who I hear on the scanner often. What a cat!
He is, has to be, an ex army sergeant by the way he speaks in army cadence.
'I was a quarter mile away, how'd he know I was spotting him?
Army training. BTW, that green car is a coil car. It carries coils.
Now the all important documentation pictures:
Engines with one car.
Engines with 2 cars.
Skipping ahead, Engine with 5 cars.
If you'd like the rest of the train, stay tuned.
From the front, One Engine
Two Engines, two cars.
Two engines, a bunch of cars.
A red truck and the cut off lower half of the train at Captain Cade.
OMG, I just caught another photographer. He has a red
stripped shirt on kneeling down and long black hair. That's
a weird shirt.
I've been thinking about a trip.
Maybe not. Sergeant Milfred seems to be keeping an eye
on the opened boxcar.
He also seems to like to talk. I could hear him and the
neighbor exchanging etoufee' recipes.
Stay tuned. This page will be added to as the day goes on.
I have chores to do. This takes care of Folder 1: Train 1.
There are 3 more trains and 3 more locations in this one.
It could get crazy.
Chapter 2
I know everyone is wondering why Sargeant Milfred's train
was broke up and waiting at Captain Cade Road.
It was because the westbound was heading to Lafayette.
Having this shot "turn out" was a thrill. The west bound
went flying past the Sergeant's train.
At this point I rode toward New Iberia figuring I'd seen
a train start up already. I got down the road and saw
"Road Closed, Local Traffic Only". Figuring I was a local,
I assumed that it would be just fine for me to motor on.
Alas, it was unclear. So, like 200 other locals I'd see later
down that stretch, I proceeded and had to do exactly
what they had to do, turn around. If I'd been on the DR,
I'd challenged the blockade, but..... I did the Detour Dance
and ended up at the New Iberia station. But, the dead
part of Old 90 would serve as a magnificent viewing area.
More on that later.
I decided to take a different route to the depot. If you want
to get railroad's attention, ride down their tracks.
There were four of the L&D's mules sitting on the sidings.
And a swarm of folks waiting for the train which would be
there in about 40 minutes.
I headed back out Admiral Doyle (the detour) and was
stopped by a lazily moving Mz Utah. Honey, what you doing here?
The picture above was taken from a distance.
Below was the picture of the situation. I was in a hurry to
get back to the action and here I was. That's Lazy Mz U.
crossing the tracks. You'll see her hitting the main line
in time. Amtrak was coming.
It's now 1pm. I have to get back to my day job, more later.
The boss went to take a nap. I can slip a few more pictures in.
After getting free from Mz Utah's traffic jam, I was back on
Old 90 racing north to out run the oncoming Sunset Limited.
I slid to a stop and set up just north of Cade at the bottom
of a dip in the road that crosses a coulee (fr. for a small stream).
The small stream, like all the water lately, was high.
Here she came, loud, fast and sassy.
I nailed her.
But, what was this? There were 2 strange cars. Click this
shot below for a large version.
"Office of Safety"? Rail safety, Rail Security? What's the story.
I'll have to Google that.
I decided, after the victory above Cade, to head back south
to the dead part of La.182, aka, Old 90. It was so quiet.
I settled in with a great view of the main line and within
a great view of where Mz Utah would be coming out.
My chair was the only thing missing.
I was in a historical place full of ghost.
I walked back a ways several times.
But, mostly I sat and watched people turn around for hours.
Train chasing is not always at full speed. Finally I heard the
crash of cars being pulled tight.
And she stopped. That made sense since the switch would
have to be thrown. No one got out to throw it.
I think the engineer was taking a nap.
I listened to the radio. There was no request to enter the
main line. They knew it would be a while. It was a while.
Finally, the finale of the day. This was the reason for the wait.
I had one good sprint left in me. I flew past her and went
back to the dip above Cade and shot wildly into the sun but
nailed her crossing the trestle. Granted, the engines were
long gone and the train was a long one, but this counts, doesn't it?
"Yes it does", my wife just chimed in. Uh, oh. I'm toast. That
boxcar is looking good.
