From time to time I get some real gems in the mail. This was one of them. As some may have suspected, I am awe stricken with the concept of trains being transported on steamboats across treacherous waters such as the Red, Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers. Seems there are others. Here's his note, I have put in a few links to the places he mentions.
Back to Naples, Angola, etc...
I live in Big Bend just a few mile down the bayou from the old iron bridge where the museum is.[open in new window and check out the next 2 pages to see the Bayou DesGlaises Bridge and trail to Naples]
I like to ride my old three wheeler around here, and have been out to Naples numerous times. There's still an old clay brick structure, not sure what it is, but it's running over with what looks to be coal. There are some concrete blocks and pillars out there, too. At the museum at the iron bridge, there are some pictures of the boats [at Naples] while the operation was still going. In one of them you can see some old posts and what I would call a "dock" for lack of better term. Those posts are still out there in the woods on a big slope, which I'm assuming is the old riverbank. If you look at Google Earth, you can clearly see the old meandering lines where the river has moved away a bit, and what is now called "Martin Bay" would have been part of it. If you follow that it bends around and crosses Turn Bull Island about in the middle of the two channels that are there now. I firmly believe that's the stretch of water the ferries used back then. The mileage adds up according to the old descriptions of the route I've found. Anyway, I've never been too sure of where the Angola landing was. The info on your page is the most I've ever seen about it. The pictures of the bank you have and the road leading out there, is what I've always referred to as "the sand levee". At least that's the only name I know it by. People like to go camp out there in the summer when the water is low, there's a big sand bar that pops up.
Back to Naples, again. This summer I wanted to ride out there and see what things looked like, but the land has changed hands and gates have been put up on all the roads going back there. It used to all be part of a hunting club and I knew a few members, and never had any problems going back there. Now it's a new club that's got it, and apparently they want to keep people out. One day I was passing by and decided to ride as far back as the gate, and when I got there it was open, so I kept going. The road goes to the river bank, right downstream from where the town [Naples] was sitting. When I got to the river there was a big sign that said I was being monitored by infrared video systems and that trespassing was prohibited, so I went no further! There was another sign though, that read "Naples Plantation, LLC". When I got home I searched the web for that name, and found a record where a guy from Baton Rouge applied for the corporation name, and it gave his name and address. That name and address came back to a law firm in Baton Rouge, the guy's last name was one of the three lawyers. I decided not to bother him about it then, but one day I'd like to ask his permission to go back and take some pictures.
That reminds me of the old concrete pillars [LR&N crossing of Bayou Des Glaises near Big Bend] in the bayou where the train crossed. You saw the railroad grade leading out across the field from there towards Naples. A friend and I walked that whole thing from the bayou, to the river bank at Naples one day, including wading across the water along the way in one of the low areas. There are remnants of the old wood bridges that crossed them too. I had taken many pictures along the way, and at Naples too. Unfortunately I lost them when a hard drive died in my old computer.
One day I'll stop by the old museum at the iron bridge again and look at the old pictures he's got. I've only been in there twice even though it's just a few miles down the road from me. I'd like to go through all the old stuff in there. I started asking about Naples the second time I was there, and he got out a folder with old tickets and passenger lists from the trains that crossed.
I see you've got an appreciation for the train bridge at Simmesport too. I've been around, under, and on that one a number of times as well. There's trails that pass under it on the Simmesport side, where the kids from town ride ATVs. I found them riding around as a teenager myself. I've spent a few summer days laying out on the middle pillars below the bridge, waiting for the boats to pass. The old road still runs from the end of the bridge to the ramp where it left the tracks in town. It's almost grown over now though. I still like to ride out there and stop to look at the bridge.
ME:
I did have a picture of where the highway had descended off of the train bridge on the Simmesport side, but I dumped it because it just looked like a hill of weeds.
Further: This note was really inspiring to me. It was written not by someone reminiscing of a long ago personal past, but by a 25 year old who just digs history and looking at old train bridges. There is hope for the next generation.