No, I haven't. I've done everything I can to make its history common knowledge. What I did take for granted was the inevitability of the demise of the historic rail bridge across Bayou Teche at the Breaux Bridge sugarcane mill, also gone. The new bridge seems to carry no more traffic than the one lane blacktop covered relic from the early 1900's. I know, I know, I'm being argumentative. The old creosote pilings were surely on their last legs and becoming a danger. As a sometimes amateur photographer, I found her, with the old vehicle lift bridge on Bridge St. behind her, a really unique shot.
OK, so it wasn't beautiful by the widely held standard in which
architectural design is seen as art. It wasn't artsy. It was
functional. It sat above the historical limits to shipping on the Teche,
"just" above so it didn't need to do anything except carry trains. I
remember it being blocked by cars servicing the sugar mill. That
was after 1975, so it and the mill hung in there for a while. The
mill was the end of the tracks then. The rest had been long gone
disappearing in increments after the 1927 flood on the Atchafalaya
which rendered the swing bridge at Atchafalaya useless.
Enough history, if you want more, write me in the guest book.
Now it is gone. The lot the crew had used to stash her parts for
pickup and disposal was cleaned bare. Any hope of finding a memento
was slim. I crossed the new bridge not really realizing I was crossing a
bridge and suddenly saw something that further brought me down.
The rails that connected the bridge to the next section on the west side
of La. 31 had been ripped up. I saw the piled up rail ballast (limestone)
as an elongated grave.
Looking westward toward Breaux Bridge Junction, once the
crossing of the Cade to Port Barre Branch and the Atchafalaya
Branch of the Southern Pacific RR.
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This is looking to the bayou.
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I walked the grave looking for something to remember it by.
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A rail plate, unidentified screw and a spike would do. I'm still
cleaning bugs out of my teeth from grinning on the next stretch
of my afternoon's journey.
This is a map of the BB rail set up. Click it for a better view.
My next stop would be Mark's, up north of Opelousas. We had
done some horse trading and I owed him a 2 gb memory card.
I don't like to be in debt so I would use that excuse to ride toward
Ville Platte, an always fun ride since it takes me through country
that was settled in the 1700's and you never, never see it all.
I dropped off my dues and went looking for an old bank he had
told me about up in the country behind his house. Adjust your
anticipation to small.
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I stopped and talked to the farmer on whose property it lay.
He told me he'd been approached by the Federal Reserve and
they wanted to buy it. I asked, "Why"?
He responded that they needed to downsize since Obama and the
Democrats had thrown all of our country's wealth away and there
was no need for a large bank and vault any more. They simply
needed a bricks and mortar location to call the Federal Reserve.
I asked how much was he getting for it. He said he had arranged
a barter deal on what he'd have to give for ObamaCare insurance.
I shook my head as I knew he been taken like so many and
there is no way some people will ever "get it". I asked him about
his Medicare costs going up. He said that BO claimed no
responsibility for that and it was all Bush's fault.
The New Federal Reserve Bank is located somewhere near Prairie
Ronde or Rhonde (both work) La. It's never open, but it's there.
Of course that story was fabricated, but possible. The truth, lies,
it doesn't matter anymore. Politicians claim to have gone to
Vietnam and didn't, no one cares. Character is out the window.
What you do for me next is paramount.
Leaving the NFRB, I headed up the gravel road on the no fear DR 650.
I crossed the old T&P rails to Ville Platte spying a loose spike. Why
not? It went in the box with the rest of the booty.
That's about it, except for one more little addition to my gold
chest. Wait, maybe Obama will let me keep my collection
in the NFRB? At least there would be some wealth there.
No, I don't' trust him. He'd rip me off, too.
Finally, maybe, this is an old store out on La.347 west of Arnaudville.
I've been in it when you got 5 bucks of gas and a 6 pack to go. It
is a landmark. The very large dumpster next to it scares the living hell
out of me. There will be yet another void in the very wholly fabric
of Southwest La. There is no respect for the past unless it's profitable
or supports an ideology. If the likes of Obama stay in power, watch
what disappears next, like your freedom. Let the picture below
be a symbol of what could happen. The building is red, white and blue.
I just noticed and it gives me chills.
Below. False Alarm ... The place is still there. Score one for the Red Whit & Blue!!
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