2009 New Iberia Rail Ride Updated

This is an Updated Report which reflects how ignorant I was when written.
My assessment of New Iberia's rails sounds like I just landed form Mars.
Obviously this was the first time on Washington St which for some reason
I changed to "Williams St" in many of my ride reports.  I have sought therapy.
I'm rewriting this one because it was done on President's Day, 2007 Today is President's Day, 2013.
Those presidents are rolling in their graves assessing our present one. 

I had done a little tuneup on Mz Guzzi. She likes the attention even if it is only of psychologically beneficial. After our session, I checked to see if she was carrying all the support equipment she needed as a big boned Italian wench. We hit the road aimed south. This was going to be a short putt so I headed to the most scenic stretch closest to the house. I think Section 28 road fills that bill. I was most distraught to find there is clearing going on in the once haunted woods. I hope the the landowners reap their due.
It is a travesty. Let's move on.

Long story short, I ended up in New Iberia, coming in from the east on 86. I crossed Main and St.Peter and headed west. Let me say right here that I was almost tempted into doing a photo article on NI. It is a magnificently pretty and historical place. That is not true of all its area, but what town is 100% pretty? I knew I'd cross the BNSF RR tracks soon. I was south of the old Southern Pacific depot, an unfamiliar area to me. I came upon this large, rather ugly cement building which looked like it was a product of the post-Civil War, Reconstruction Error, or maybe, the Obamic novel, "1984". It was the parish courthouse, I think. It should have been painted gray. It was right at the tracks. It was closed for President's Day, I saw no American flags. February must be a happy month for our bureaucratic zombie clones with an attitude. That made viewing what was to come a lot easier. No traffic, no pedestrians, no winos, no screaming fatherless baby parades, no knife fights, no prison made weapons for sale.

What interested me were the curbs on either side of the tracks and, was this the main line, this one set of rails? Here's looking up and down the tracks. It's the addiction. I was only out for a short ride and here I was looking down the rails again. {Addicts call that "Mainlining".}

Why do people walk down railroad tracks? The obvious answer is that it's the shortest way to get somewhere and it's not in high grass. A deeper reason is that it gives the home bound a connection with the rest of the world. I remember, as a kid, kneeling down and touching the tracks and knowing I was touching the whole country and, even, other countries. Actually, I probably didn't think about "other countries". Looking down the rails is looking into adventure. Even if you are unable to go on an adventure, you know it's there when you are ready. It's hope. "Hope you can believe in", quote BO.
I may vomit. If you believe his crap, you are being railroaded.

I saw this signal and wondered why it was there. It is for cars that might turn left across the tracks. I looked and looked and there were no tracks ahead of the signals, only to its left. It seemed confusing to a country boy. I now see a deeper message here. There it is America, your warning against turning left with red flashing lights. Take heed. Clarity comes with a second look. Better do that before you cross over.
You do see the cemetery on that left side, don't you?

I zoomed down to the depot to see if the curbs extended that far.
Update 2013, they didn't for a reason. That area was an important junction in the past.
It is still an important junction for the Louisiana & Delta RR of New Iberia.

The rest of this article, which is not much, will require a map. The rails that you see veering to the left  go to Delcambre, seen on the map. New Iberia was a railroad hub. 

I rode down to the depot.
Update 2013: That whole scene has changed.

I went to the west side and shot the rails leaving the mainline. Notice the old rails stuck in the ground.
This was on W.Washington St. right across from the depot.
Update 2013: Most of that has been removed.


. Note the very long ties.{Gone} They are evidence of a switch that connected to the rails in the distance that once connected to the mainline or a sidetrack that connected to the mainline.   These pictures are priceless since those rails are all gone now with  little evidence remaining. The rails were part of the wye that tied the SP to the Iberia & Vermilion and Franklin & Abbeville RR's. Both were eventual subs of the SP. Destinations from this point on those rails included Abbeville and points west and north all the way to Mamou. The junction at Davids would take you  either to Milton or Franklin}

This is looking east on Jefferson St.
W.Washington crosses  just ahead as do the BNSF (SP) rails.

to

I heard the horns.  I rushed back to the courthouse because
I wanted to have the curbs as part of the pictures. I made it.

The train was slowing, really slowing.

Then, the engineer tooted the horn in two quick burst at me.
There is no quick 2 toots in the book. It was a "Hi". I was reduced to 6 years old.
Actually, two toots can mean "getting underway" maybe. I get horned at a lot.

I continued shooting. See him waving at the window? 

The train stopped just short of the far switch that leads to Delcambre. Even in this age of robots, I guess a crewman  still has to switch the switch.  {Boy was I a rookie!} This was zoomed way out and I didn't know that I was catching this drama until I saw the shots at home. I had to further enlarge the pictures.
That's the reason they are blurry.

UPDATE.
It seemed really odd that a "through" BNSF freight had to stop, a very expensive maneuver fuel wise,  to set the mainline rails right. It was either a very cordial move by BNSF or someone with Louisiana and Delta
messed up big time.

Then he was on his way.

There were a lot of cars waiting on him.

The train was on its way to Lafayette with a great acceleration. Was he late? I'm thinking the switch deal was not planned. He had a red light to stop. Had someone forgotten to set the switch back to the mainline?

The old update: With all I know today I'll venture this was odd. Louisiana and Delta should have set the switch back because their trains are short and their headquarters are right across the tracks in the depot.

Feeling warm and fuzzy about my good luck, I decided to follow the tracks south and then east through the unfamiliar neighborhoods. I saw a bump which I knew had been a spur off the main line.
Update. That was no "spur". It was the bed of the Missouri Pacific which ran down Pershing St.and
had crossed the the rails on Jefferson were we were  just looking at the wye. Those rails continued north
in the vacinity of Pershing and eventually headed off to Jefferson Island's salt mine.
Look, I'd updated that already.

 I looked ahead and what did I see? {added: The bump was evidence of the old Missouri Pacific rails that paralleled the Southern Pacific tracks until the SP gave the MP trackage rights over this stretch.  I've determined that when that happened, New Iberia's streets changed a lot in this area when the MP rails were picked  up from Jefferson St. south to where they had joined the SP in the Conrad Rice Mill area.

This is  the Conrad Rice Mill.
If it was Obambam's it would be the Comrade Rice Mill.

Here's the story. "Since 1912, the Conrad Rice mill has been making long and medium grain rice under the brand name of Konriko. Visitors to New Iberia can get a first hand look at the fascinating process that goes into producing this important food". I also saw a claim that it was "America's oldest rice mill.

Whoa, this little ride was getting even better. I started circling and taking pot shots.

I got a little more of the street view.

Mz Guzzi was heard complaining about being blocked by the stop sign. I don't mess with her.

Here's the Visitors' Center. I didn't go in.To quote Lt. Robicheaux, " I never do".

This was around the side. I think this is where the grain was brought into the mill.

Unloaded from these.

Al said, "That elevated shed over the truck, or whatever that was, I think, is a hopper that holds the chaff and hulls left over from the milling, they haul it off and pile it up. The converted sugarcane cart may have been used for a similar purpose, but definitely was not used to haul rice in".

{added: I have determined that the Missouri Pacific rails went through the mill.
I would venture there was a siding, also.}

 See it soon. It is marked as "Mill" on the map. That's it for this one.