Louisiana Hwy10 and Rail Picture Collection: The Spillway Stretch

I've been looking through my mess and found a mess of

lost pictures. They are of some very remote spots, and as

such they should be displayed to the general public as few

will ever venture to these places for personal reasons or

the fact that it makes no sense to go there. Below are

instructions, guides and explanations on how to make your virtual visit go well. 

Bon Voyage.

The map below:

The yellow line is La. 10. It is gravel La.10 from La.77

to the Atchafalaya River where it continues west on a

two car ferry with a limited schedule. Everyone knows this

but may not have actually gone to see it. The orange line

is a railroad built by the T&P RR or a predecessor. I have

the vague application and documentation for it somewhere.

The location of this stretch is common knowledge, also, but

you may have not seen it either. The white line is something

I saw from the air when Mark and I were doing the

McNeely (sp?) Siding investigation. That got sidetracked

but it is still an active investigation. I say it was an earlier

route. (It was) Why was the investigation curtailed?

Mark's blimp sprung a leak. You can't imagine the noise

and how fast a deflating blimp can climb, then drop.

The red line is highway. Below the yellow line is La.77,

above the yellow line is La.10 going into Morganza, La.

Morganza is where the Easy Rider boys visited the cafe.

Mark has a girlfriend there. Some say two girlfriends,

but I think there's only one the way he talks about her.

On with this short ride. Leaving the pavement of either

La.Hwy 10 or 77, you head west over the Morganaza Spillway

levee. Be careful, the shoulders of this road are rounded.

Louisiana, in its dire need for funds, has started issuing

licenses for sign hunting. This one has been hit a bunch

but has not been officially bagged, so get yourself a license

and try to bring her down. Then you can mount it for

all of your friends to admire.

The levee is a big one. You would want it that way.

The river carries 1/3 of the Mississippi's flow on a slow day.

A sign reassures you that you are not crazy or now lost.

There are more reassuring green DOTD signs.  It is my guess that Texas Calvary 

General Tom Green came riding down this road to defeat the

Yankees south of Morganza at this place called Fordoche Bridge.

Back to 10 ton warning sign, it's about sinking the ferry. I rode over

with a huge combine one time. They had to center it like a fat guy in a canoe.

Various crops grow here. Last time was wheat.

A bayou or three inhabit this area with adjoining back swamps.

Eventually you will break out of the thickness.

Next is a shot from the cockpit of the 2k Guzzi Jackal.

I rode her today on my birthday run. More from that ride shortly.

On my GPS screen, below, green is La.10 on the east bank,

orange is the railroad. The yellow lines are the T&P's historic

rails running north to Simmesport and southwest to Opelousas,

and ultimately to Crowley. The other green line is La.105.

Then you come to Stonehenge, Louisiana railroad style.

I parked and marveled at it. The train cannot go ground

level here. Flooding would wreck the schedule so it needs

Stonehenge to support it over the threatening waters.

Notice this shot is from February. Others are from June

and March. I often revisit my favorite spots. In fact, I'm

now feeling a need to visit here again.

There's the wheat I was talking about.

And a close up. I may bring a chair and wait for a shot.

Next, the gravel road intersects La. 973 which enjoys

just a little pavement and then turns into paved La.417 headed

north to Legonier. Wonder where this was taken from?

La.417 is a wonderful levee ride if you can deal with

the rounded shoulders.

Up there? These pictures were sent to me by Lawless

Armont. In his note he claimed I was his long lost father.

I don't know about the "father" part, but "long lost" is true.

He used that perch to get these. The road shot is looking

toward East Krotz Springs. We are in a place called Red

Cross. I think the name originated from the floods of 1927

when the Red Cross set up base here to assist the flood

victims. It was high ground, maybe, or, the levee was intact

on this side. It sure wasn't on the Melville side. The rail

bridge eventually failed. I have a picture of it with a missing span.

Dang, Lawless, you got a shot of my bike. I never even

saw you up there. What a coincidence!!

Good shots, maybe you are my son? Who's your mama?

Look at the wood and how it is marked. This bridge is

no longer available to walkers. I'm wondering if autos ever crossed?

Senior EL, when these shots were aired in 2008, identified

the mechanism below as a car counter. Later he

amended that guess to "derailer". As a train engineer

you are barreling toward the opened bridge and can't stop or

you are asleep at the wheel. The derailer will derail the train,

beginning with the engine, you, Mr. Engineer, and then you'll

probably slide down the embankment and die. That beats

going into the Atchafalaya River and being eaten by a

300 lb. catfish with revenge written all over its whiskered

face. The above is speculative and not an authentic portrayal

of probabilities, real or imagined. I would suppose the green

thing means the derailer is not active being the bridge is

closed which means it's open for business. Confusion

necessitates the derailer. That's why you often see trains

stopping before attempting a 110 year old draw bridge.

Having not been derailed or gone off the bridge, we enter

Melville. These two maps show the abandoned rails going north

and southwest. The yellow line is the old "OG", the

Opelousas Gulf and Northeast Railroad which was absorbed

by the Texas and Pacific early on, like 1907. It may have

retained its name until about 1914, but the name "OG", in the

minds of the inhabitants, lingered for years. I've been

told that in Jeanerette, the name "Frisco" was used forever

after ownership moved to the MP. I'm using abbreviations

since if you are RR oriented, you all ready know what

I'm talking about, and if not, you probably don't care, so

I'll be economic with that understanding.

These maps were taken from Mark's blimp prior to the

"incident". From ground level you never notice the red

orange and yellow lines.

The Yellow line going north was the Texas and Pacific's

Simmesport route. I can't write on either anymore. Doing

so would make my head explode because there is just

so much you can know about something, then it gets ugly.

Extensive orations and albums upon albums of pictures

are somewhere else on this rag covering both branches.

As an added treat, I have a picture from today's outing.

Al has been wanting to become a brooding fashion model

since he heard about Naomi being given those blood

diamonds. He asked that I take this shot to submit to

Brooding Rail Watcher's Magazine. You have to hand

it to him, he might have finally found his calling. Lord

knows he been a searchin'.

The bed is calling me, more later with the Birthday Ride,