HISTORY HUNTS WAREHOUSE: Copy The Red River and Gulf Tour

This is the first attempt by anyone* to put the entire Red River and Gulf Railroad route together as a drivable tour. Al and I did it in order to plan the easiest part first, the logical progression. This first section will take you from Big Cut to Hutton. You can do it while driving anything including pack animals. Large RV's and semis, maybe not. They would be a challenge, not that I'm challenging you, but I bet I could do it in a semi, just saying.

The next part will be from Hutton to La.171 somewhere. It will take a little doing as an army bombing range will have to be negotiated. Actually, I've done 3 of the other parts already but not as actual tours. It seems that I could tweak them a little and turn them into tours. Those sections are the Long Leaf to LeCompte branch, sorta, and the south of Lake Cocodrie branch, sorta, and the Meridian branch, sorta, which might actually be the below Cocodrie branch.

Back a while, "a reader" sent me a bunch of disoriented pictures of the rail beds around Long Leaf. I'll have to make up where they were taken since he was very vague like he really didn't want me to know where the locations were, no big deal. You know who you are. You're probably still giggling over that one.

Back to this ride, it goes through some nice country and you don't have to know what a train is to enjoy it. But, if you first go to this thing, pictured below, you might get hooked on the old choo choo scene. Click the poster and it expands so you can read it better. The happening is world famous. Al and I stopped in Simpson and a brother biker came up to rap with us a bit. He asked us what we were doing on his turf. Whenever explaining the truth, I wench at the usual response. Not this time, Eddie connected, up front mentioning what a good time he'd had at last year's festival and vowed to be there this time. He especially liked the gospel singing.

Page 1
First of all, right click those maps, choose "open in new window" so you can download them and follow along. They are priceless. Now on with the article:

What needs to be done?
After resolving my dilemma over the planned LaFouche ride, I sat there in a quandary reflecting on the needs of the exploding, in number, general motorcycling public. Bikes were bought, brought home, hours were spent polishing to impress, then duh? The avoided question of "where to ride it" was waiting at the end of the driveway. After several crashes, the "Ride to the Bar" choice was chucked. After projectile vomiting within a full coverage helmet, the "Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride", idea was also chucked. Pardon my choice of words. With bars and unlicensed eateries off the list, where else can there be to go?

May I suggest an "Old Railroad Beds in the Forest" tour. I'm not going to tell you to spend hours looking for humps and bumps like Al and I do. I want you to simply ride their routes following my maps while enjoying our beautiful Louisiana countryside. I think this will satisfy your need to get somewhere over and over. Each new chance to see the old bed will keep you riding along. I'm not saying this course will prevent spills or puking, but it's a better bet than your previous choices.

Back to the tour preparations. Al was available to assist, so I first went by his new place. He emerged with helmet installed. He seemed groggy and stumbled. I asked if he was OK and he replied that he was, but hadn't slept well the previous night. I noticed his beard and hair were a bit longer. I feared Al was becoming less focused.

Our first stop was Big Cut.
Simply, Big Cut is where the Army crossed the route of the RR&G with their own railroad. It was headed to Fort Polk in Leesville, the RR&G was headed to Peason and points beyond. You will have no problem getting to it on your motorcycle. We didn't.

Arriving, I heard the sound of a dirt bike. Down in the bottom on the RR&G bed appeared this guy. In this shot he's thinking about climbing the near straight up 30 foot cement embankment, which cannot be done on foot. I was wondering if he was considering his wet traction-less knobbies and the fact that it was narrow and that there are dangerous cement supports on the left. It doesn't seen that this is where an organized enduro club would run its race, but they did. Seems dumb to me. This kind of crap is why the Forest Service had to limit riders to its trails. Why did they allow the club to use it? I guess they're dumb, too. Bubba 51 is not on the trail. The FS got tired of having to calling Air Med in an attempt at saving these idiot's lives. I thought "dirt riders" would be content with "dirt". The "show off" and "I'm a racer" factor is too much a part of the sport. Nice outfit Lorenzo.

Looks like a street rider would be satisfied with street riding.

Now I have the write's rants out of the way, here's how to do the tour.

Get on Boy Scout Road. It lies just north of where Spring Creek is crossed by US 165 between McNary and Forest Hill. It is the white line with the black dots. Take Boy Scout to Forest Road 259. Ride it east until it makes a hard right. Let it go, you keep straight until you see 2 big bumps in the two rut road. Don't go over the second bump.

The purple line on the map is the Red River & Gulf Railroad bed as it leaves LongLeaf Junction, a historical place. It proceeds west to where you see "CROSS" written, that's Big Cut. The brown line is the old bed of the C&PMRR, the Claiborne and Polk Military Railroad, as it heads for Fort Polk. You ride it to the location of Big Cut. Forest Road 259 to the Big Cut extension is an exciting ride as the bed fill stands high above the low forest. If you have not ridden Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, this is good practice.

When you are done with Big Cut, tear yourself away and retrace to Boy Scout Road. The C&PMRR continues across the road. Go north on BS to Otis Melder. Go west on it. You are back on or near the RR&G bed. Next is Tattoo Road. If it is not the RR bed, then play like it is. You won't even have to flip on your imagination. Sorry, you'll have to because Tattoo is not the RR&G. But, it could be if you want it enough. To prevent frustration breakdown, a good tool is the ability to speculate. I speculate a lot. Al is a more structure oriented person and he tries to keep me factual. This tour will be based on a combination of our strengths.

Below, I've taken one of Everett Lueck's maps and augmented it with the modern road names, a missing part in actually understanding where the railroad went. Nice job Everett, but you came up short. The road names are in red. Important roads, so far, on this tour are Boy Scout, (O)Otis Melder, Tattoo and Potato Farm Rds. The yellow line is our tracks. I should have gone down Melder Rd. to check that crossing. Next time I will. Remember this was a rough beginning. Al kept falling asleep, much like you are probably doing right now. Click the map to read it.

Potato Farm goes right up the railroad route. Potato Farm runs into Booster Wright Road. At the cross roads of Elmer and Booster Wright was the settlement of Emerline. There was probably some sort of lumbering installation there as the RR&G serviced lumbering installations, being a mill owned railroad. From time to time I'll drop little hints like that, so read carefully.

When you get to Potato Farm Rd., it will look like this. To the right, where the power line is, is what appears to be a railroad bed. Sorry about the Clintonian "is, is". Remember, speculate, then imagine.

Emerline will look like this:

I forgot to take a shot of Lisso on La.112. Another lost opportunity.
Look, I know this is all hard to absorb at one time. Take your time. It's taken me over a year to figure it out. I finally have learned to marry Everett's great maps with my GPS software. It took a strange, missing ingredient, work. This next one features Potato Farm, Booster Wright and Boyd Road. That gets us to La.112. The railroad went straight, we had to veer off on 488 and then ll99 on up to La.121 and 465 to follow it. When we rejoined, it was a moment.

This ride report will be a somewhat irreverent and unofficial survey of the route as far as Hutton. I'll have to camp out somewhere to continue from that point. As it was, this first foray was 300 miles in length. Al was "loosing concentration" at about mile 260. After you see what he did, you'll understand why.

Page 2
Continuing the tour, we rode 1199 up to Owen Miller, a quiet neighborhood road short cut over to La.121. We arrived at the approximate location of Lewiston, a speculated depot location. I can't find my RR&G schedule, if I had one. On the map, the yellow line is the railroad and the white line is our attempt to follow it. As you can see, we got pretty far OFF trying to get back to 465. We went south on 121 for a short distance, then turned west on La.465. At Ian Johnston we turned north and crossed the railroad, then turned east on Powell and crossed it again. I don't think we realized we were crossing on either occasion. I did feel a tingle in my leg twice, to borrow a term from Cris Mathews.

I have two map sources I can use in showing you the way . One is by using my GPS program's on again, off again, rough rail route coverage. The second is using Everett's old maps that don't have the roads and modern highway names marked too well. His has the rails right, mine has the roads right. That is why you are getting both versions each augmented with the other. I'll stay with the yellow line as the rails, and white line as our trail. When this is all done, you'll be able to visit each exact spot. I'll list them as coordinates. Won't that be fun. Maybe I'll leave some candy in a hollow tree? Al did that once. I've never figured out the significance of the flashing earrings.

Above is Everett's old map. Yellow marks the highways. I failed to mark the Johnston Road exit and the side trip down Powell Road where the tingles occurred. The brown tracks continue to be the RR&G. Enough maps. Here are a few pictures.

The following is a speculative picture since I did not mark its location. Let it work for you. If it does not work as a Right of Way picture, enjoy it as a view of the topography. An ability to positively adapt is essential out here in the field.

Al wanted to claim it. I convinced him that he didn't want to fool with a pipeline.

We rejoined La.465. Before Sieper, Al saw it. The bed is close to the highway and there is no fence barring a chance to stand on it. This is a monumental place. It is marked "Bed 465" on the top map.

It is a magical place.

The old telegraph poles were still there.

And the lines were in good shape. I could hear the telegrapher tapping away.

Al noted that the bed fill had to come from the surrounding land. A borrow pit lay next to the bed. He is indeed his ggggggggggg-grandfather's gggggggggg-grandson.

Although he was afraid to venture into the undergrowth, Alphonso de LaSalle officially claimed for France all of the Red River and Gulf right of way as far as it would travel in all directions through his proxy, me. I had to carry the damn Fleur de Lis back out to the "tracks".

This may be a scary scene for some. I was relieved to see that Al was back in form. We would next search for Hood Camp.

I could close my eyes and see this. (picture from the Southern Forest Heritage Museum at Long Leaf collection (Glenmora/Forest Hill, La.)

Page 3
CLICK THE MAP TO ENLARGE

Above Sieper, we took RV Rhames to Stille and Clifton Crossing to La.28. I never realized I was in Stille. No tingle. This in Indian Country. The Clifton Choctaw Community is above La.28. We could have taken Reginal Perry Road out of Sieper and followed along the bed, but I forgot. It's a dead end, anyway. Here's the map. Pictures only, I'm rapped out. The RR&G crossed the Cypress Bayou water shed. There must have been some long trestles. I think Al found one. The picture with marked stubs, below.

You still there Al?

Page 4

We emerged out onto La.28, the busy Alexandria to Leesville thoroughfare. There I stopped and surveyed a very probable location of the RR&G crossing, marked "Mystery Road" on the map. I'm including this because I don't want you making the same mistake. And, besides, now it belongs to France.

This flat topped route took off to the north just as the RR&G did. Ahead was a drop off.

Al motioned me to the precipice and we speculated on a long trestle carrying the trains north. Then he went down and inspected the cement abutment. I failed to notice that there was no sign of posts at the time.

I knew Al was having his doubts, but nevertheless, King Louis owned a bit more property.

I zoomed the GPS down and saw the alignment move a little west. We rode the 200 feet difference up the highway. There it was, plain as day. Of course it had the usual welcoming sign.

Directly across the road was the corresponding opening. Al bolted across the highway to investigate, or something.

Yep.

About that time a State Police car pulled up. My bike was off of the shoulder, so I knew, for once, I was legal. He stuck his head out of the window and asked if everything was OK. I thumbed through my folder of category files and responded with a "Yes, thank you sir," while trying not to look at Al and his flag across the road.

Next, we really do move up the road to Hood Camp. I know I said that on the last page. TV news uses that hook to keep you watching. I'm no better.

Page 5
The RR&G next crossed a wild area above La.28. A place called Jericho was out there somewhere along the line. I could find no way to it. Hood Camp would be the next stop in the line of lumbering locations. After Hood, Temple Spur would be next and then Comrade. I believe Comrade was an early settlement and just so happened to be the location of a mill. Hutton would be the next stop going west after Comrade.

Maps and dirt roads may be getting boring so I'm going to kick start your imagination a little. This is what it was all about from the early 1900's to the late 1940's.

And this one, taken at Hutton, where we are going.

That puts a face on it. Now absorbing more maps and dirt roads will hopefully be a bit easier. The pictures were either supplied by or taken at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum in Long Leaf. Yes, they have a website.

On with the ride. We went west on 28 and then rejoined 465 going northwest. Reaching Hood Camp was impossible from 465. What were "parish roads" had been eaten by hunting clubs. I would not quit trying until we reached the turn off for Comrade. One more chance presented itself, Hood Camp Road off of La.8, east of Simpson. If that didn't do it, nothing would. On the way we passed though Temple. Old stores with Lone Star Feed signs are Kodak moments.

Near there was this historical marker. From it I make my thesis that Comrade was not a classic mill town, but had its roots a bit deeper in history.

On seeing the road sign, complete with unbarred road, I became elated. The GPS said that Hood Camp was 3.4 miles down the gravel road.

Seven miles netted this.

The ride to these remote places is endless. The return rides to the main highway go quickly. How two equal distances can occupy different amounts of time, I have yet to figure out.

Next, we turned off of La.8 onto Comrade Road. The much anticipated sweep across the arc of the RR&G took to its various mills, etc, was about to begin. The rails would be close, but something was wrong with my GPS. I finally figured out that "No Map" is an option. That corrected, we forged forth. It was getting late. We were 140 miles from home port and headed off into the wilderness. I would have to weigh time and space once again. This time I based my estimate liberally, relying heavily on the newly activated, Daylight Savings Time . We hustled. Al even folded his flag.

I am not satisfied with our inspection. There will be a next time on this stretch. I had to check out the Comrade Cemetery, just north of "town".

The grave of Mrs.Elizabeth Crager, Dec.6,1828--April 9,1905 would signify the history of this area.

I always take pictures of the portrait headstones. They are great. It's like meeting the folks.

Bud and Lula, I know, were nice people.

We hurried on to Hutton. A paved road replaced the gravel, a sign of increased civilization, sometimes. There was civilization at Hutton, but nothing worth shooting, so I shot the GPS which is still one hour off. It was 4pm. The horizontal dashes are the tracks, the triangle is us. I'm sure there was more, but I was panicking. Night riding is very bad. People don't see bikes in the daytime. It's much worse at night.

We lit it up and shortly reached 465. We'd fly back to Simpson, almost. I had to stop at the Welcome Cemetery. The name drew me. I think "Welcome" was a community.

We didn't go in.

On to Simpson we rode. I suspect that there was a large mill there and that this old building is the sole remaining remnant. I have shot it at various points in its demise.

Here's what I believe was the storage pond for the mill.

I may add a few more from the ride home. Hutton was the end of the line for now. The RR&G continued hugging La.465 to Kurthwood. Then La.118 would be the closest through road to follow the rails to Peason. That later.