No that's not the Big Thompson Cr. Bridge. It's the new
one over the Mississippi River, not shown below because
it wasn't finished then. I gave up looking for a map which
included the finished bridge so stretch your imagination
and the roadway across the water. Somewhat of an explan-
ation is below.
Today's outing involved crossing the Mississippi River
at New Roads using the new La.10 Audubon Bridge.
Once we got to US 61, we turned south and crossed Big
Thompson Creek, then turning west (right) on Tom Mills Lane.
The rails were a short distance south. The map, below, enlarges
when clicked. Hit the X in the right upper hand corner to
return to this ride report or just look at the pictures aimlessly.
You will notice "CX" waypoints. They are for the Angola Branch
Project to come in the near future.
Lately, I've been skipping around unable to settle on any project.
Finally I landed on "trestles and bridges". I knew of one
I wanted to visit and then found another that may be special.
"Special", now there's a word that's been trashed by a generation
of politically correct idiots. It may have started out with "Special Ed"
instead of calling it what it really is, "remedial education".
Since I'm not politically correct I can use the word "special" in
its original context, meaning that something "stands out". What
stands out about these trestles, I've found, or think I've found,
is that they are on railroads that will probably never see another
train, one more unlikely than another, very unlikely unless
that train is pulled by a dozer. But, that's another trestle for
another time. This one is south of St. Francisville, La. and
was part of Illinois Central Railroad which had assumed the
rails of the West Feliciana RR. The Gloster and Something RR
may have rebuilt the trestle back in 2001. Someone did, but
the old cast iron bridge section, I think, was the 1923 bridge
I was told about.
This one. The waterway is Big Thompson Creek, emphasis on "Big".
Arriving at the rails, Mark and I spent an hour trying to
figure a way out to the bridge that did not involve a lot of
walking. Mark has walking issues, damn, I used another
politically correct word. They are like a disease. Ok, Mark
got whacked by a idiot driver that rendered his walking
ability marginal on certain days. That's all, and, I'm lazy.
Issues?
Anyway, from where you see "Gravel Road", meaning
Tom Mills Lane, to "Bridge", meaning the bridge, is a real
hike, especially since we were dealing with rotten rail ties
and that was the only place to walk due to the narrow rail
bed with almost sheer drops on either side when we got
closer to the river, yes a river. That is no creek.
I'll add some filler shots here. See the rails?
The arrow to the left means we went left. The arrow pointing
down is pointing down to the location where the South Shore
Railroad crossed the Illinois Central. I don't think the West
Feliciana was around then, but maybe. We'll get back to it
when we return from the bridge.
Mark, our radio and high trestle expert, assessed the
condition of the rails, foliage and a lot of etc.
In the meantime, I rode ahead.
Much to my surprise, he was hot on my heels.
There were anxious times, but we forged forth.
The grade was getting higher, or the ground lower.
We had briefly considered the problem of turning the bikes
around once we got as far as we could go. With no conclusion
to those considerations, the lure had hooked us fishes, line
and sinker.
I was starting to worry. Visions of the Durango and Silverton
train ride were gnawing at me.
Then, Mark found a sign which said "W 2", honking his
horn and yelling loudly. I thought he'd gone off the cliff.
Then, out of nowhere a crossing appeared.
We would go no further on the bikes and count our
good fortune turning the bikes here. We'd walk the rest.
And, walk we would.
We later found on the net that we had been monitored.
Yes, around that curve ......
....... lay the bridge and approach trestle. Someone had
spent big bucks fixing this thing.
This is a zoomed out picture taken from far away in hopes
that it would give the needed inspiration to keep on.
We had asked a guy back at the road if there was a cheap
way of getting out here. He said, "no". Then he asked why
we wanted to get out there. I told him it was so we could
take a picture of the bridge. He said, "Why?" I gave him
the spiel about being amateur this and that and he still
looked bewildered, probably thinking that we had issues.
At this point that thought crossed my mind.
We trudged, carefully stepping 3 ties at a time.
We continuously looked for the rumored plaque setting
the bridge's construction at 1923.
Mark got a big laugh when he found this.
I popped a few shots of stuff that grabbed me, or tried to grab me.
Brian said it looked like a car was dragged down the rails.
The rails had been blocked on the west side. Yankees?
Remember, this area is very close to the Port Hudson
Battlefield. Possibly ...... Ok, I won't go there. I think I
just used another idiot phrase. Our poor language.
More stuff.
A deer feeder lay below and we weren't wearing orange.
It was time for the climb back up to the bikes.
Mark's fluorescent orange Honda was a welcomed sight.
Tom Mills lay ahead.
Now to look at the South Shore trestle. Across Tom Mills,
and crossing high above the Illinois Central, was the South
Shore Railroad that had gravel operations radiating from
Cole, La., just south of Jackson, La. The rails above the
IC connected that location with the Louisiana & Arkansas
rail line down south. The L&A would eventually be
known as the Kansas City Southern which still services the
industries along US 61. That was a wild statement.
Below, the IC is horizontal, the SSRR is vertical. "1" is
Tom Mills Lane.
South side supports.
On top of them looking north. Notice the IC rails at the
bottom left.
Down on the ground behind a support, I shot forward
over the IC rails to the other side. The corresponding
north side supports can be seen there.
Again, the IC rails and the south support.
Looking up from IC rail level.
Then we attempted to find our way, and the rail's way, down
to Poloma and Port Hudson. Where you see "1", we could go
no further because both of us were worried about a gate.
We popped out on US 61 and shot the old crossing lights.
Soon, I expect them to be gone.
We rode back across the "creek" and then south on La.964
to where the IC would have crossed the highway. The
rails have been pulled here for a long time. Yankees?
In the weeds we found what looked like parts to a scale.
There was also this large skidder looking contraption.
And lots of old ties.
The rails are still intact from the bridge to the wye south
to the paper plant. The dark red rails are gone. We were
at La.964, the white line.
There's a better shot.
Again. I guess I like wyes. The gentleman back at the road
would probably ask, "Why wyes?"
The live rails continue down to a yard and the paper mill.
Though the mill is out of business, something is going on there.
There was too much semi traffic on 964.
Back in New Roads, I had a small project. This is a 1938 picture
of New Roads. It is looking across the tracks east toward the river.
I tried to find a shot with similarities. The side track depicts
where I'd expect the depot.
That's the depot, freight platform area.
The La.10 crossing.
South of there.
No cigar on that project, but the Big Thompson Creek ride was perfect.
More later.