Why Would You Go to Kinder?

I was once asked that {Why Would You Go to Kinder} by a railroad expert historian of the highest order.

I was perplexed.

Evidently there was something about Kinder in his past that had prejudiced him against the whole community, possibly an ex-wife or girlfriend as they can do that  I sensed  he'd been the victim of some relationship gone bad. Most negative remarks can be traced to woman trouble if you dig down far enough. 

I never dug.

His negativity has never prejudiced me from going there  Sensing his problem I have never indulged in any female relationship within the city limits. Temptation has never been a problem, not to offend the citizens of Kinder as I'm sure there are some lovely ladies around.

 No, this time, as in times past, I was interested in a facet of  Kinder's rail history.

Of late I have been corresponding with a history buff / photographer who has rekindled my Kinder interest.

I'm going to drop the bomb early in this write and show you what made Mark and I ride way the hell out  US 190, get lost in a woman trouble  town, and then find the spot where our target had been or more exactly,  close to where it'd been or where I thought it  had been moved.  At this point I am not going to tell you the culmination of our exploration or you will flee. That does not sit well with my need to captivate  minds and influence on different levels.

Yep, we were out to find the depot. 

David, the photographer,  had been there back in 1992 and knew exactly where it was then. I am not that sharp and had a hard time deciphering his explanation due to the fact that we were not using the same map interpretation dictionary.   But, finally the fog lifted and we both went "whew!".  Little did he expect, or possibly he did, that I had more questions and proposals. At that point I think he invented some high school graduation  he had to attend and fled. That is only a guess.

After that night of endless exchanges and final resolution I emailed Mark to see if he was interested in coming along. He seemed hesitant and I suspected that he'd had woman trouble in Kinder also though he's never mentioned it. Hesitancy did not translate into "no, I rather not", so I headed up to his place and from there we went west on US 190.

In Eunice we went by where AKDN parks their tugs when not on a run.

The old Santa Fe is a LTEX rent-a-engine. I have seen LTEX engines at the SILX repair location next to the AKDN offices at Opelousas. Who knows, that fine old machine might be AKDN's or they were  using it for a "test ride". I use to test ride customer's motorcycles for days "just to make sure the fix worked", always with permission, of course.

Slackjawed, we left Eunice and proceeded to Basile, another hotspot of railroading action.

A "local" sat on the tracks. There were a bunch more cars east of where it was.  Don't fret, there is  a long  passing track there and I believe all the sitting stuff was out of the way in case one wanted to get by.

Mark later admitted that he did not remember being in Basile or maybe Elton, the next town. There were no pictures taken in Elton so I think that is his blank spot. Before I forget, I do think this is the location of the Basile Depot and that was a freight dock you see there.

Skipping Elton, as Mark did, it was on to Kinder.

These are a collection of Kinder pictures past and present.

Please do notice there are no women pictures in the group.

The first 2 were taken in 2009. 

They were the first taken where rails were a determined factor in my scene choice.

 Next were some shots when Al, Mark and I had come through here on our ride to the rail museum.

This is a spooky picture because it was taken right across from where the depot had originally been.

Look up the tracks.  Just past the signal on the left side of the tracks is where the depot was.

Right, David? If not, just let it go. 

 Here a train was preparing to go to the right (east) toward Opelousas.

 In 2011, I was there for some reason. 

NO, not ...... 

This is where I thought the depot had been.

 It had a side track, bald spots, all the criteria for a previous depot location.

 There were even Union Pacific work trucks across the road.  It all worked in my mind.

 

That spot was where I have placed "Depot".

I had it north of the east-west tracks and west of the north-south tracks.

But it had been some business.

 These pictures are leftovers from the "location discussion" David and I had. 

The red arrow had been my guess.

 

 The arrow points to near where the Kinder Depot had been next to the tracks
between US 165 and the rails.

Satellite surveillance showed that it was likely still nearby.

I had proposed that  it had been moved.

 

 There was enough evidence for a road trip.

While looking for my target, Mark enjoyed the fact that I didn't have
my GPS with me when I  made a wrong turn.

At my expense he did a Yuck Yuck where you see "Yuck Yuck".

I found that a little perverse.

I guess, reading the map you can ascertain that we did not find

the depot but a large metal box shaped structure the size of a mobile home.

No pictures were taken. Disappointment had gripped the expedition.

 I, seeing Mark rolling  his eyes and wondering why he was in Kinder, evidently "again", I suggested we go to Oberlin when I really meant Oakdale, twice the distance of Oberlin.

Being relieved that I had no more iffy railroad historical location artifacts to hunt, but merely suggested a "ride", he brightened up and we left out US 165 North, but first I did a little U-turn just to keep him sharp.

No pictures were taken in Oberlin. 

In Oakdale I took him on the old mill tour but first we went by the spillway on the Calcacieu River.

This is an awing place.

Next we headed east on La.10.

La.10, out of Oakdale, is a spectacular ride.

No pictures were taken.

You don't think of pictures on this road.

Flashback:

Before arriving at Mark's that morning I had stopped by AKDN.

At the plant next door this was going on.

How the ...  did that back hoe get up there.

The ramp can be seen bottom of  picture.

 The train was huge. Unloading all that rock would take a while.

Back to the present:

Leaving Mark's the train was  just pulling out. My timing was perfect.

 It pushed the cars into the yard and then uncoupled, passed them up and re-coupled to head out.

 This engine, or one of the same color, had been seen at Livonia. I think it was headed back there.

You don't have to tell me, I know they are great shots.

I headed to my Guidry St. location to await the train's arrival.

I heard it honking and knew by the toots that it was backing  up.

I'd leave tired and hungry, but first .....

 I notice that the crossing to the old home north of the tracks had been torn up. 

No longer would it be accessible.

 That was a sad moment.

 I hate to leave you sad, but life is not always kind and suffering is a part of it. I could have left you thinking about the song "Sugar Sugar Honey Honey" by the Archie's which would rot your brain for the rest of the day and I guess it will now but it's better than being sad.

That's it.  Words to Sugar Sugar below.
I place it here as a tribute to all the lovely woman in Kinder who
might have been insulted by this story.

Sugar, ah honey honey
You are my candy girl
And you've got me wanting you.
Honey, ah sugar sugar
You are my candy girls
And you got me wanting you

I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you,
(I just can't believe it's true)
I just can't believe the one to love this feeling to
(I just can't believe it's true)

Sugar, ah honey honey.
Good Lord, I'd accidentally written "hiney" for "honey".
The mind is a mysterious place. At least mine is.
What was I thinking?