The Southern Pacific p.7 BB to Arnaudville

Before I get started, I need to explain my diminished enthusiasm. I go out exploring, I find stuff, sometimes stuff that is amazing and then I quickly write it down while my enthusiasm is still cooking. This one has lingered too long and I'm finishing it up as if it were a job that needed completing instead of the pleasure it should be. I'm not going to do them like this anymore. What happens is what almost happened on the last page. It was a boring stinker. If I hadn't gone back and found the train parked, I would have blown it up. It was close. Now, the only reason I'm completing this job is what I found in Port Barre.

Like I always say, I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

On the last page, I had just cleared La.94/Mills Street/The Lafayette Highway/The Breaux Bridge Highway, all the same road.

This route is so old my GPS Topo doesn't show it. The tracks followed La.31, except where the road and Bayou Teche, which it was following, went into a big meander. That big bend is called Grand Point. The town of Cecelia was once known as Grand Point, thus "Grand Point Road" (La.347) in Breaux Bridge. Mentioning that gives me a chance to say that the mustard colored line is the other railroad that followed the Teche, the Missouri Pacific, which like all these other railroads had other names in earlier days, a few we'll learn after arriving in Port Barre, the grand finale' of these rails and ride.

Have you ever been given something that you felt was so valuable you didn't feel qualified to possess it? After leaving Port Barre, I think that's the feeling I had or maybe it was just excitement.

Back to the mustard colored MP line. I have followed it, reported on it, and was very aware of its route, well, up to the end when I couldn't figure out if it went into Port Barre or not. Now, I now understand it and the other 3 railroads that crossed or ended in PB. Sorry, we, just like the old trains, can't move too fast.



This next shot is taken from the first through road, Daugereaux Road, after what is locally known as 4 corners, the intersection of La.31 and La.94. It is looking back to where the existing rails at the Enterprise location end. There was no place to park or I would have hiked to the end of the rails for a shot of where "today" ended and "history" begins. Howz that for drama? We are in what was known as the Gecho-DeClouet communiies, Both had stops.



Next up is Gecko, seen on the map. Was there a station? Here's a cutout from a SP Schedule Page that will keep you on board (Everett again).



We, or course are going from bottom to top or south to north. After Ruth should come Breaux Bridge. Instead, you see "Lafayette" which was a westward option, I believe. Above Breaux Bridge you see Nina, Lenora, Achafalaya River, which were eastward options at the depot right before Breaux Bridge Junction. Next up would be Gecho and De Clouet.

Just follow the power lines. They are right on most of the time. Looking back toward Breaux Bridge.



I'm going to say that this is where the depot was. I can say that.



What I toll you?



At this point, the railroad cuts across the "point" and does not visit Cecelia (Grand Point). I think as late as 1939 the place was called Grand Point?

It's time for Everett's next map. Remember, these maps can be clicked to enlarge.



I want to get up some steam here so there will be few pictures and less explanation. I don't see it on this 1935 schedule, but I have seen McVeigh mentioned on others.

First is the Magnolia Plantation area. The road is called DeClouet Road. it goes around and hooks up with La.354 that brings you back to La.31 The SP crossed this loop. These are pictures of what I guessed was its route. If not, they are pictures of other stuff, grass, trees, what have you. Lately we are being asked to believe a lot. Just add these to your "I Believe" list.



I just checked the schedule and the DeClouet and Gecko stops were only .6 miles apart. Weird. Maybe they were different plantations or there was something between them that separated them, like a swamp?



I had to stand on my bike seat for this one. I overheard,"Dear, there's a man standing on a motorcycle taking pictures of out backyard. I could hear the sirens coming. What would I tell my wife this time? Luckily it was the volunteer fire department on a practice run.





A lot of sport bike riders trudge through all this crap and even write to say what sludge I've imposed upon them and that this surely can't be described as a motorcycle enthusiast's website. I write back and tell them that it's really a search for great opportunities to "get air" over those old railroad humps. They write back and it usually goes like this, "Wow, man, you the dude.[Or, "dude, you the man?] All the time I thought you were just some old weirdo that liked wandering around wasting your time". I thank them for their appreciation and move on. This one's for you, Scott. It's like they are all named Scott or Ned?

For the railroad guys, this is a banked corner. You can ride faster around these. I knowm, banked rails are limited to roller coasters.

I need to add this as heath insurance for the fast and loud group: Pissed off Cajuns have been known to blow "bikers" scaring their dogs and endangering their kids right off their putters. They call it "deer season practice" or something like that . I'm not exactly sure how it goes in French, but when someone says it, they all laugh. I think I've heard "une biche defunt, hahahahahaha" at the end of the bar at the corner of 354 and 31.
I left.



I have this other schedule that mentions what I think are spurs out here or stops. This was evidently a line that embraced the neighborhoods or maybe, the neighborhoods embraced the railroad as a means of travel and crop transport. I'm sure it was a mutual thing.



Next up the line was McVeigh Rd. I've traveled this road a million times. It's a little known shortcut. Turn at one of my favorite country churches.



Here's looking back at the church which is on 31.



Here's what I found and now recognize it for what it was.



This is where the Model A's and T's, horse and wagons, tractors, and all means of transportation had to stop and wait for the train to pass. It is also a place where kids of all ages waved to the train guys and, maybe, looked down the track as it disappeared, thinking, "one day, one day".


Durio Road was next, but to be honest, the picture was worthless. But, researching Durio Road, yes, I do some reseach, I found this. Here's to you Mr. Durio.

"Mr. Durio, a native of Arnaudville, died at 11:20 p.m. Monday, March 9,
1998, at his residence. He was the son of the late Angelas N. Durio and the
former Euphrozine Clay. Mr. Durio had been a resident of Lafayette since 1922 where he was a Car Inspector for Southern Pacific Railroad. He was employed by Southern Pacific for 47 years retiring in 1965".

I'm thinking, "Mr.Durio was a native of Arnaudville and we are just about 2 miles south of that town. It is possible that Durio Road led to or passed through Mr.Durio's family's land. He might have caught the Railroad Fever by seeing the trains come through either here or town." That's what I'm thinking.

Also: He worked for the SP since 1918. Did he commute for four years from Arnaudville? I don't think so. That was a long distance in those days. Still is. That is, of course assuming that he worked in Lafayette. I think he worked in another location before moving to Lafayette. What say you?

The railroad came into Arnaudville like this. Right up Grain Elevator Road to the Bayou Fuselier bridge.





Looking back across the bridge from the other side, here's looking south.



CLICK HERE to move on up the line to Arnaudville and Leonville.

The Southern Pacific p.6 BB (Page 2)

I looked over my shoulder toward where the station had been. I swore I heard a whistle.



Whew. It couldn't be. Here's a refresher map. Click to make it larger.



I was headed toward the cross tracks. Someone had put some shell there to make crossing it easier. Why?



Standing on the cross track, I zoomed in on the old old rail bed ahead. It is still in use as part of the switching arrangement for the petroleum based business which is on the north side of. La.94, Mills Avenue.



In that picture you can see the rails coming at me (south) and veering east toward the old train bridge across Bayou Teche that serviced the Lafayette to Baton Rouge Branch.

If a train had come from Lafayette, it would come from my left (west). It would have to travel toward Berard Street and the old bridge, now not in use, then move backward into the business yard on the rails I just mentioned. How would it get turned around for the return trip? There is no connector coming from the business going to the Lafayette rails.

In this one I was shooting to my left toward Lafayette. The rails are curving north toward the highway and will cross it. Then they will follow the highway and cross the Vermillion bridge at Long Bridge. Next, they make their way to the main line. Louisiana Delta now services Breaux Bridge.



Here the siding crosses La.94 and goes into the business.



Hopping over the curved track and looking toward Lafayette.



Now to look toward the old bridge which was part of the Basin run to Baton Rouge. What a great shot.



Notice the houses along the rails as they head for the bridge.



Here are a series of old shots showing the rails crossing the old bridge.

Looking back toward where I was, across Berard St at the junction.



Here's looking toward Baton Rouge. The rails would pass the Breaux Bridge Sugarcane Mill if it was there at the time. The mill was serviced by the bridge up until the 80's, I'm almost sure. I remember seeing train cars on it. Just recently I saw the old X warning sign lying on the side of the road. I almost picked it up. Should have.



And as they head across Berard (La.31) to Breaux Bridge Junction.



Back at the junction, the next shot is shifted a bit south of looking at the bridge.
I saw what I believed to be another siding. I'm not drawing anything, judge for yourself. It definitely looked like an old rail bed headed toward Berard St.






Could be?

I know this has been tedious. You can't put lipstick on a pig. Yea, you can, but it doesn't help. These last few shots are looking back from where we came, the station area.



One more south shot and that's it. Notice the discarded ties on the right (west).



Al says that every once in a while one stinks. This one stunk and I almost blew it up. But....

I got on my horse late Sunday afternoon and headed for Breaux Bridge. My purpose was to get some pictures of the railroad bridge that crosses the Teche in hopes they would help smooth out this page.

It is so historical. Unfortunately, it is looked down on and referred to in a pretty coarse manner. Some bridges get no respect.



Then I saw the train sitting on the old SP rails. I slid side ways in a rush to get to it before it left. It was parked, turned off and sitting. I could have my way with it.

Immediately, the question of how the train got back to Lafayette was answered. An engine was on both ends. No problem, but it seemed over kill for 2 tank cars.



A side view, almost.



I rode around to where the cross track was for an opposite perspective.



I panned toward the Cade-Port Barre bed to show the trains relationship with the crossroads, which reminds me, the train probably can't be any longer because there is no room to back up before hitting Berard St. The rails deteriorate as they approach the street.



I know some of you want a look at the engines. I've seen 1850 down in New Iberia. And the railroad is the Louisiana Delta, not Acadian as previously stated.



The next one belongs to LD. They don't repaint when they purchase used engines. Too costly. That is real cool since you can trace where the engines come from easily. The railroad has quite a collection.



I next did a big loop out to the salt mine and back in on La.94 into Breaux Bridge. I wanted to get a shot of the old rails at the highway, some looking toward where the old bed was going and some, looking back at where it had come from.

This is looking south. The rails to the right are on the old bed.



This is looking north as the rails cross the highway and skirt the east side of Enterprise's facility.



I zoomed way out to follow the rails. There is a permanent turn installed into the rails directing traffic into Enterprise. The abandoned rails continue north, how far, I can't quite say, but not to the next road where we'll be next time. I have some extra stuff to start that one off with so stay tuned. This has been a rough page but the appearance of the train sure helped it.

CLICK HERE TO MOVE ON UP THE LINE

The Southern Pacific p.5 BB (Page 1)

Dude: If you expect all of what is below to be correct, you are a gambler. Please do not use my pages as a reference. I probably know your prof and we will have a big laugh at your expense.

This part of the SP/Cade to Port Barre ride report would be a pleasure. I could spend 100% of my time on the work of discovery because I would only have a 15 minute ride to and from the area to be investigated. Knowing that advantage, I threw 100% of my effort into the search. Knowing that, I pegged both the time and effort meters to the aforementioned 100% . Prepare yourself for The Southern Pacific: Breaux Bridge. Buckle that helmet.

For those not following along, the Southern Pacific branch began in Cade, and rode their rails south on the main line until it hit a switch and went east on a dedicated branch that would eventually take it to the shores of Bayou Courtableau in Port Barre where the engine would be turned on a manually powered turntable for the return trip. By the way, a complete investigation of Port Barre will follow this edition. This one will be exciting, the next one may be too much to handle for the faint of heart.

Here we go. I hope you are sitting.

I'm having a hard time placing a time period on these different sections. I know some were ripped up before others. I do know that in 1935 it was intact. Let's pretend it's 1935 when the age of steam was in flower and men were men and women were women.

I just found this, "1895: A branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad connects Cade to Port Barre, signaling the end of the Steamboat Era on the upper Teche". So there you go, a starting point in history.

This might interest some while we are dating stuff. This is evidently a list of SP "local" branches as of 1920 compiled by a amateur. Where do I find this stuff? I had to fix some speling so I know hes not a preaux.

LAFAYETTE
June, 1920

New Orleans, Algiers, Raceland Junction, Schriever, Morgan City, Bayou Sale, Baldwin,
New Iberia, Lafayette, Midland, Lake Charles, Echo

Batton Rouge Branch - Lafayette, Breaux Bridge, Anchorage, Batton Rouge

Cheneyville Branch - Lafayette to Cheneyville

DeRidder Branch - Lake Charles to DeRidder

Eunice Branch - Midland, Eunce, Mamou

Gueydon Branch - Midland, Abbeville, I & V Junction, New Iberia

Houma Branch - Schriever to Houma

Lake Arthur Branch - Mallard Junction to Lake Arthur

Leonville Branch - Breaux Bridge, Leonville, Point Barre

Lock Port Branch - Raceland Junction to Lock Port

Napleonville Branch - Thibodaux Junction to Napoleonville

? Branch - Breaux Bridge to Saint Martinville Juction

Saint Martinville Branch - Cade to Saint Martinville Junction to Saint Martinville

Salt Mine Branch - I & V Junction to Salt Mine

South Bend Branch - Bayou Sale to South Bend

Youngsville Branch - Davids to Youngsville

Weeks Island Branch - F & A Junction, Cypemort, Weeks Island

You can see that the Cade to Port Barre Branch was segmented at the time.

Coming from the south, the SP left La.31 to prepare for it's grand entrance into Breaux Bridge.



Here's looking back south from Veteran Drive. The ROW seems to be some perpetual neutral ground. Fine with me, it makes it easy to follow.



Here's looking toward where the station was. A horse lives there now. Taken from Webb Street.



I think this is an appropriate place to post the map, always an exciting moment on a page.



If you click on the map it will get bigger.Open it in a new window to follow along.

On the map you can see (rails in heavy black) that there is a crossing further north. There, two branches of the Southern Pacific crossed. One from Lafayette was headed to Baton Rouge on a very interesting route, straight across the Atchafalaya Basin. It conquered the Basin long before I-10 did. You can still see what is left of the bed from that super slab. The floods of 1927 wiped out the swing bridge at the settlement of Atchafalaya, eventually condemning the route. Atchafalaya was where the Basin Welcome Center is. That story later.

Our route, the Cade-Port Barre continued northeast. I was going to get started on this write earlier but started rummaging around and found some ancient ICC, or other governing body, probably the La.Public Service Commission records. It seems that the SP, then known as Morgan's Louisiana and Texas.... wanted to move the depot down to the cross tracks. That would make sense to me but the people of Breaux Bridge objected. That story below.

You'll have to click on it to expand it. I couldn't copy the text so I took a picture of it. It's all "public domain".



It continues



And continues



And finally a decision: NO!!



You cannot move your depot 300 yards up the tracks. Someone had pull on the commission and it wasn't Morgan.

This is where the depot was:



This is probably what it looked like. This is the Mansura Southern Pacific Depot. Mansura and Breaux Bridge were probably similar in size. It will have to do. I have no picture of the BB Depot. I've been in one exactly like this one. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that the small town depots were pretty much alike.



Just to the south of it I saw these two cement blocks preserved by trees. Careful examinatin reveals that treaded studs were sticking out of the top of the one examined. I suggest that there were at least 2 more which formed a square or rectangle and supported something. I would say it was a water tower or oil tank.



Things are getting ready to get complicated and I think we need another map. They can help.



I feel better. Now we will approach the cross tracks mentioned above. My pulse quickens as it did that day. These are a progression of shots taken at each road that crossed the SP on its way to the X rails.





I aligned myself with the right of way, zoomed toward the junction and saw this. Those rails were on the Cade to Port Barre bed!!!



I know that I promised you the Junction on the last page. This has been too emotional and I must take a break.

I've recoverd, CLICK HERE FOR BB 2