MSU, Natchez Trace, Kosciuzko, KCS Jackson, CN Hammond – 29 December 2007

Good morning from Starkville.  It’s time to rise and shine and head south.  This is the third and last day of a foray into northern Mississippi and eastern Tennessee that The Duke and Jimbaux took in December 2007.  Day One included stops at Rankin and Pelahatchie on the Kansas City Southern Railway’s east-west “Transcon” line known also as the Meridian Speedway.  Day Two was built around a visit to Shiloh National Military Park and then included a visit to the Pickwick Landing Dam and some railroad action south of there.  Day Three – 29 December 2007 – starts in Starkville on the campus of Mississippi State University.

One year to the day before, though, was the first full day back in Mexico, a really great and epic trip indeed.  One year later, I was happy to just be in northern Mississippi.

MSU

A quiet Saturday morning found the campus serene.

This was my first time in northern Mississippi (and western Tennessee), and there was plenty on this trip that would foreshadow what would happen for me – what I would do – 18 months later.  I rather like the below image with the reflection of the water tower.

I would spend plenty of time on this campus in mid-2009, though I had no clue about that at the time that I took these pictures and made this visit.  It was a special time indeed, and I believe that that roundish building above was the recreation center where I lifted weights and such.

I’m guessing, too, that Tucker, who was mentioned two days ago in Part One in reference to the Ward’s next to the KCS track at Pelahatchie, will appreciate some of these images, since he graduated from this institution.

Well, now it’s time to depart town on this lovely morning.

Natchez Trace Parkway

The Duke wanted to take the Natchez Trace Parkway, an option of which I was apparently ignorant.  I’m glad that we made that choice.

It was a fabulous ride, and the below shot with the fog is my favorite shot of the day.

The three-state road is part of the National Park Service, and it commemorates the original Natchez Trace nearby, as this sign indicates.

It’s interesting to read about the concern that the area would break off and form a separate nation, which ended up happening anyway six decades later despite construction of the trace, the invention and introduction of steamboats, and the building of railroads into the area.  Also, the Civil War was a central theme of the previous day of this journey.

Here is a shot of the same signed but turned away showing the original trace (and less of the writing on the sign.)

Here is some more fog for you.  Yes, I was riding in the passenger seat when taking this picture.

I can’t remember what the story behind French Camp is.

We broke off of the trace momentarily to check out an interesting town.

Kosciusko

I love irony, or at least the illusion of it, which I inadvertently seek to destroy.  Here’s a city in Mississippi named for a Polish man who never visited it, and one of the most famous black people in the world grew up here.

Well, I suppose you can learn more about Tadeusz Kościuszko on your own if you’d like.  You probably already know who one of the most well-known daughters of Kosciusko (and note the different name of the town from its namesake) is too, but this is interesting, some additional information on her.

Is the writing at the top of the poster seen below a response to some statement I neither heard nor uttered?

Did I say that they could not read or write?

This is interesting.

Like I said, this trip so greatly foreshadowed what I would experience 18 months later, and I had no idea when I took this picture that I’d eventually go on a tour of the massive automobile plant that is shown in this poster.

I’m grateful for my experiences here.  Now it’s time to head south again, back on the Natchez Trace Parkway, briefly.

Yes, The Duke took that picture.

High Oak Yard – Jackson

Actually, we are in the town of Pearl, Mississippi, just southeast of Jackson.  Here’s KCS train I-ATDA from the Norfolk Southern arriving at KCS’s High Oak Yard.

Hey, look!  We see an SD40-2 and a Vermont Railway trailer!

We’re in the same spot where BobE, a few other foamers, and I were a month-and-a-half before.  Here are a couple of shots of the trimmer job on the eastern end of the yard, with two of those wide-nose ex-CN GP40s.  I really like those.

Here’s the broadside, which I think is better than the previous shot.

Now, it’s time to head south, head for home.

Louisiana! – Hammond, To Be Specific

I wanted to show The Duke the track and depot in Hammond and also some of the foamers who might be there, as they typically are on a weekend.  So, that’s what we did.

Yes, that’s the northbound City of New Orleans making its first station stop after leaving its namesake city and its last stop in Louisiana.  A southbound loaded grain train – probably on its way to one of the elevators at Destrehan – was waiting in the siding, and we caught the G864 as it emerged with some foreign and disappointing locomotive leading it.

The track leading off to the left is the eastern end of the Hammond District.  The other end is Baton Rouge.  Trains M301 and M302 between Memphis and Baton Rouge utilize that route, and CN interchanges some traffic with Union Pacific and KCS in Baton Rouge.

That’s it, mes amis.  It was really time to go home now.  I both enjoyed this trip and learned plenty from it.  What about you?

Jimbaux