Change And Sameness On The L&D in Raceland 10 Years Later

[Jimbaux will not take these things for granted.]

What A Difference 10 Years Does and Does Not Make

Since today was the 10-year anniversary of an epic and stormy day on the Lockport Branch, since I was (and am) in town, and since the LDRR 1850 was again based in Schriever as it was exactly 10 years ago, I decided to devote a little time to chasing and photographing the Louisiana & Delta Railroad’s Schriever job as it did its work in the Raceland area; by doing this, we can see what is the same and what is different 10 years after that memorable day on the Lockport Branch, which begins in Raceland.

It was cold this morning!  I hate to sound like a martyr, but, at first, I was out this morning more out of a sense of obligation than out of enjoyment, though I enjoyed it more as the time progressed; as I have written before, my enthusiasm for being trackside has waned this year, but many of you have commented that you welcome the return of new material, as I have recently posted new stuff.

I was at Le Jardin this morning getting some stuff done and listening to the scanner.  I heard the LDRR 1850 doing some work at Schriever, and that is when I got the idea that maybe I should get out and photograph the train working, since it had the same locomotive today that it had 10 years ago today!  So, after the westbound Sunset Limited passed, I heard the LDRR 1850 get a “work between” warrant to do all of its work at Raceland, Vallier, and at Monsanto; wow, there must be nothing else running today for several hours!

Melodic Morning

I departed Le Jardin with my gear sometime after 10:30 and got set up to photograph the train near the 49.6 detector.  It took the train much longer than expected to show up, but show up it did.

Well, we are off to a good start here, I think.  This is what this train looks like on its eastern days in the post-2007 world, since the closure of Valentine Paper: no boxcars.

The first four tank cars appear to be LPG cars and are therefore likely bound for the gas plant in Paradís, and the remaining tank cars are likely all bound for Monsanto in Boutte-Luling.

Raceland

When I got to Raceland, I noticed that there was a crude oil train parked in the siding.  Here is a different view of Raceland Raw Sugars, showing some hopper cars stored for Monsanto.

There is also the matter of whatever new railroad customer may soon be using the Post Office track, a track that is apparently getting a little bit of investment.

In the mid-1960s, my father and his brother would unload boxcars of framing lumber here for their uncle who was a local building contractor.  This track hasn’t been used in about three years ever since offloading of lumber for Dufrene Building Material – the customer of the empty centerbeam flatcar that you see in this post – moved from here to Schriever, apparently because the feed store in the background of this picture had problems with the off-loading being done using its property.

Hey, Look, Those Are Not Tank Cars!

So, now, the LDRR 1850 went onto the eastern leg and then set a few loaded hopper cars at MTI.

That still is really cool, but I liked it better when old boxcars were on that track instead.

My First Shots of A Crude Oil Train On The Mudbug Sub

Actually, even though I have seen one or two of these BNSF crude oil trains in New Orleans, this is the first time that I see one on the Lafayette Subdivision itself.

The L&D job left its train on the mainline, which I thought was odd, but, as stated earlier, it did get a work-between warrant, and the crude oil train appeared to be dead.  Perhaps it died waiting for the #1.

After the L&D job spotted the loaded hoppers, it went around and pulled some empty hoppers and then shoved them down the west leg of the wye toward the siding, presumably for the UP local to pick up (probably not until Thursday.)

Sugar Mill Action

It had been probably six years since I shot molasses tank cars being pulled from the sugar mill, and I got it today, complete with the steam coming from the cooling ponds.

You can barely see off in the distance on the mainline the parked crude oil train.  Below, you can see the trainman on the last tank car.

The Cajun Porkchop and I shot scenes very similar to this here in November 2007.

Back At The Junction

The L&D job emerges from the branch back onto the mainline and then shoves to couple to the rest of its train.

You can see from this picture another change that has happened in the last 10 years, one that I had not thought to include until I saw Ray Duplechain’s comment in the comments section (so, this paragraph is not original to this post.)  In the last 10 years, or much fewer than that, the pond that took up most of the picture has been filled in by the sugar mill.  That black stuff you see is a very fine powder that is a residue from the sugar-making process, some carbon from the plant itself.  I am not sure that the pond is being filled in for any other reason than as a place to put the residue.  The pond had long since outlived its purpose, which was a water source for steam locomotives!  Duplechain, who frequently reads and comments on postings here, started to work for the Southern Pacific in the mid-1950s and rose to managerial ranks.  I therefore highly value his insight, information, and commentary shared.

Oddly to me, the crude oil train had only one locomotive on the front but two on the rear, and one of the rear units was a Norfolk Southern unit; also, the cover car seen in this picture was a Southern Railway hopper.

Above, you can see the trainman riding the point, about to couple the cars.

So, the presence of crude oil trains is something that has surely changed in the last 10 years!  Furthermore, with a new crude oil terminal being built in Raceland right now, the local railroad scene will change even more, deviating even further from the mostly-boxcar scenes of 10 years ago today.  Note that an empty centerbeam flat car is the only actual freight car in this scene that is not a tank car.

After this, the train departed to the east, but I had neither the time nor the inclination to chase it; to do so would have been to deviate from today’s agenda too much, which was to show the Schriever job at least working in the same setting as it did 10 years to the day before.  So, while we are standing on top of the truck (for the third time today), let’s take a quick look to the mill to the west.

That is a little bit different.

Back At The Mill

Let’s take one look at the mill.

That is interesting.  Let’s go home now.

That is really it, everyone.  In 10 years, some things have stayed the same, some things have changed, and I have done both.  What about you?

Jimbaux