Missed Telephoto Opportunity
Okay, this is weird.
There is not much to see here, but there could have been.
I forgot – or, perhaps, neglected – to bring my DSLR-camera equipment with me on my outing today, perhaps because there was a much more important thing to do on this outing. Therefore, all pictures in this post are from either of my Samsung mobile communications devices.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_101603-ff-RGB-w-the-hospital-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
I admire medical professionals.
So, in a lull, I went by Southpark to see if I could catch some L&D action.
Catch some L&D action I did.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_114126-RGB-w-KP-protects-the-southward-shove-as-LL-is-at-the-controls-of-the-LDRR-1852-American-Blvd-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
The LDRR 1852 was shoving these cars – boxcars loaded with paper products – southward, and it was not immediately clear to me that the issue is that the LDRR 1717 was malfunctioning, but I got a video of the shove and stop for KP to board and then got a video showing the 1852 doing the shoving.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_114753-RGB-w-KP-greets-LD-mechanical-crew-to-address-the-ailing-LDRR-1717-American-Blvd-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
Here, KP, after returning north of the crossing, greets the L&D mechanical crew that had just arrived, presumably from the shop in New Iberia.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_114807-RGB-w-KP-greets-LD-mechanical-crew-to-address-the-ailing-LDRR-1717-American-Blvd-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
Dammit, cigarettes are terrible, a bane on human existence, as I discussed last time.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_114837-RGB-w-KP-greets-LD-mechanical-crew-to-address-the-ailing-LDRR-1717-American-Blvd-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
So, they were testing the 1717, and, in doing so, created a scene that you don’t often see: a train movement at this location in which the locomotive is on the southern side of the train.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_115821-ff-RGB-w-LDRR-1717-being-tested-after-having-mechanical-trouble-the-truck-at-right-bringing-the-LD-mechanical-crew-American-Blvd-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
This is when forgetting to bring my “real camera” gear really became a problem, because, with the hump in the track, this would have been a really neat telephoto view!
Let’s see a cropped version of the above image to see what I mean.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_115821-RGB-LDRR-1717-being-tested-after-having-mechanical-trouble-the-truck-at-right-bringing-the-LD-mechanical-crew-American-Blvd-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
Yeah, see? I hate saying this, but the railroad scene in Lafayette is quite boring, even by 2022 standards, because the scenery here is lame, and, so, being able to see locomotive-led movements here at this spot actually would marginally improve the train-watching experience of the area.
An hour later, I was at Elks.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_121925-c-RGB-w-LDRR-1852-and-boxcars-at-the-beginning-of-the-Southpark-spur-Southpark-Road-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
I then got a video of the Number 2 passing, but it clouded up.
Then, it was time to return to the hospital.
![](https://jimbaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/20220223_132147-RGB-w-sign-about-cigarette-smoking-at-Lafayette-Surgical-Speciality-Hospital-Kaliste-Saloom-Road-Lafayette-Louisiana-USA-23-February-2022.jpg)
Cigarette smoking is a rude habit.
That’s all.
I will see you next time, or something.
Jbx