Jimbaux knows that it’s much easier to turn away Than to take a look inside.
It’s Hot And Bright
Hey, there! After going to Morgan City yesterday to do some work and chasing the Union Pacific Railroad local train westward in the afternoon afterward, I returned there again today.
About all that I was able to photograph today was the Louisiana & Delta Railroad’s Schriever Job, and that’s okay.
Getting There
At 07:48 today, Tuesday 2 July 2024, I left the house with 84.6 miles on my truck since I filled the gasoline tank in the truck at the Bayou Vista Walmart yesterday thinking that I might try to fill up again there today.
I also left a half hour to 45 minutes earlier than I did yesterday. I also knew what to do right away as soon as I got there, as opposed to yesterday, when I had to bumble around and figure it out. I also ate an actual breakfast this morning, the earliest that I have eaten such a thing in a long time.
I am really glad that I got the shots of the UP local train yesterday, because I realized when I was brushing my teeth this morning that there may not be a UP local train westbound tomorrow, because tomorrow is the 3rd, and July 4th is a holiday. Then again, they might. They might just deadhead the crew back home, which would be okay. The L&D would have its cars to do nothing with on Thursday.
I am really terrified right now because of Hurricane Beryl. There is a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean, a Category 5, the strongest hurricane ever this early in the season, due to warmer ocean waters caused by manmade global warming. It’s just terrifying.
So, here I am burning gasoline to drive by myself a long distance to paint. It’s not like there aren’t people in that town that can do the painting.
And the Democratic Party gerontocracy is just driving us over a cliff, along with the Republicans. It’s terrifying, really.
So, I went to bed last night sore, and I was sore this morning, with my hamstrings hurting; I wonder why. Maybe it was climbing up and down stairs several times.
I just saw some posts about “stop rails to trails” – the issue of turning the Midland Branch railroad track from Delcambre to Erath into a bicycle trail. Well, I want to get these people together and tell them that a great way to prevent that from ever happening is to try to get something going with the railroad, like anything that would bring back railroad activity there, like reopening the rice mill!
Climate change is here, and it is bad. We have to stop burning this stuff that I am burning right now, and that glib family-wrecker and his wife don’t seem to care.
I long ago figured out that there is really no point in poking around downtown New Iberia early in the morning. Actually, there is, because I could have gone and seen if that plate steel was there, but I didn’t.
At 08:30, I crossed over the Cypremort Branch track, and there was a long string of carbon-black hopper cars there. I am not sure what that means.
There is a structure on the southern side of Highway 90 in I think Iberia Parish but just west of the parish line with St Mary Parish that looks like a church and is very impressive, but it’s weird that I never noticed it before; it was noticeable today because of the lighting because it’s early in the summer, and I am traveling east through this stretch early in the morning this early in the summer. That made it stand out.
Ten years ago today, I photographed a New Orleans & Gulf Coast Railway train in Gretna, and I did the same thing a year ago tomorrow; so, it would be appropriate if I photographed an L&D job or the UP local train today.
The Charenton Canal railroad bridge was lined for maritime movement when I crossed the Charenton Canal.
I need to repair my lens, man. I really want to get a scanner again, man. I want to know what is happening on the track.
Man, my timing yesterday was good! I did that well. So, if I have to return here again for something else in the future, I will remember that. I just wish that the UP local train would have had better power yesterday.
There was no train in the Bayou Sale siding, and I didn’t see a headlight to the east.
Bayou Vista And Berwick
At 08:52, I arrived at the Walmart in Bayou Vista. I overshot the turnoff to go to the gasoline place first, and I am glad that I did, because it helped me to see that there was an eastbound BNSF Railway train on the mainline that was difficult to see, because the only cars that I saw were empty pipe flat cars.
There was a DPU at the end of the train, BNSF 5228 or 5288. I figured that I would check it out after I got gasoline. It was moving really slowly, suggesting to me that it was stopping at Berwick, possibly for a meet.
At 09:24, done with my deeds at both the Walmart (I found the jalapeño-cheddar grits, and I had four boxes of the stuff in the truck at this point) and the MurphyUSA, I was coming into Berwick, and I saw a westbound train pass, I guess on the mainline. I was going to see where that eastbound train was in Berwick, but I missed the turn and went up the bridge, which was a good mistake.
L&D Train SC1 In Morgan City
I found the tail end of that eastbound BNSF Railway train in Morgan City. Should I chase this thing to Schriever? It turned out to be a unit train.
I also found the L&D train.
It had the LDRR 1717 as power, but I didn’t know where it was going.
Well, now I know!
It’s going east, back to its base in Schriever.
What do I do?
I would have beaten it to the Greenwood Bridge and got a shot of it there, but, while I was on Highway 182, Brashear Avenue, I apparently hit something, it looks like a lawnmower blade, and it knocked off a piece of plastic from my truck. It ended up being not as serious as I thought, but I picked up the pieces anyway, including the blade, because I felt as though I should.
I sang “Where You Goin’ Now” by Damn Yankees.
Enjoy These Pictures, Because I Should Not Have Done This
All right, this is pretty ridiculous. At about 09:58 CDT, I got onto Highway 90 eastbound and was chasing the L&D job to Schriever. That incident in town on the highway caused me to miss getting to any of the shots on either side of Bayou Boeuf.
So, now, even though I am delaying my work start, I decided, what the hell, I am this close to Schriever. Let me go, let me get over there, and I think that this precludes me coming this way this afternoon. It’s kind of difficult to justify doing that. I will be working pretty late, it seems.
This felt like foaming in this area 20 years ago when I would have come back home at about this time of morning after some spring or summer foaming out there. I really haven’t been traveling in this direction here at this time of morning in a very long time.
I finally got ahead of the train at North Main Project Road.
I haven’t done this shot in a long time.
Damn, he is on the mainline? That kind of jacks the shot.
The fact that he was on the mainline made me think that he had something, almost certainly an empty centerbeam flatcar, to pick up off of the Houma Branch track.
As we would see next by the depot, that hunch was correct.
Yes, it’s getting to be high-sun here.
I am glad that this lumber business is here, but I wish that there would be more.
Damn, I hate graffiti.
This is how this ends.
That is all for the pictures for today.
Big Swole talked to me. He wanted to know about me posting pictures, if I posted them, and where. Ivan was at the controls.
This was kind of a waste of time, I kind of should not have done this, but I also got it out of my system. At about 10:32, I left Schriever, with the ambient air temperature at 92ºF. Global Warming is terrible.
There is an area by the track being cleared just east of the Donner sign.
Work
After I stopped at the paint store to get a five-in-one painter’s tool, I got to the jobsite at 11:06 and unloaded almost everything including the camera from my truck, and, then, after eating something, I worked almost non-stop for more than seven hours.
While working today, I started listening to Debt: The First 5,000 Years on YouTube, listened to the first two chapters.
It’s so damn hot. I don’t think that the pictures that I got were that good. It was kind of a waste of time.
Thoughts On The Ride Back
At 18:40, really hungry, tired, dirty, with an achy hand, and in need of a shave, I finally left the jobsite. I hate painting. So, I am glad that I got my shots this morning.
I rode through downtown Morgan City, driving west on Freret and crossing Third, just to look to see if the bridge is down, but, then again, if it is, what would I do? just sit around here and wait? It’s late, and I have to return to the house.
It’s like I was hoping the bridge is up, and it was up, which is a cue to leave. So, I left!
I got a meal from Taco Bell at Bayou Vista and then read about Joe Biden refusing to drop out.
At 19:05, the eastbound Sunset Limited passed me west of Patterson. I hadn’t thought to realize that I had a chance to see and photograph it. I am not sure where I would have photographed it, but I could have figured out something, like the Atchafalaya River, but it was too late for that now, and I definitely was not turning around now.
I read some disturbing tweets about civilizational collapse due to climate change. People just don’t care. People are awful. I am part of the problem in some ways.
I got enough shots this morning, but it would’ve been nice to have gotten the #2, too.
I crossed the Wax Lake Outlet at 19:07. That’s all for today.
Thanks.
Jim
