Jimbaux wants you to leave the light on for him.
Hey! So, I am still going to Morgan City to do some work, today was the fifth day of this project, I got only one picture today, and I went there two days ago but got no pictures at all.
Let’s recap. One week ago today, July 1st, I chased the Union Pacific Railroad’s New Iberia Turn westward from Berwick to Baldwin. The next day, I chased the Louisiana & Delta Railroad’s Schriever Job from Morgan City to Schriever. The next day, the 3rd, I photographed the UP New Iberia Turn in New Iberia.
For now, I will share notes from the 6th, two days ago, another trip to Morgan City to do work, albeit one in which I didn’t get any train pictures, unfortunately.
Saturday, July 6th
Only at 08:49 did I roll out of the house to go to Morgan City and do this work. I was upset that it was taking this long, because I should have been there already.
Do I need to stop taking that medication that is making me sleep so much?
I would rather have been going for a walk this morning. I haven’t gone for a walk in a long time. At least I got a haircut yesterday; so, I am better in that regard.
The UP local train supposedly left New Iberia yesterday with 40 cars to return to Avondale, because Perry said that they left New Iberia light power the previous two trips; so, they had three train’s worth of cars, a whole week’s worth of cars, to pull back at once.
I cut grass yesterday. I finished cutting grass, and, then, we got a pretty intense rain. I cut grass on the 4th, too.
I kind of like going to Morgan City and being able to see trains. I wouldn’t be surprised if the L&D Schriever Job is there today.
I saw no trains on the way to Morgan City this morning. I went ride by the Port of Morgan City. It looks as though nothing has happened since that L&D train came here Tuesday, although I wouldn’t even know if anything had happened, since, now that it is nothing but these non-descript lease hopper cars, I wouldn’t be able to tell if anything has changed. There are two hopper cars on the loop track, and both of the tracks at the port are full of hopper cars. That’s it. It’s a large amount of cars, but it’s all the same kind of cars. It would be nice if there were, you know, some bulkhead flatcars with plate steel or some boxcars unloading food or whatever at the port. That would be nice, but, oh, well.
I got to the jobsite at about 10:10-10:15 and soon got to work for several hours, not bothering to seek the Sunset Limited.
I forgot how much noise window-unit air conditioners make.
After knocking off, I got out and looked for the UP local train and didn’t find it. I looked for it in New Iberia. I doubled back farther than Darnall Road. It’s possible that I passed it somewhere.
I heard that Papa Roach song, the one about leaving the light on for you; that’s a beautiful song. I heard it when I got out of work in Morgan City, which is a weird thing to say.
The Berwick Bridge was in the upright position. So, I went east as far as just east of Boeuf, crossed Bayou Boeuf twice within a few minutes of each other. I didn’t see anything moving on the track.
Not long after I left the jobsite, I went to Wendy’s and got two of the crispy chicken sandwiches. They were good. Now, I am about to go to Dairy Queen. I am so tired.
I have not seen a train today. I saw no sign of the UP local train. It might run later. I don’t know.
I am yawning. I can’t wait for a shower. I am so tired.
There is so much railroad potential at South Boeuf. It’s kind of sad that there is nothing happening there railroadwise. There could be pipe, cement, poles, wires, and plate steel moving in and out of there. There is plenty that could be happening there.
There are a bunch of cars in the interchange yard in New Iberia, the usual kind, no locomotives there.
I want to go home. I am just so damaged, clingy.
Monday, July 8th – Today
Preparations And Thoughts
So, even though I wish that I could have left earlier, I was feeling relatively good this morning, the best that I have felt in all of July so far. I actually could have left two hours before, but I went to sleep fairly early last night with a large pile of dishes unwashed and having not showered or shaved.
So, this morning, I washed a big pile of dishes, cooked and ate an omelet, then washed the dishes and pan from the omelet, and then showered and shaved. I hadn’t shaved in more than two days. I got up at 05:00. I did not eat a salad yesterday. I ate some beans that I had cooked weeks ago. I ate some fried fish from Super 1. I then took the pill relatively early, and, then, I woke up multiple times. I finally got up for good at around 05:00.
This is the first time that I do a morning shower before making one of these runs to Morgan City. So, I showed up there cleaner than I have before.
Twenty years ago this afternoon, I was out north of Monterrey, between Escobedo and Salinas-Victoria, and that is when and where the incident with the security guards because I was “sospechoso” and taking pictures. I took some pictures of TFM action 20 years ago this afternoon.
Ten years ago today, I photographed some NOGC activity, and I made what may be my first photograph of the potash or salt or whatever it is cars spotted on the Proper track at Raceland.
One year ago today, I went to Leroy and took a picture of that cat.
Yeah, 10 years ago today, I photographed that stuff in Raceland and then a dusk shot around the sugar mill, because I was living at the house at home. Back then, several members of my grandparents’ generation who have since died were still alive.
So, that leads me to the big sad thing that I have to report, which is that the ancestral family house is being dismantled now.
It’s really sad. We could have repaired that house. We really could have. It’s a nice house. I always thought of myself as occupying it one day. So, this really hurts, but, also, the neighborhood around it is not so nice, and it’s really gotten me thinking about that whole geographical way of organizing life. It’s just not good.
Yeah, like I am trying to imagine what it would be like to live there, or in my grandmother’s house, either way, and my grandmother’s house is close to the highway compared to the Edgar house.
We got some rain yesterday. Supposedly, we will get plenty of rain this week.
I have also been imagining plenty about the location of Boeuf and the fanciful possibilities of railroad activities there and in nearby places. It’s kind of weird.
Biden hasn’t dropped out yet.
Oh, Perry said that there was a UP local train that arrived in New Iberia on Saturday night. He said that it arrived at around 21:30-22:00. So, that means that, had I gone to Schriever on Saturday, I might have intercepted it. He said that it arrived with 144 axles and had UP 816 leading it. So, good, it’s back to having a GP, probably with the front end facing west. He said that the eastbound train ran with 22 cars yesterday.
Getting There
I left the house at 07:28 today to go to Morgan City, thinking that I would stop at Bayou Vista to get gasoline.
So, I think that, once again, I will not try to photograph the westbound Sunset Limited today. It’s just too weird. So, I will just go to the jobsite and paint solidly for a while and then knock off and go search for the UP local train.
I am thinking about how, back 12 and 13 years ago, the #1 and the 51 local train ran at about the same time, usually, the passenger train first through Schriever with the 51 not far behind it, though the #1 may have passed the train before either got to Schriever.
Something I am wondering is, when L&D was running eastbound tonnage for UP, did the L&D do any preblocking? like, here is an NS block, here is a CSX block, here is a CN block.
I am thinking that, when I get out today, I will do the same thing that I did before, which is go to Wendy’s, because, at Wendy’s, I can keep an eye on the track or, at least, an ear on the track. Saturday, I ate the two chicken sandwiches from Wendy’s in anticipation of eating beef from Dairy Queen later. This time, I may eat beef from Wendy’s in anticipation of eating a salad with chicken at the house.
So, I am thinking that, if I get out at around 17:00 and the UP local train isn’t around, I need to go east to try to intercept it, which means that I could be going to Schriever today just like I did on Tuesday. I guess that the L&D job is going to go east today. We’ll see, or, we probably won’t see.
Biden still hasn’t dropped out.
It’s amazing watching centrist Sh’t Liberals express how dumb or how lacking in solidarity they are. “Why don’t you call for Trump to drop out?” Jesus F Christ, you don’t think that Trump is a fascist, do you? Like, we all know who Trump is.
Driving over the Midland Branch, I saw no trains, no cars, nothing. I was thinking about Forrest Becht’s images from this overpass, wishing that I could see something similar today.
So, that plate steel was going to Twin Brothers.
I saw no trains on the way to the jobsite, no railroad rolling stock except for the usual carbon black hopper cars at the beginning of the Cypremort Branch.
I heard a little bit of Richard Condon on the way over there. I heard “Runaway” by Bon Jovi, and then the DJ on 98.1 talking about Bon Jovi and about meeting him backstage, and then Richard Condon trailing off about something else.
A Huge Waste Of Time And Energy
A little while after 18:00, I picked up some food at the Wendy’s in Morgan City. I then headed east, trying to intercept any train, but I suspected that I long ago missed the UP local train, because, about two or three hours before, I heard some horns of the older variety, and I am assuming that that might be the UP local train. If it was, it would be passing at a time consistent with what I saw in December and in May when I was in Thibodaux and Schriever.
I would know if I had a scanner and would have heard who would have been calling the bridge tender, but I don’t have a scanner anymore. I would love to get one.
I am thinking that I am coming here on Wednesday. I am definitely coming tomorrow, but I am probably coming here on Wednesday.
Since I have been on this trip, I have used too much AT&T data as I listen to David Graeber on YouTube.
I was by Bayou Ramos where the highway is down to a single lane with a traffic light governing movements onto this bridge on Highway 182. I really don’t know why this is like this, but this is a very vulnerable place, like, ecologically. This area is so desolate.
Something that I have to remember to do tomorrow is call Julie, Amtrak’s automated agent, to check the time for the Sunset Limited tomorrow, because I want to catch the eastbound train. I just don’t know where.
There is so much here, so much that a railroad could deliver, plate steel.
I went ride by the port of Morgan City. There are some cars on the western end of the runaround track, three or four of those hopper cars, which makes me think that the UP local sets that out, while the L&D job comes and spots it, just like as if this were Raceland.
Biden hasn’t dropped out yet. We’re doomed. Oh well.
I Let A Gem Of A Train Get By Me
Well, I missed a good train, and I should not have gone to Schriever. Shortly before dusk, I found the UP local train crewless in the siding in New Iberia, and the first three cars are loaded plate steel cars.
That is like a perfect train for me, and I missed it; I am so upset. UP 816 is the leader; it needs a little bath.
The first car is TTPX 806176, then 814009.
The train has 31 cars, 10 of which are plate-steel loads. Wow. It’s totally amazing.
I need to get to the house. I am so tired, oooh, lord.
That’s all.
Please leave the light on for me. I will leave it on for you.
Jim
