By now, Jimbaux should have somehow
Realized what he’s gotta do.
A Weird Mix Of Three Things – And Found By A Follower
Hi, there. An interesting and emotional weekend has ended in a mostly positive way, I did get some good pictures today, and I even met a reader!
Yesterday, I got to spend time with one of my best friends and got some pictures of a neat-looking train.
Genesis, Again
I started my walk at 06:29 CDT today on the genesis street, as if I live there.
Of course, the plan was that, after the morning walk is done, I would pack my stuff and go west to Lafayette. That’s interesting.
I was thinking about signing up for another shift at Festivals Acadiens et Creoles if they need somebody, but I am just going to go and show up some time before my scheduled shift starts, and then, you know, help out then and there.
So, I was so tired yesterday evening after I returned to the host’s house and then showered and then processed a picture from the outing and then posted it online that I had no time for recording details about yesterday’s events.
That Rotolo’s meal, that was expensive, but it’s partly because I got a drink that I didn’t really drink, a cocktail that was expensive, okay, don’t do that, and also the buffalo wings, but also because the pizza was so big that I took two slices of it to go, and I ate like that because I was worried about like last night not being able to fall asleep because I was so hungry.
Well, that didn’t happen last night. Not only did it not happen, but I went to bed last night without eating any of the snacks that I brought except that I might have eaten a handful of Indulgent Trail Mix just to have something sugary in my mouth to balance out all of the salty stuff that I had just eaten before I went to bed.
Yeah, I need new shoes.
Here I was walking on the side street back and forth. It’s funny, because, like, I was staying by the side street and not going up and down one of the longer streets as if I was trying to stay by the track to be here in case a train shows up.
I remember when the concrete for Lee was poured.
Yeah, as if a train is going to show up. Of course, I was staying in an area that is kind of familiar and meaningful to me, and I was also staying in proximity to the sugar mill that I like seeing and hearing. No whistle, though. The host said no whistle this season for some reason. I don’t know what’s going on.
There is the sugarcane field that I played in many moons ago.
I was wearing a sweater and also wearing my newest cargo shorts.
I have gained probably four pounds in the last couple of days. Yeah, it was an expensive meal last night, but I also didn’t have to eat a protein wafer bar or even a banana or anything like that yesterday.
So, I should have gotten a smaller pizza, obviously, now that I think about it, and I could have just eaten a banana and a wafer bar at the house and have been good.
Yeah, I could sit out here in the morning and listen to the sugar mill.
I would do that. I would sit out in the garage or something and hear the sounds of the sugar mill.
Somebody, some walker, changed direction because of me, the first walker that I encounter. The person is not accustomed to seeing me, probably someone I’d encounter every morning if I lived here.
I was walking my geometry of my life.
All of the new areas seem fake to me.
I remember, oh, wow, that person Lisa, I think, who used to work at big newspaper, and I had to go there and deliver the ZIP discs for our newspaper so that she could take it to printer.
I was looking forward to my drive back this morning, with the sun at my back and cool air.
I remember thinking that Park is cool people and that I am not one of them.
There is the Shell house, with solar panels on it, which is nice, but those nice big trees are gone.
Oh, okay, the local son was here when I came back last night. The LSU game was on. I got to talk to him briefly. I was so tired.
At 07:37, I cranked up the truck and left house. I went into that cul-de-sac area north of Jefferson Street where the historic Ridgefield House is. I need to research that. I took a picture of the historical marker sign. It’s kind of weird. I am trying to figure out which house is which.
Schriever
I was thinking as I drove up to Schriever that, you know what? Now that I am ‘old’ and waking up quite early, I could resume my Sunday morning routine at Schriever, but I could come here in the dark, and I would be able to do that, and it would be cool, though that might get some weird attention from people across the track; so, I don’t know how that would work.
At around 08:00, I was at Schriever pacing around in front of the depot, just making a quick obligatory stop here. Apparently, I didn’t take any pictures on this visit there.
I was just doing my Sunday morning thing. I knew that there would be nothing changed here, but, then, I thought maybe a BNSF westbound train would have made the pickup, but that hadn’t happened. So, nothing had changed here since yesterday. No rolling stock on the track had moved from yesterday.
Yeah, I wish I could come here Saturday and Sunday morning, and you know what would be funny? I wouldn’t mind literally going to church, coming here first, fasting, then going to church, then eating.
Yeah, I’d do that. I’d totally do that. Oh, I forgot to check out the Presbyterian Church in Thibodaux.
LDRR 1712 and LDRR 1847 were here.
Okay, not long after 08:00, I got in the truck in the left. There is no information from the scanner that I don’t have but I might soon have, or maybe not, with that hefty bill from Rotolo’s.
Vista and Sale
At around 09:00, I made a mistake. I stopped at the Burger King in Bayou Vista, and bought two of the Eggnormous burritos. I was surprised at how cheap they were with all of the price increases. Then, I got them, and they seem to be noticeably smaller than the other Eggnormous burritos that I have gotten. It’s been a while since I did Burger King breakfast, and I am doing it now that Taco Bell stopped serving breakfast. So, unless I was given the wrong items (and I don’t think that Burger King has smaller burritos on its breakfast menu), it must be some shrinkflation.
The reason that this purchase was a mistake was that it was made on the assumption that I wouldn’t be back at the house until dark, an assumption that would soon prove to be wrong.
So, then, I checked out the shot at Ricohoc looking west, like the telephoto shot looking down the track, and the sun was still on the northern side of it but like in an hour or an hour and a half, it would be on the south side, and the south side is better, and, closer to the winter solstice, it will be even better; there won’t be much of a time of day when it’s doable from the northern side that time of year.
At around 09:20, I took a peek down the mainline area at the Bayou Sale highway crossing. It’s a nice view. I have never really had it at this time of day. It would be good for a shot.
So, those two shot options are something to keep in mind.
Catches At Baldwin
I stopped in Baldwin and found a surprising catch, but, also, in another sense, I was the catch.
Wow! It’s an eastbound BNSF Railway train with only 10 cars parked on the mainline.
What is going on with these really short trains?
My experience in taking these pictures was very interesting, because the conductor came from the train, approached me, and asked me a question that was quite funny!
After we exchanged pleasantries, he said, “yeah, I follow, you know this guy, Jimbaux’s Journal???”
I said “you’re talking to him.”
He was like ‘what?’ He was all shocked. “I’ve been following that for a year.”
He was on the train with the Warbonnet leader that I photographed by the depot in Schriever on November 29th, no poetry, no prose.
This 10-car train is the LALNSI. There is some new thing on BNSF about decreasing dwell time and has some acronym, like TSB or TSP.
He told me that, about two or three weeks ago, Union Pacific ran two or three westbound trains through here fairly close to each other. So, I am wondering what they are doing, keeping their qualifications active? That could be it, but the fact that they were in quick succession could mean that there was a temporary capacity issue on the Livonia-Kinder route.
He also told me that he was on the train that I photographed in Schriever on Friday morning, the one that snuck up on me. So, he must have turned back on a westbound train yesterday, and I am wondering when it passed. It must have passed when I broke off to get Paul, or it would have passed before dawn.
So, after the conversation ended, I decided to hang out nearby for a while, expecting that the train would resume its journey, allowing me to photograph it somewhere else in good lighting.
While waiting, I took the opportunity to make a few views of the two Louisiana & Delta Railroad locomotives parked here.
That is the LDRR 1536 and the LDRR 1846.
Not being equipped with PTC equipment, the 1536, which I think is the newest locomotive on the L&D roster, is more-or-less permanently assigned to the Cypremort Branch, of which the only regular customer is the Orion Engineered Carbons carbon-black plant.
The other locomotive in Baldwin is there to serve the North Bend Branch.
As time progressed and the train didn’t move, with both the sun and the temperature getting higher, I had to decide what to do, and I had an evolution of thought.
I was thinking that I would not go to Ricohoc even if this train leaves right now, mainly because it is hot. It’s not that far away. I don’t know; it would be an interesting photograph. I don’t know; maybe if it would leave now, I would do it, because I am still very early for what I have to do for the rest of the day. It’s going to be hot out at the festival; so, I am not going to like that. I didn’t bring sunscreen or bug spray or anything like that. So, it’s going to be kind of a brutal day today.
We were getting to high sun time, it was hot, I just wanted to go poke around in New Iberia, and I didn’t want to get too parched before I even go to the festival.
I was sitting in my truck at Martin Luther King Blvd, waiting on this train to move.
I would love to see some regular UP trains run through here. I want UP to bring back the IAVLB. That was a good train. I liked it, plenty. Bring back the IAVLB, please.
I was looking forward to – and thinking about – my own shower, my own bed, and my own food tonight.
Oh, damn, my trail mix might melt in here! I forgot about that. I’ll put it in the ice chest.
Well, I could just go to the house, I thought at 10:41. Let me think about that for a second. I could be there in an hour, put my stuff up [unload it], take a shower, rest, and leave to go to the festival.
I then saw what looked like the crew being taken away by a crew van. That was my cue to get out of here.
So, I decided to leave to go to the house, as I thought that that was a better idea even though it killed my whole plan of like driving from T Town to the park.
That means that I didn’t have to stop at Burger King. I could have just eaten an omelet at the house. Oh, well.
Yeah, when I made my planning, I did not account for mid-80s heat with perishable stuff in the automobile for hours.
There is a “Pray to end abortion” sign at this church right here north of the track on Martin Luther King Blvd, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, all right.
I ended up deciding to not go into New Iberia. What the hell would I do over there? photograph a couple of engines that I have photographed before? Nah, forget that.
I got to the house at 11:36. I brought inside all of the meltable stuff, took a shower, and I ate nothing more than a banana and some blueberries and then got dressed to go work Festivals Acadiens et Créoles at Girard Park.
The Fest
It was good.
It was again a good experience.
I was thanked profusely.
Lafayette Whataburger And the #2
I thought that I once again got jacked by Julie, but that isn’t really what happened.
I was hungry when I was leaving the festival, and I thought about how I don’t get event food at places like that and how people would find it bad that I was at a place like that and left to go eat fast food without eating any of the food there. It’s one of those things about learning your own feelings, that I finally realize why I do it. It’s like the idea of eating the food that I would buy there is good to me. The idea of eating it there with all of that light and noise and dust is not.
I left the festival at a little bit after 16:00. I called Amtrak Julie about when the #2 might arrive. She said that it would leave at around 5:15pm. So, I was thinking, all right, I have time to go ride by Whataburger, I did, and I got the new Bacon Blaze Jalapeño Double, and I had to do the same stupid crap about “do you want the combo or the sandwich?”
I said that I wanted the thing.
“Okay, but do you want fries or a drink with that?”
I said that I wanted the thing. Got damn it. To hell with Whataburger for doing that. I just noticed, though, that it happens only at that specific location. So, I might write to them and complain about that.
So, anyway, I went and got the burger, and I went to Sunbeam Lane by Lafayette Yard to eat the burger. I was eating the burger when I heard this weird-sounding horn, and, then, there is the #2 riding on the bypass track, like, aw, dammit!!!
Well, I just got jacked by Julie again, I thought. I was then driving eastbound pretty fast on Cameron Street, Highway 90, in Lafayette, because the #2 came by earlier than it was supposed to come, but, then, as I approached his station stop, I realized that maybe I wasn’t properly interpreting the situation.
Oh, maybe this is padding time, okay.
Yep, I saw the end of the train at the station; so, I figured that I might be able to get ahead of it. I was thinking that Southpark might be a good place to get him.
There was a loaded sugarcane truck eastbound/southbound on US Highway 90, like, damn, this is jacked. We have to have sugarcane trucks come through Lafayette.
So, there is the train still stopped at the station. So, that is good. Yeah, I might be able to do this afterall, just where?
Yeah, I was thinking that I am going to get well ahead of this train. That Broussard shot is not going to work, I thought. So, needed to think more about this.
Oh, maybe I should do this Kaliste Saloom Road shot, since that Elks track might have cars in it. That doesn’t really look all that good, but let’s do this.
So, I set up here, and I waited.
I got a loaded sugarcane truck while waiting!
Yeah, I would have had to have checked out Elks first. I was wondering if I had time. Yeah, the worst part here is not knowing.
Finally, my train came.
Look at that sugarcane truck!
The train was not going fast as it passed me. So, I could have gotten a telephoto shot, but I am not sure that I would have properly swapped lenses in time. I am glad that I did what I did; so, that’s that.
So, I didn’t get jacked by Julie after all. What actually happened is that I made a mistake, and, when I called Julie and she asked “would you like arrival time or departure time?”, I assumed that it didn’t make a difference which. I should have known that there is a reason that she doesn’t ask stuff like that for Schriever, at least for westbound trains (but I also think that she should just automatically give both without the additional prompt.) The train stayed in the station for a while, because it got there ahead of time. So, that’s some of its padding time.
So, I did have time to get farther ahead of it, but I am glad that I didn’t, because I don’t think that the shot options are good.
So, I am made a run to Southpark just to see what the shot there looks like. There were no cars on the Elks track; so, I could have done the shot here, but it was all in the shade. So, it’s good that I did the shot where I did it. Now, I know about it.
Yeah, this shot right here would not have worked. It’s too late, and the sun is too far to the north. The LDRR 1850 and the LDRR 1703 are right there. I did not get any shots of them. I already shot L&D power today.
I saw gasoline priced at $2.65 a gallon at this Circle K right here. I need to look up Beau Pre Road.
So, it was a good day.
I wonder where Uncle Harold’s house was.
All right, Murphy USA had gasoline for $2.69 per gallon. So, it’s cheaper at that Circle K; so, I will keep that in mind for future references.
I got gasoline, then went buy a few things in Walmart, and then went to the house, ending a great and memorable weekend.
Jim
