Back in the late '60s or early 70's, while I was in my late teens (or a little older), our family home was adajacent to East Bridge JCT in New Orleans, where traffic from the Huey P Long Bridge (2 tracks) interchanged with the NOPB, the IC/ICG, KCS, SOUTHERN, L&N, & other Eastern roads.
At that time, the SP & Southern RR had a lot of trafic between Houston & Birmingham, & it took a few days to get across town from Avondale to NO East...
So, the two parties established a "Run Through" that bypassed both yards in NOLA, taking advantage of the more efficient yard in Houston. They used pooled front end power, & the crew change was @ the east end of the bridge.
The trains routinely had 6 units on the front & a 4 unit helper to get over the bridge. I was led to believe that the bridge in New Orleans was the most significant grade obstacle between Houston & B'ham. The trains were in the 100+ car length ~+ 10,000 tons ....
Does anyone else have:
1. Any knowledge of that operation?
2. Current operations over that bridge?
3. Similar operations elsewhere from that time?
4. Similar operations elswhere today?
from the Far East of the Sunset Route
(In the shadow of the Huey P Long bridge)
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