If you have the time, you might be interested in checking out NORTA's Carrollton Shop. It's where the St. Charles streetcars are stored and serviced, and where all of the red streetcars were built. It's been quite a few years since I've been there, but I found that someone was usually around to answer questions. I don't think that there is any construction going on now, but I'm not sure. It's one block up (NW *) from Carrollton Ave. between Willow and Jeanette Streets.
* NW -- New Orleanians don't use N, S, E, W, but up, down, river and lake for directions. (Up river, down river.)
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Thanks, Op...we're already past Alabama, and we visited Railroad Park downtown and the Sloss Furnaces while we were there. I felt successful.Today, I was pleasantly surprised at the action around our current base of operations...Donaldsonville, Louisiana, midway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. This morning we saw three freight trains, one right after the other. I susect that this ws the end of a CTC siding. We went back there an hour or so ago, and it looked like the same spot might also be used for changing crews--another freight. I'm doing pretty well on the exotic freight-car sightings. Tomorrow I think we're braving the heat and going to New Orleans, but I hope we have time for another drive past Avondale Yard.I'm hoping, whenever we get to New Orleans, to ride the streetcars, particularly the St. Charles line--it was a chance that was denied to me 55 years ago during our family trip. Funny thing...streetcars or their descendants are more common nowadays than they were in 1962!
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
If you get into mid Alabama, there's a number of places to watch slow moving trains in the vicinity of Birmingham, AL. There are a number of areas right in downtown, a number of bridges right over the tracks (and if you have any interest in heavy industry, the Sloss Furnaces https://www.slossfurnaces.com/ is a great place to visit just north of the tracks). A little west of there the Bessemer Hall of History museum in the former Souther RR station is right beside the tracks and trains tend to move slowly past there ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessemer_Hall_of_History ) and I've enjoyed visiting the museum as well. A little east is Irondale and the large NS Yard there. There are a number of places from which to see slow moving trains. Some miles south of Birmingham is the Heart of Dixie RR museum ( https://www.hodrrm.org/ ) and just north of it two lines diamond and I've seen slow moving trains in that area and again the museum is a nice visit with a train ride. I was last in this area about a decade ago installing a new computerized hump control system at CSX's Boyles Yard (now to my knowledge shuttered) but don't think much else has changed. There was no good public access to Boyles anyway.
73, J. Chris Hausler
We're alive and well, with little damage from the storm. We're two days behind schedule, though--and that will have to be dealt with by tightening the schedule later on.We got to Birmingham Saturday night, to dire updates about Alberto. Our original itinerary had us going to Mobile and Pensacola on Sunday. That seemed, putting it mildly, to be imprudent. So we decided to stay an extra day in Birmingham, during which we saw a few sights (and a few trains!) around town. The following day, we decided to sidestep the storm by heading southwest to Meridian, Mississippi, which proved to be another good spot to find interesting freight cars, including some woodchip hoppers now owned by the Meridian & Bigbee Railroad (one was an old ICG car; the other originated on the Apalachicola Northern).Today, as we were leaving Meridian, we noted that the center of Alberto had given Montgomery a good soaking, and had Birmingham directly in its sights. We, meanwhile, got to Mobile and Pensacola today in cloudy to partly cloudy weather, and totally dry roads. We might get a little rain tonight, but we're under roof.
Has anyone been in touch with Carl and Pat lately? Looking at their itinerary, I was wondering if they were on a collision course with Alberto.
Ah, yes; the beignets go very well with the coffee at the Cafe du Monde. As I recall, I did learn to drink the coffee without adding sugar.
I do not know if it is still there, but there was restaurant on Decatur Street which listed the main course for the day on the wall--and if you did not want the main course you went elsewhere.
Johnny
Paul of CovingtonThen there's a muffuletta (pronounced "muffulotta" for some reason) from the originator, Central Grocery in the French Quarter. You can get them all over town, but they vary quite a bit, and a visit to Central Grocery is in itself an adventure in sight and smell.
+1 on the muffuletta from Central Grocery. It's large enough you'd be well off splitting one. Sitting along the Mississippi eating a muffuletta is at treat.
(also beignets at Cafe Du Monde - but don't get them to eat in your car, unless you like powdered sugar everywhere!)
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Carl, I wish I had thought of this back when you first mentioned this trip; there is a museum in Houma that is connected with Southdown Plantation/Crescent Farms--the plantation where a new variety of sugarcane was introduced when a mosaic disease was ravishing the variety of cane that was then grown. The few canes of the new variety that were planted are the ancestors of the cane that all of the planters eventually were able to plant.
You can read about this in Francis Parkinson Keyes' The River Road, which tells of life on a sugar plantation. She transferred the saga of the mosaic disease from the actual plantation to a plantation south of Baton Rouge, but gives credit to the actual location, and names the three men who did the work (one of them was my great uncle).
A few quick last minute notes:
I can't help much with RR information since I'm kind of isolated from any activity where I live, and I haven't been keeping up with what's happening.
Johnny mentioned Nottoway Plantation, which I think is probably the most impressive one in the area. Oak Alley is also quite impressive:
https://www.oakalleyplantation.com/
Sometimes I feel like a misfit living here since I've never been one of those people who enjoys eating, but when in New Orleans I'd like to recommend a couple things to try. First, charbroiled oysters at Drago's. They have locations downtown and in suburban Metairie.
https://www.dragosrestaurant.com/
Then there's a muffuletta (pronounced "muffulotta" for some reason) from the originator, Central Grocery in the French Quarter. You can get them all over town, but they vary quite a bit, and a visit to Central Grocery is in itself an adventure in sight and smell.
http://centralgrocery.com/
Sorry I didn't respond sooner, but I'm a master procrastinator. I wish you kids the best of luck, and I hope you enjoy your trip.
Well, tomorrow's May 21...and we'll be on the road by mid-morning (I hope!).The trip is pretty well organized by days now, with only two days requiring more than 300 miles' worth of travel. This is to take it easy on us older folk, and to give us plenty of time to stop and smell the roses (or the cotton, or the diesel exhaust) as necessary. I'll have my railroad atlases with me, and Pat will have her directory of quilt shops.We've given ourselves five days in Louisiana (to explore plantations, chemical plants, and the like), and two days in the Houston area. (Still interested in knowing which area of Houston would be the best to set up camp.) We'll go down to Galveston on one of our days there. If Houston Ed needs an encouraging word, we'd do our best.We added the railfan park at Flatonia, Texas, on the strength of Trains Magazine's special Hot Spots edition. Other than that, our itinerary is about the same as the revised edition posted earlier. So now I'll hit the hay, and tomorrow we'll be out of here. Updates provided en route as necessary.
CShaveRR K.P., Pat is my wife and co-conspirator, as always. This trip will, in a way, be a celebration of 45 years of marriage.Linda is our younger daughter. For the past three years she's been dealing with Stage IV cancer. I'd say that right now she's holding her own and doing what she can (she has a Ph.D. in Musicology, and is primarily writing a blog and other things--recently her blog got the attention of the BBC!). There's not much that we can do for her directly, but if things should change and she requires parents/ grandparents to come out and help, we'd be there just as quickly as possible. California...she lives in Lompoc; her treatments are centered around Santa Barbara, and she has her husband's family relatively (double-meaning) close by. Not much more in plans yet--we found a quilt expo in Georgia that can be made on our way. We can leave no earlier than May 21, and have to be back home by June 15.
K.P., Pat is my wife and co-conspirator, as always. This trip will, in a way, be a celebration of 45 years of marriage.Linda is our younger daughter. For the past three years she's been dealing with Stage IV cancer. I'd say that right now she's holding her own and doing what she can (she has a Ph.D. in Musicology, and is primarily writing a blog and other things--recently her blog got the attention of the BBC!). There's not much that we can do for her directly, but if things should change and she requires parents/ grandparents to come out and help, we'd be there just as quickly as possible. California...she lives in Lompoc; her treatments are centered around Santa Barbara, and she has her husband's family relatively (double-meaning) close by.
Not much more in plans yet--we found a quilt expo in Georgia that can be made on our way. We can leave no earlier than May 21, and have to be back home by June 15.
CShaveRR (Carl, 4-5):
Ah, a little bit of details goes a long ways towards understanding a family situation!
Going on forty-five years you and Pat have been married! Great! Marriage is a key element holding civilization together and historically when that standard is cast aside a civilization seems to for some reason disappear.
About Linda, your daughter, her sad situation seems hopeful as it presently is stable. Cancer is a mean scourge on humanity for sure. My sister-in-law died from it just a few years ago, so while probably of a different variant (she was a chain smoker), I can relate you and your wife’s affliction. I hope the best for her.
Anyway, when you do get on your travels, it is hoped everyone has a super good time in both riding and off the rails!
K.P.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
Carl,
I assume, that since you have included Baton Rouge, you are already familiar with the Class 1s in the area: CN (former ICG / Y&MVR), KCS (L&A) & UP (TP & MP).
There are several opportunities along Perkins Rd for the KCS; along LA 30 (Nicholson Dr) for the CN. For the UP, you will need to cross the Mississippi to Addis, or, for the southern (east) end of UP’s Livonia yard, to Maringoun or Grosse Tete....
Traffic across the Missippi river bridge is a combination of KCS (BR to Shreveport) amd local interchang.
Much of the locall originated loads are plastic pellet...
Seasonally, we have had grain for export via various ship loading elevators, along the river between BR & NOLA
from the Far East of the Sunset Route
(In the shadow of the Huey P Long bridge)
You could spend your entire vacation down here in Houston and Galveston and see every kind of railcar there is, except Boeing 737 rail cars. I worked with BNSF out of Galveston. 26 railyards in the area two major yards, the old SP's Englewood yard and MOP's Settegast yard in Houston. BNSF Galveston terminal sees a lot of switching and turn around of all kinds of rail cars. Galveston Railway, switches the Port of Galveston mainly grain hoppers, boxcars, windmill flats, and auto racks.
CShaveRR (3-29):
In May! OK, now the picture is understood, the trip is yet future.
Though we have post communicated before, those close to you are unfamiliar to me. I take it Pat is maybe your wife, and Linda might be Pat’s or your mother. Did I guess correctly?
Your mention of California kind of confuses me, as your tentative itinerary is for the eastern part of the U.S. Do you fly somewhere and then take the train on a circular route, then fly back to your original launching off place?
As for meeting somewhere, I’m still trying to figure out when and where desertdog and I can meet face to face. The possibility seems to be going downhill, as a possible trip to Texas seems to be disappearing fast, especially if you saw my recent post in the “Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates” thread. Hey, CShaveRR, you don’t ride the train to Hawaii very often, do you? I may go there later this year. There are a lot of trains over there we could meet at and see … (Yah, right!)
Have a good trip in May, Carl, and all of yours!
Hi, K.P.!Still planning. Yesterday I ordered the SPV atlases I need for the areas we're hitting. The route is still pretty much the same as it was in my last post (where will we meet you?).Departure will probably be May 21 or thereabouts. May 20 is the last day of Lombard's Lilac Festival. I don't know how long we'll be out...Pat usually gets tired of traveling after three weeks, and that may be pretty close to when the cash runs out...And there's always the concern that Linda's health may change, or she may require some added help (though everything's been fairly good lately). If that happens mid-trip, we may have to drop plans and head to California.
CShaveRR:
Curious if you have taken your trip yet or if things are still in the planning stages … If still future, what are you looking at calendar-wise?
Best,
Thank you for all of your responses to my call for help! I'll be putting them to good use.Naturally, since we're so far ahead of the game in planning this trip, a few revisions have come into play. We got a request for a visit to a friend in northeastern Georgia, and figured that we could do that in a day, delivering a quilt that Pat expects to have finished for her (actually for her granddaughter) by that time. So now the trip will be doing all of what we previously hoped for, plus setting tire (and maybe foot) into all of the states we need to finish off the Lower 48. One state for me, four for Pat, and we've got 'er done!Here's the revised routing, with a few stops added and taken out.Cairo, IllinoisPaducah, KentuckyNashvilleChattanooga(the secret spot in northeastern Georgia)AtlantaMontgomeryPensacola (this is how we get Florida in)Mobile New Orleans and vicinityBaton RougeLafayetteHoustonSan AntonioAustinGeorgetown (or other areas here where aggregate loads originate)Fort Worth Saginaw, Texas (I have to find it first!)DallasShreveportTexarkanaLittle Rock (North Little Rock)Springfield, MO (Carl's cousin)Steelville, MO (Pat's brother)St. Louis (probably Kirkwood)HomeWe haven't logged the trip to see how long it will take or how much it will cost. People have warned us about St. Louis being rough. We haven't experienced that ourselves, but Kirkwood should still be good, in our experience. We may hit other areas of St. Louis in a trip we have to make to that area in two weeks (for things totally not related to trains or quilts). We are both looking forward to where we'll go and what we'll see. It's sort of a gift to ourselves for our 45th anniversary.
You can bet that we'd spend some time there. Pat has been there a couple of times that I'm aware of, without me (she has a friend who lives in Murray; they went once, and one time she and her mother went down there). I'll go with her this time. I often accompany her to quilt shows, and I've been to the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts with her at least once a year for the past four or five.
CShaveRR Pat and I hope to take a trip to some southern areas (we're slowly checking off the states in the "lower 48" that we've been to), and I want to see interesting freight cars! (Pat wants to see plantations, and probably quilt shops,
Carl, If you do get to Paducah, be sure to allow time to visit the Quilt Museum.
https://quiltmuseum.org/
My wife and I visited it and I (not a quilt fanatic) was blown away with their exhibits. Like Pat, my wife humors me and I her (for 57 years) and so I went. She almost had to pry me out of the place. Not a lot of freight cars there though. We were camping at KenLake State park and it was a easy drive between them. Also went there when on a Delta Queen trip from Clarksville TN to Pittsburgh. Started on the Cumberland River past the Land between the Lakes thence to Kentucky Lake and locked down to the Tennessee River to the Ohio and docked at Paducah.
Politicians made then take the Delta Queen OOS as it was non union and as it was wood, it could burn and they invoked coast guard safety rules which it had had a waiver from (it was never far from shore) but thats politics. So thats my suggestion. If Pat likes quilts, and these are prize winning quilts, I think she will like it. Also you might find the Paducah VMW railroad shops (former IC) of interest. Don't know what they are doing lately.
CShaveRRShe's very relieved that this trip doesn't get us as far from home as our sojourn to the Pacific Coast a couple of years ago.
Doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but then again, lots going on since then. Pat would at least be glad to hear the quilting and fabric shop in Tehachapi is still going strong, in fact it seemed like they had even more inventory and a busy "back room" class of some kind going on when we stopped in. Kohnen's bakery seemed even busier at lunchtime on Saturday and the cookies were outstanding.
CMStPnP Texarkana is a dump.......Marshall, TX might be a better stop for you.
Texarkana is a dump.......Marshall, TX might be a better stop for you.
Kirkwood is always a good spot and so is Pacific, have went there with railfan group or by myself to Kirkwood to sit by the station or in the park and watch trains. When I went down to NOLA, a friend took me to Oak Alley Plantation, beautiful, it's the one you see on pictures with the oaks lining each side of the driveway. They have old slave quarters to view also. Sounds like you have worked out a great trip, but don't know anything about freight cars standing around.
It has not reopened yet (city leaders are still getting the funding for repair together), but it's still a good spot. There's a farmer's market area next to the bridge and some restaurants across the street, and even a bicycle history museum if you can catch it open. (On the other (north) side of the bridge --which can be reached by a walk or drive under the tracks at Lyon Avenue --there is a whole neighborhood of uniquely-painted utility poles, although not railroad-related.)
Another spot in Springfield might be the Kansas Avenue viaduct, which is a highway bridge that passes over the east end of the Springfield yard. It has a pedestrian lane separated from traffic and you may be able to see what you want between the links of chain link fence there after walking to the top (no parking on the bridge). If you still don't see what you want, drive several blocks west of Kansas Avenue along Division Street and you'll go by the south end of the yard.
I realize it's not near where you may be heading, but if you ever get near McColl, SC you could stop here... 34.662517,-79.549982. The Pee Dee Railroad apparently stores cars there? I photographed a Seattle and North Coast box car there one time which I thought was very cool. Good luck!
Conway would be a different trip...we have a good friend (remember Nora?) who would be helpful. And we haven't been east for a while.One thing I have to keep in mind is that I have a wife who gets very antsy toward the end of a lengthy stay away from home. She's very relieved that this trip doesn't get us as far from home as our sojourn to the Pacific Coast a couple of years ago. But at the same time, I'm trying to get both of us to all of the "lower 48" sometime, so the route is evolving.
billioPittsburgh, especially Conway, might be a good spot. Lotta trains (NS, CSX) through there. Congratulations on your 45th. All best wishes...
Congratulations on your 45th. All best wishes...
You won't find many CSX trains at Conway.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
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