Today marks the 6th anniversary of the start of construction of the Louisiana Central Railroad. As many of you know, the railroad suffered a horrific flood in August of 2016. I posted about it here in Flood! and had a short follow up in The Aftermath for new readers that may be unaware.
Unfortunately little progress has been made with the restoration of the train room (which is actually a separate building from my home). After the immediate remediation of the building, it became a warehouse of sorts for things from the house, as well as a place to stage materials needed for reconstruction.
My home restoration is essentially complete, with only minor details needing attention. Indeed, I’ve been back living here since last Thanksgiving. But moving back into the house didn’t mean it was complete, and it has taken much time to finish the restoration. Add to that time taken to “catch up” on things that were left undone for over a year!
However, I’ve started making a wee bit of progress. The first step to the train building restoration is to simply empty it out, leaving only the layout structure itself in the building. I’ve got virtually all of the household stuff out, and I’ve started the process of packing the train room and shop equipment. But then the realization hit that I needed more space in my house (mainly the garage) to store the stuff from the train building. Ugh! So I’ve added more shelving in the garage, and am trying to get it cleared and organized so as to make the necessary space.
But to be honest, the biggest hold up on getting this all done is simply burn out. Next month will see the second anniversary of that flood, and I’m just sick and tired of dealing with the aftermath. I’m not alone in that feeling, as I’ve got many people around me in that same boat. I would never have dreamed I’d still be dealing with flood related issues two years after the fact!
But it will happen. The Louisiana Central is not forgotten or abandoned. I’m hoping the next anniversary will be one of joy and cheer. Wish me luck!
-Jack
It is just heartbreaking all the loss of photos and slides in the past 13 years, 1st was Mike Palmarie, and the guy in Slidel (old age – don’t remember his name) who’s collection pilled at the curb made it into Railroad Model Craftsman. Then Forest Beck and you, in the 2016 flood. I am sure there were major losses in Houston as well. We all need to learn to store them as high as possible. Scan the slides we do have, back them up on the cloud. Learn from these tragedies and don’t be a future casualty, as the whole community suffers when this history is lost.
Many of you know that I model steel mills and have devoted my vacations to visiting mills, many that have been torn down now. I have about three thousand slides of mills. My wife proddred me into a new project after she said “I know those are important, but if something happened to you I would have no idea what to do with them. Please don’t burden me with the task of deciding where they go. I also belong to the NMRA Steel Miil Modelers SIG. I am researching a project to find a home for not just my images, but anyone in the SIG who wants to avail themselves to what we are trying to set up. We are looking to establish a database that is searchable by many categories or key words. Get the images into the database with captions. Something like Railpictures.net but with structures and cars as well as locomotives. The goal is to get it up and running with substantial content and then turn it over to a museum. Most museums I have contacted are interested in the collection, but they don’t have the time or knowledgable staff to do the job. But they can preserve and maintain the completed collection. What software to use for the database is the question. I welcome any suggestions or comments.
Good for you Jack.
Have pretty much done little on my Bayou Crest Express also. But time is allowing me to work on a few models,, such as a dummy Athearnn U28B, Red Caboose 1924 X-29 B & O box car and a old Tyco Mech. Reefer unit repainted and decaled Santa Fe unit.
But having lived thru Andrew in Houma back yrs ago ,, I can understand your state of mind.
Bless you and yours,, Keep on Tracking….lol
Boudreaux, Only member of my railroad!
Get Er Done