The story I was told was that an Illinois Central employee had become injured and was unable to continue working. Through a series of circumstances, he was allowed to use this old work car for his residence. Located in Hammond, Louisiana, the car was parked on the east side of the Chicago to New Orleans mainline on a short piece of unconnected track several hundred yards north of the depot. I remember approaching this car many years ago thinking it was abandoned. I was surprised that someone was still inside!

And many years later I assumed that the man had passed, as during some intensive track right-of-way work, the car was pushed further away from the track and was overturned on its side. Over the years the trees and underbrush have completely enveloped the car, and it is quite difficult to locate now. A few years ago Ron Findley and I did manage to find the car, and we took several photos of what little remains of it. Hardly anything is recognizable beyond the trucks.

The photograph below was taken by Ron in February of 1988 when the car was apparently still the residence of the old railroad worker. If any of you readers have more information about the car you’d like to share, please do so in the comments.