In April of 2018 my friend Ron Findley and I attended the annual spring railfan gathering of the Southeastern Louisiana Chapter of the N.R.H.S. The event was held in Plaquemine, Louisiana, a small city located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, across from and a bit below Baton Rouge. The Union Pacific Railroad’s mainline between New Orleans and Addis (formerly Texas & Pacific) runs through here, and the track is routed through the center of the city’s old business district, flanked on each side by one-way avenues.

It was a bright and sunny spring day, and we enjoyed several passing trains while there. Eventually Ron and I ventured a bit north from where the group was camped, and we were rewarded by a southbound freight train as it was crossing Bayou Plaquemine on the historic bridge located there. Locomotive #4058, an EMD SD70M, leads the train and is assisted by another UP SD70M locomotive and a pair of Norfolk Southern visitors.