Continuing our story on the Reader Railroad, the notes on this photograph say this is “Reader Railroad steam locomotive #108 at work hauling a mixed train at Waterloo, Arkansas”. At first I thought it was a train departing from Waterloo, but zooming in on the image shows that the train isn’t moving. Indeed, it appears to be preparing to do its switching at the asphalt plant. Notice the two fellows standing on the oil tank of the tender, apparently using the cab roof as a desk to study some paperwork. Looking behind the first tank car (marked as a water car), there is a brakeman posing for the camera while waiting for time to make his next move.

Whatever the situation, it’s a nice photograph of the entire train of five tank cars and three passenger cars . . . a nice, typically southern mixed train.

Again, this is a scan of one of several 8″x10″ photos from the collection of the late Ron Findley. The notes on the back of the photograph inform that the photographer is “Sgt. John Taibi, stationed at England AFB”.

The largest customer on the Reader Railroad was the Berry asphalt refinery located in Waterloo, Arkansas. In Ron Findley’s photo album I found an 8″x10″ photograph of the road’s #108 laboring in her switching duties at the plant. She’s another 2-6-2 “Prairie” steam locomotive, similar to the #11 that we saw last week. A product of Baldwin in 1920, she went through several prior owners before arriving at the Reader.

Some years ago I had posted another photograph of the #108 while she was at rest near the roundhouse in Reader. That post also has some information on the history of the locomotive. Interestingly, I had never noticed before in that image that the locomotive was wearing a wood-burning stack, and some boards had been attached to the side of the fuel oil tank in the tender. I’ll speculate that the engine had been temporarily “back dated” for a role in one (of several movies) that were filmed at the Reader, and that featured their trains in them.

Unfortunately, I have no information regarding the date -or- the photographer. Although I think it very likely to have been A.E. Brown.

At one time A.E. Brown visited the Reader Railroad and he recorded this view of the road’s steam locomotive #11 as she was getting ready to depart from Reader. She’s putting out plenty of smoke, although the white flags are still limp. But she will soon be galloping down the mainline at perhaps 5 mph or so.

The Reader was a 23 mile shortline that ran between Reader, Arkansas (where it interchanged with the Missouri Pacific) to Waterloo, Arkansas where it’s largest customer was located, the Berry asphalt refinery. The number 11 is an oil-burning 2-6-2 Prairie built by Baldwin in 1925. I believe the locomotive still exists, and is displayed in a park in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

This is a scan of one of several 8″x10″ photos from the collection of the late Ron Findley. I was gifted that collection, and plan to scan several more of these photos from the Reader, along with a few other roads in the South. Stay tuned for more!

On a Saturday in November of the year 2000, Edgar Dayries positioned himself by the Union Pacific (former MP/TP) tracks running through White Castle, Louisiana. And there he recorded this view of the UP’s Operation Lifesaver passenger train as it was heading East by Southeast (railroad South) on its way to New Orleans.

For reference, the Francise Street grade crossing is behind the photographer, and a bit of parallel Cambre Street is seen to the far left. Not much has changed in this view over the past 25 years. The house at far right is still there, though it’s now painted green with yellow window and fascia trim. The green house trailer has been replaced by a newer model. Amazingly, the power pole at the extreme right, along with the second pole to its left, and the crooked pole without cross-arms are still there. The signals and signal box remain. Some things change . . . some never do. 😁

The Louisiana Cypress Lumber Co. locomotive #1 stubs her toe out in the swamps. While backing over rough track the tender derailed, pulling #1 off the rails as well. Date unknown, but likely around 1951.

Watch Your Fingers! Conductor Lloyd Ballard holds the link in his right hand and the pin in his left. As the cars come together, the conductor will guide the link into the coupler pocket. Then the pin gets dropped into the pocket, securing the link. Many men lose fingers working with these devices. The rough swamp trackage prevented use of knuckle couplers. Date unknown, but likely around 1951.

Heading Out. The Louisiana Cypress Lumber Co. log cutters enter the woods at first light using motor cars. I’ve read they would leave the swamp somewhere between noon and 4pm to avoid the mosquito swarms. Date unknown, but likely around 1951.

I mentioned in last week’s blog post that I would likely scan more of the photos from the late Tom Davidson’s Louisiana Cypress Lumber Co. scrapbook. Today I have three more images to share. The first is another view of the little Prairie locomotive that Tom recorded sometime in the early 1960s. I noticed that the company name is no longer on the tender. Since the cab still has its number 1 on it, I presume the other lettering was intentionally removed.

Below is a scene captured by C.W. Witbeck as the #1 is heading back to the mill with its train of logs. When enlarging my scan, I think Tom’s photo was a scan from a magazine, evidenced by the half-tone appearance. Nevertheless, it’s a nice scene of the train heading out of the swamp.

A bit more information about the whereabouts of the loco may be found on my older post from here: Louisiana Cypress Lumber Co. #1. Be sure to read the comments on the post also.

And finally, the Witbeck image below is the water car that was trailed behind the locomotive.

Note in these last two photographs that the Louisiana Cypress Lumber Co. Inc. name does appear on the locomotive’s tender.

Images collection of Jack Shall (former collection of Tom Davidson)

Back in June of 2025, I posted a photograph of the Louisiana Cypress Lumber Company’s #1, a diminutive Prairie locomotive built by H.K. Porter. The 1 spot was the primary power for hauling cypress logs out of the swamps and to the mill. I was recently digging through a bunch of old books and binders, and came across a binder that I had forgotten I possessed. It had the title “LCLC, Louisiana Cypress Lumber Company, Ponchatoula” on it, and I then remembered it had been given to me by the late Tom Davidson several years before his passing. It contains his collection of photographs and articles about the company, and is pretty interesting. Some of the images are labeled as CW (I’m assuming they refer to C.W. Witbeck) and TD (also assuming this to be Tom Davidson). The one print that caught my eye was the Tom Davidson image shown here. His notes say that the image was recorded in the early 60s. I had photographed virtually the same view almost a decade later. While I no longer have my version (it drowned in the Great Flood of 2016), my memory of that photograph is still vivid in my mind, and I recall the locomotive looking just about the same then as what we see here.

I won’t take the time or space here to detail the specifics of the locomotive, but rather you can see and read the earlier post here: Louisiana Cypress Lumber Co. #1. Be sure to read the comments on the post also.

I may post several more of the photos from that binder, as they are interesting. It will take a bit of time though, as after scanning, I generally also take time to “clean up” the images (removing dust spots and defects, sometimes adjusting the lighting a bit, etc.). I’ve done just that on this photograph.

Image by Tom Davidson, collection of Jack Shall

William Harry recorded this scene of a Texas & Pacific freight train in March of 1951. The train, headed by T&P 2-8-2 #808 followed by water car X25402, was running extra (as evidenced by the white flags), and was heading east in the New Orleans area. According to the comment on this photograph, the T&P had eleven Mikados on their roster, all built by Baldwin in 1919. They were USRA oil burning, light Mikados. An interesting story about the somewhat unusual acquisition of these locomotives may be found at SteamLocomotive.com. There are some details on this locomotive that likely were added by the T&P, the most obvious are the capped stack and the tender’s dog-house.

Some details from the aforementioned website: these locomotives were designated as Class H-2 and were assigned road numbers 800 through 810. They had 63″ diameter drivers, 26″ x 30″ cylinders, a 200 psi boiler pressure and they exerted 54,724 pounds of tractive effort and each weighed 290,000 pounds. They were rebuilt in 1936, with an increase of 2,000 pounds and they were equipped with roller bearings. My notes: I’m speculating that the feed-water heater and twin pilot-mounted air pumps were added during the rebuild.

Several weeks ago I posted a photograph of Texas & Pacific steam locomotive #331. The locomotive was a Class D-9 built by A.L. Cooke in May of 1903, and the image was taken in 1939 with the locomotive shown in its as-built condition. Most of the Class D-9s were upgraded in later years, but I found no evidence that the #331 received those upgrades.

Her sister locomotive, the #332, however did receive those upgrades. The photograph below is undated, but shows how she looked after receiving piston valves and new outside valve gear. She also got a new headlight mounted on the smokebox front, and “stairs” from the pilot deck up to the running boards.

I really like this shot, apparently taken while pacing the train. The blurred foreground and trees in the background really give the locomotive a sense of speed.

Unfortunately the photographer of this great scene is unknown.