As a kid, I spent a fair amount of time in the small city of Ponchatoula, Louisiana back in the 50s and 60s. My maternal grandparents lived in that community, and their home was in viewing distance of the Illinois Central’s double track mainline. The north-south railroad divides the city in half, with streets having West and East prefixes. At the center of town is the train station, located between NW Railroad Avenue and NE Railroad Avenue, and bordered on the south by East Pine Street (West Pine Street after crossing the tracks).

This initial view of the depot was photographed ca.1940. Most of the Illinois Central passenger trains stopped here (depending on the “class” of the train).

And here is another view of the depot recorded in September of 1979. We’re in the Amtrak era now, and the “new” City of New Orleans doesn’t stop in Ponchatoula, with the city of Hammond receiving that honor just a few miles north of here. The structure now serves as the “Country Market”. And it’s still in pretty good shape.

The depot is still there today, and still serves this same purpose. Indeed, it still looks essentially like this view some 45 years later!

This is one of my favorite Jack Delano photographs. I had posted it over seven years ago, and again two years later during discussions about wooden floors sometimes seen in roundhouses. And yet again the topic came up at our weekly railfan breakfast recently, so here we are.

We’re at the Chicago and North Western’s yard in Chicago, and it’s December of 1942. The roundhouse could be a rather chilly environment, and these workers helped combat the situation by burning coal in open steel “drums” to provide a bit of warmth. I suspect that these heaters were fabricated right there in-house, and I’m sure that they are contributing to the haze inside. Also note the tool carts and acetylene bottle. One can barely discern the silhouette of a worker in the distance just above the pilot of the steamer at center (click on the photo to see a much larger view).

If you look carefully you’ll notice the wooden floor in this roundhouse. It’s a series of wooden blocks set on end to create the floor. Such floors were fairly common in industrial facilities many years ago. They provided a surface that was resilient and “kind” to the heavy, metal components that would be placed (or dropped) on them.

In October of 1940 photographer Bill Witbeck recorded this view of a small crane as it filled the tender of Gulf, Mobile and Ohio steamer #261 with coal. The crane still carries the reporting marks of its former owner, the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad. The GM&O itself was the result of the recent merger of the GM&N and the Mobile & Ohio railroads.

David Price tells me that the location is the Capitol Yard in Jackson, Mississippi. He speculates that the sign under the locomotive’s cab window reads “Save Coal” (an appropriate policy I think for the time).

I really love this scene . . . indeed, I’m considering adding such a “facility” to the model railroad that I have under construction. And I think I’ve located the perfect spot for it.

In its latest incarnation, the East Broad Top Railroad has resumed its excursion trains running out of the Orbisonia Station near Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania. The train runs out a distance of 4.5 miles, then turns on a “wye” and returns. In October of 2023 photographer Matthew Malkiewicz recorded this scene of locomotive #16 heading into a wooded area with its train.

The East Broad Top Railroad was created as a 3-foot narrow-gauge line. Operating from 1871 to 1956, it is one of the United States’ oldest and best preserved narrow-gauge railroads. It was a common carrier, but made its living as a coal-hauling line. When coal traffic diminished to the point of non-profitability, the road was sold to a scrapper. Fortunately the new owner chose not to scrap the entire railroad, but instead ended up creating a tourist line over a portion of the road, operating from 1960 until 2011. The line was maintained by the Friends of the East Broad Top (FEBT) volunteers, who eventually bought a couple segments of the road in 2013. In 2020 it was announced that the EBT Foundation had purchased the railroad and they planned to restart excursions. The East Broad Top reopened for limited operations in May of 2021, and officially reopened for its first full season in May, 2022. EBT locomotive #16 returned to steam in early February, 2023. Wikipedia has a nice summary of the road’s history that you can read here.

Early this year #16 was discovered to have cracks near the center of one of its drivers, so was pulled from service for repairs. Unfortunately after a single trip she was sidelined again for a bearing problem. Hopefully she’ll be back in service before the winter. As of this writing there are plans to start the restoration of locomotive #15 soon, which will help to always have steam available for service during the operating season.

The Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-6 “Allegheny” was one impressive machine, being one of the most powerful steam locomotives ever to be conceived and built. At 40 MPH they could generate 7,500 HP. They were built by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio between 1941 and 1948 for a total of 60 locomotives.

While used in several locations and services on the the C&O, their intended service was hauling the coal trains between Hinton, West Virginia and Clifton Forge, Virginia. Leaving Hinton, the train would have an H-8 on the head end of a train of 140 loaded cars, with another H-8 serving as a pusher on the rear. That pusher locomotive was needed for the 13-mile, 0.57% eastward climb over the Allegheny mountains from just east of Ronceverte, West Virginia to Alleghany, Virginia (yes, the spelling is correct). At the summit the pusher would be cut off, and the train then headed down the mountain and on to Clifton Forge.

For many years I was an operator on the model railroad layout of the late Lou Schultz. Lou modeled the C&O railroad, running between Hinton and Clifton Forge. The layout was in a huge 2nd story room built just for it, and was more than adequate to experience the long run between those two points. One of my favorite jobs was running those loaded coal trains, doing so just as is described above. Even in HO scale, those Alleghenys are BIG!

A lot of the “old-timers” (myself included) bemoan the sterility of modern railroading, yearning for the “good old days” when the railroads had character. Well that character can still be found on some of today’s short-line railroads. The late photographer Shawn Levy illustrates that with this image of an Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi freight in Monroe, Louisiana as it was making its way back from the nearby KCS yard. Shawn always had a good eye, framing the train with the barren trees in this December, 2008 composition.

The locomotives are GP28s, a relatively rare model from EMD with only 16 built for the U.S. market. Produced in years 1964-65, it is an 1800 HP engine, essentially a non-turbocharged version of their GP35 model. The number 1815 heading the train started life with the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway as their #700. It eventually went to several other roads: the Texas & Pacific, Missouri Pacific, Ashley, Drew & Northern, and finally transferred to the Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi.

In December of 2004 the newly restored steam locomotive, Southern Pacific #745, was getting her initial break-in run. Back in September of last year I posted a photograph of the locomotive as it was crossing the Bonnet Carré Spillway in southern Louisiana on the eastbound return leg of its trip. It occurred to me that every image I’ve posted of that locomotive has featured its right side. Looking through my photos, I realized that I indeed had some views showing her left side, and here below is my favorite.

Again, she is crossing that same trestle that traverses the spillway. This view was captured on the westward outbound leg of the journey. She would go just a few miles further to Garyville, Louisiana where she could be turned, and then head east back to her home in New Orleans.

You can review the image and read a bit more detail about the locomotive and the spillway itself in that original posting. For information the acronym LASTA on the caboose stands for the Louisiana Steam Train Association.

According to the website Mississippi Rails, the Arkansas & Louisiana Missouri Railway has a history going back to 1909. The road was formed initially as the Arkansas, Louisiana & Gulf Railway. In 1915 it was reorganized as the Arkansas & Louisiana Midland Railway. In 1920 it became the Arkansas & Louisiana Missouri Railway, and in 1991 the company was sold and became the Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi. It thrives today under the Genesee & Wyoming umbrella.

From the beginning until the late ’40s the company acquired a roster of about 14 steam locomotives. Their initial locomotive was bought new, but all others were acquired in a very used state. The #1 joined the roster in 1946, and the little ten-wheeler became the last to see operation on the road, her last run being in May of 1958. She was a 1920 product of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, built for the Texas-Mexican Railway as their #1 where she served before being sold to the A&LM.

The photograph below was scanned from an old calendar that I have. With the very limited skills I have with photo editing software, I cleaned up the half-tone image the best I could, but left the “aging” as it was because I liked the look it gave. The image comes from the H.B. Wilson collection.

That little Mogul that we saw last week is, to my eye, a very interesting locomotive. In case you missed it, you can see that post here. Despite its small size, it is jam-packed with lots of detail. Fortunately Robert W. Richardson saw it fit to record the other side of the machine, and I’ve decided to feature that image today.

I don’t see anything unusual or “extra” on this locomotive, but because of it’s diminutive size, the appliances and piping are condensed into a smaller space, thus giving it that busy, detailed appearance. I admit to simply liking its look.

We’re in Bastrop, Louisiana on May 3rd of 1946. This would be a Friday, and I’m wondering what the conversation is between the crewman (likely the fireman) and the lady wearing her apron. Perhaps he’s asking his wife what will be for supper. Or is she asking him to pick up certain groceries on his way home from work?

The Arkansas & Louisiana Missouri Railroad operated a 53 mile shortline from Monroe, Louisiana, north through Bastrop, and up to Crossett, Arkansas. It existed between the years of 1920 to 1991. The road stabled a number of small steam locomotives in its earlier years. One of the late-comers to the roster was a tidy little Mogul locomotive, lettered as the road’s number 61.

Robert W. Richardson documented the locomotive in Bastrop, Louisiana on May 3rd of 1946. The information accompanying this image states that this is a work train. The engineer is seen looking back, likely following the signals from a brakeman riding the roof of a boxcar at the rear of the little train. And note the side door caboose!

The locomotive changed hands several times in its history. She’s a 2-6-0 built by Baldwin in April of 1913 for the Ocean Shore Railroad as their #22. At some point she left the Ocean Shore, going to a dealer, the United Commercial Company. In March of 1922 she went to the Pickering Lumber Company in Haslam, Texas as their #28. And from there she went to the A&LM in November of 1935, where she became the #61. The A&LM leased her to the Louisiana & Pine Bluff Railway between June-Sept of 1941. She was eventually placed in storage in October of 1946, and was officially retired in February, 1947. She was finally scrapped at Shreveport, Louisiana in March of 1957.

Photo from the Denver Public Library Special Collections

Back in February of 2009 Wayne Robichaux and I took a little field trip through southern Mississippi. We looped through several towns, and at railroad locations in between, ending the day in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. And there we stopped at the former Illinois Central depot in the center of town. A roadway overpass just south of the depot provided an excellent location to capture the structure along with its surroundings.

The depot now serves as the Mississippi Music Museum, with photos and memorabilia of the many artists that the state was home to. Amtrak’s City of New Orleans still runs through here, and passengers are served by a tiny glassed in enclosure seen a bit further down from the depot. Almost unnoticeable, that’s it near the caboose on display. The entire area is nicely kept, and also has a pavilion and a small children’s playground just beyond the caboose.

This image was recorded at dusk ( 5:44 PM according to camera EXIF data). The lights are turning on, and all seems still. I noticed when zooming in on the photograph that two people are waiting in that tiny Amtrak “depot” (good that it was there, as there had been a small rain shower recently). Apparently the northbound train #58 is running a bit late on this Saturday evening.

Edgar Dayries found himself trackside on a day in March of 1980. He captured this image of a northbound Illinois Central Gulf freight train as it reached Owl Bayou, a small waterway a couple miles north of the North Pass in Manchac, Louisiana (North Pass is one of two waterways that connect Lake Maurepas to Lake Pontchartrain).

Heading up the train is an interesting consist. All products of EMD, the first locomotive is an SD20. The second locomotive is a former Southern Railway SD24. The partial view of the GM&O locomotive looks like an SD40.