In the trackside photograph of the Hammond depot a few posts back, I mentioned that the view presented wasn’t able to be duplicated due to the now present Amtrak platform. The photograph below was taken in 2015 and shows the facility as it looks today.
In March of 1965 I visited the Illinois Central Mays Yard in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. It was right at dusk that day when I spotted this switcher with its cut of cars patiently waiting for a couple Geep locomotives to clear. This view is looking West, with the yard throat just behind us.
The Illinois Central Railroad built a wonderful depot in Hammond, Louisiana back in 1912. And it is still in use today, though in modified form. The track is now owned by the Canadian National Railway, and the passengers are served by Amtrak. It is still a busy place. The views below were recorded in February of 2004.
A bit after sunset on a day in June of 1965, Southern Railway locomotive #2100 is seen hauling its freight train over the underpass at Marconi Drive as it approaches City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This locomotive is an EMD model NW5 built in 1947, the only one owned by the Southern, and one of only 13 built.
The shop area for the railroad is complete . . . well, almost. The Wilsonart laminate is installed, all the baseboards and quarter-round trim are in place, and the plastic coverings have been removed from the shelving above the cabinets. There is still a bit of paint touch-up left. I say “almost complete” as I see the ugly reality that the white paint on the shelving isn’t the same color as the white paint on the cabinets. One would think that white is white but that ain’t so (as the photos show). If it nags me, I’ll have to slap a coat of “new” white over those shelves. Judge for yourself below.
I’ve been working on a “final” list of things left to do and making some pretty good progress. The trim installation is complete in the main train room . . . all that awaits is some caulking, filling of nail holes, and some touch-up paint. After that, all of the remaining layout leg bracing can be reinstalled and the plastic covering removed from the layout.
I’m confident that trains will be rolling this winter! 
In the early 1970s the Southern Railway ran a series of steam powered excursion trains throughout its system. Steam locomotive No. 722, of a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement, is shown here on the return leg of the day’s journey heading for New Orleans, Louisiana from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Mr. Walter Dove, a long time employee of the Southern, is at the throttle.
It’s 2008 and the Kansas City Southern is running their business train to New Orleans in time for the BCS Bowl Championship Game. The locomotives are looking good in their “retro” paint scheme. Shawn Levy has captured this image at a perfect angle, and within excellent surroundings.
The local LSU Tigers prevailed in the contest against the Ohio State Buckeyes, with the final score of 38-24.
Making a station stop is the former Fernwood, Columbia and Gulf Railroad’s motorcar, number M4. She is presently undergoing restoration, and is in operation at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum located in Longleaf, Louisiana. She was donated to the museum some years ago by railfan and historian Louis Saillard. The museum sports a large oval of track running around the perimeter of the compound, and they like to run the motorcar on special occasions.
This photograph was recorded in April of 2011. The restoration of the car had slowed considerably for a number of years. However volunteers have been quite busy recently in the process. She now has glazing in her windows, and much work has occurred in the interior with a new roof liner and a new permanent dashboard for the operator. The exterior sports a new air-horn and rear view mirrors.
Ex-Southern Pacific steam locomotive #745 steams over the Bonnet Carré Spillway during its break-in run in December of 2004. The engine had just been restored by the Louisiana Steam Train Association. The 745 is a class Mk-5 Mikado (2-8-2), and was built in the Espee’s shop in Algiers, Louisiana back in 1921. She operated on the Texas and New Orleans subsidiary of the Southern Pacific.
The Bonnet Carré Spillway is a flood control operation in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Located in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, about 12 miles west of New Orleans, it allows floodwaters from the Mississippi River to flow into Lake Pontchartrain and thence into the Gulf of Mexico. Both the Kansas City Southern and Illinois Central Railroads built trestles spanning the spillway, and they provide an interesting place to photograph a train. This scene of the 745 was recorded by a small, but dedicated group of railfans during this “historic” run.
A major milestone has been reached in the restoration of the Louisiana Central Railroad layout room with the installation of new flooring. Initially I’d planned to simply show a few snap-shots of the finished installation. But I then decided that maybe some would be interested in how the project was accomplished. So I’ve put together several photos that I took along the way.
I had to install flooring in the room to replace the tight-pile carpet that was formerly in there. That carpet was pulled out after the Great Flood of 2016. But the hardened glue remained on the concrete slab, and I decided that it was impractical to remove after speaking with people with experience doing just that. Also compounding my flooring problem were the 55 legs supporting the layout benchwork.
I ultimately decided to use a “floating” floor of Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) as I reasoned that it could be laid over the glue. I also decided to use a foam underlayment with a vapor barrier on it’s bottom. I used a floor scraper to remove chunks of drywall mud, and to smooth the floor surface as best I could. The LVT “planks” I used are 9″ wide x 60″ in length. However I would have to provide temporary layout support to allow the 43″ width of the underlayment to be rolled out. I thought about how to do that for some time, and finally came up with a solution.
As you have probably imagined, yes, this was a massive undertaking. Over six weeks have been consumed doing this work (working 4-5 days each week). By far, most of the work was building up the temporary supports, removing the permanent supports, then reversing that after the flooring was down. I estimate that only about 20% of the time spent was actually installing the floor.
But I’m pretty pleased with the result, and hope I get many years of good service from this floor.
In 2005 the #745 and her train were on a tour around the State of Louisiana. It’s the month of May, and the train had been on display in Hammond, Louisiana for the day. In late afternoon I captured this view as the train departed for Baton Rouge, the next leg of it’s trip. Looking north, we see the train backing down the Canadian National’s McComb Subdivision mainline (this is the line between Chicago and New Orleans). The switch in the background is the beginning of the Hammond Subdivision, where she will stop and reverse direction, then head west for Baton Rouge.
The #745 is a class Mk-5 Mikado (2-8-2), and was built in the Espee’s shop in Algiers, La. back in 1921. She operated on the Texas and New Orleans subsidiary of the Southern Pacific. She has been restored back to operating condition by the Louisiana Steam Train Association (LASTA) in New Orleans.
Continuing our coverage of the 745’s shake down run, we pan around as the train sashays by on this balmy February morning at a leisurely 10 mph. And we’re rewarded with a nice open end observation car following up the rear of the train. Note the kerosene marker lamps resplendently displayed in the traditional fashion.
