Red River & Gulf Railroad
Volunteer Work Trip to Long Leaf, Louisiana
January 23, 2016
My buddy Everett Lueck asked me to take on the rather daunting project of installing security cameras in Long Leaf. Because of the acreage involved, this would mean designing and constructing a wireless network of significant size. It took some doing to find a cost-effective way to build it, but I eventually worked it out. We installed the first round of hardware in the fall of 2015 and to my relief, everything worked.
For this trip I was tasked with increasing the size of the network to include the new CCC Museum. It went well.
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Southbound UP train on the Lake Charles Sub shatters the quiet, peaceful morning in Long Leaf
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The Planer Mill
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Engine House
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Antenna mounted on conduit on side of Lumber Storage Shed
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The antenna reaches about a quarter mile to another one mounted on the Office
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One of the many cameras we installed
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The CCC Museum
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Planer Mill
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Antenna mounted on the CCC Museum
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Everett works on running the cable for the antenna while I installed and configured the network gear
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All done
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Looks pretty good
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Weather proofing
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Looking south over the RR&G main line (left) and the UP line (right) to Lake Charles (Lake Charles Subdivison)
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UP line (left) and RR&G (right)
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Henry Hardtner Carriage House
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We also took the time to build a new network cabinet (IDF). This is the BEFORE shot.
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Here is the AFTER shot. Quite a bit of improvement there!
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"The Hotel" in the Finished Lumber Shed
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Kitchen in the Hotel
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View of the finished lumber from the balcony of the Hotel. This is the final lumber produced by the mill in the 1960's.
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Looking the opposite direction
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One of the rooms. Cozy and functional.
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RGX II
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More cameras
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The Mill
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Remnants of the blow pipe used to deliver saw dust (fuel) to stationary boilers around town.
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Car-Knockers Shed
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Planer Mill
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RGX II
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View of the DVR and network gear at the MDF
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Sunset over Lake Charles as I raced home
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