Long Leaf, LA
April 25-26, 2009
To correct or add additional info please contact me at: RioGrandeDude @ SmittysHouse.net (no spaces)
Tracy and Ray were able to locate the long-lost pipe from the water tank on Friday. It required Tracy, Dave, and Ray to carry it up the embankment and out of the woods. They laid it on the ROW and on Saturday morning Chuck and I took RG1 and a trailer out to recover it. |
The pipe has been loaded onto the trailer for the trip back to the engine house |
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After moving the pipe to the Museum/Commissary building, it was thoroughly cleaned by Chuck |
Despite being lost in the woods for 60 years there is surprisingly little rust and corrosion of the metal |
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Tracy with the cleaned pipe |
Chuck securing the pipe to the wall in the Museum |
The finished product. |
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Ray heading north from the engine house |
The remains of the sand house along the ROW near where the water pipe was discovered by Ray and Tracy |
This is a smoke stack from one of several scrapped Clyde Skidders |
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Tracy and Ray set it upright, probably for the first time in a half a century |
Looking East along a spur to the MoPac Interchange Yard |
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Looking West along a spur to the MoPac Interchange Yard |
Further along the spur towards the long-gone MoPac yard we found this spectacular washout |
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I've seen this type of damage in pictures, never in person |
Between the washed-out spur and the mainline we found two tank cars |
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Another shot of the tank cars |
Along the Mainline are 6 pairs of trucks, mostly on the rails |
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This wheel was cast in Marshall, TX |
A winch from a McGiffert Log Loader |
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Looking west from the location of the McGiffert Winch |
Looking east from the location of the McGiffert Winch |
Truck and piston assembly for the McGiffert. Near the winch |
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Another winch with cable still attached |
Ray is only about 20 feet from me here and as you can see the forest is firmly reclaiming the area |
Wheel sets sitting on the west leg of the long abandoned wye north of the engine house yard |
Ray taking measurements from a McGiffert boom |
Ray taking measurements from a McGiffert boom |
Truck and frame from 34' MKT boxcar |
Measuring the truss rod |
Wheel cast in HOUSTON in 1920! |
The MKT boxcar frame |
Journal box turned planter |
L&N Wheel |
Wheel cast in St Louis |
Another picture of the MKT trucks and frame |
The 2 halves are about 10 yards apart |
"MK&T" |
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Tracy was kind enough to highlight the letters with chalk |
Planner Mill |
Engine House and Machine Shop |
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"Motel 2 & a Half" being built in one of the warehouses. Eventually volunteers will be able to eat and sleep here for free, greatly reducing our costs |
Engine House and Yard |
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Engine House, Machine Shop, and Car Knockers Shed as seen from the Saw Filers floor of the mill. The line at the lower right was once the Main to Meridian, LA |
Pile of 39' rail near the Motor Car Shed on the Meridian Line |
And, here's the Motor Car Shed that we hiked out to see Sunday morning. Chuck and Ray measured it before it collapses and is lost for good. |
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Tracy recorded the measurements. Although it's hard to tell, he's standing in the middle of the gauge on the ROW (running from left to right towards Meridian, LA). |
The hike from Hwy 497 to the Motor Car Shed was about a quarter of a mile and the forest is VERY dense here. Amazingly there are still rails and ties in place, although it's impossible to see them unless you're standing on top of them. |
Interior of the Motor Car Shed |
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Note that there are still rails in place! |
Exterior Shot |
Tracy and one of several piles of ties where they were left when the Meridian line was dismantled in the 1950's |
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Fly Wheel and other debris |
The intrepid crew heads back to the truck; another mission completed! |