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Mike Palmieri's
LOUISIANA·RAIL·SITE
"WHERE THE EAST MEETS THE
WEST IN THE
SOUTH"
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A · R I D E · O N · T H E · H-NWOBAR-1-26A
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A P H O T O E S S A Y B Y
C H R I S T O P H E R A N D S T E V E N P A L M I E R
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Take a trip on Burlington Northern Santa Fe train
H-NWOBAR-1-26 from New Orleans to Berwick, Louisiana. In the BNSF's
nomenclature, this identifies a high-priority manifest train (H) running
from New Orleans (NWO) to Barstow, California (BAR), first section (1),
originating on the twenty-sixth day of the month (26) — in this case May
1998. This collection includes images taken on the train and from
trackside, and features a ride over the Huey P. Long
Bridge.
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Our trip begins at the New
Orleans Public Belt's engine terminal — next to Cotton Warehouse Yard —
where Santa Fe C40-8W 934 and BNSF C44-9W 960 are waiting. Today's train
will be unusually light: seven loads, 37 empties, 1836
tons.
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We follow the Mississippi
River on double track for the first three miles. Here, at the Eagle Street
Switch, the river turns to the left and the double track ends. On our
right is an abandoned IC line, and next to it is the New Orleans Sewerage
& Water Board interchange.
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Just past the Eagle Street
Switch, the ownership of our route changes to the IC. We run over the IC
for about 3/4 of a mile, to Southport, where the NOPB and IC diverge.
Here, we are returning to Public Belt rails.
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Past Southport, the 934
demonstrates its propensity for smoking like a steam engine. According to
our engineer, this is a characteristic of C40's which have been souped-up
to 4135 horsepower — especially in throttle position five.
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We are just about to cross Central
Avenue — notice the crossing signal on the left — and begin our ascent of
the Huey P. Bridge. The temporary red flag in the middle of the westbound
track was placed there by a track gang working on that
track.
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