Memories
After several heartfelt, reminicent e-mails from folks about their memories of the trips, I decided that it was time to add a page to share these memories with the rest of you. The first is from from Dennis and Katie Martin:
"Dear Mr. Lee Gautreaux, alias Railgoat, My wife, Katie, ran across your web site at the library. It is a great site. You stirred up some very wonderful memories of past rail trips. We also used to do the November New Orleans - Hattiesburg - New Orleans trips every year. We have some very fond memories of those trips. We live in Lafayette, so we would get up early in the morning and drive to the station in New Orleans. We did this the first couple of years. We decided it would be easier and more relaxing to make a weekend out of the excursions. We always bought tickets for the Saturday trip (just in case the Steam Locomotive would break down. We didn’t want to arrive on Sunday to see a diesel at the head end of the train). We would go to New Orleans on Friday evening, stay in a Motel, get up bright and early, have a quick breakfast, get out to the station to take pictures, watch the Engine being serviced, and then find our seats. After the ride, we would quietly slip back into the motel, since we were covered with soot and ashes from hanging out of the open windows on Lookout Mountain. I can remember how the shower water looked black as ran down the drain. After getting cleaned up, we would pick up food at a nearby fast food place and watch a little TV our room. We would get up on Sunday morning, check out, and make our way to side street that dead-ended alongside the tracks. I cannot remember the name of the street, but it was a great place to watch the Sunday run come rushing past us. Then it was off to the French Quarter for some coffee and begnets. We would usually visit the zoo or other attraction before heading home."
"The first year it was just Katie and I. When we found out how much fun it was, we brought along some other rail fan friends. As our kids got old enough, we brought them along as well. My daughter was born in 1975 and my son was born in 1981. As I recall, we made every run form around 1976 or 1977 to 1985. Also as I remember, on the last run 4501 had just been refurbished. It broke down not long after we got into Mississippi. We had to wait for a helper engine. 4501 stayed on the head, but the word was, she was there just to make steam for the whistle. Little did we know that that would be the last run."
"It is hard to believe that it has been 17 years since that run. My kids are now in their twenties. Somewhere in shoe box we have pictures of them in bib overalls, with their engineer’s caps full of rail fan buttons, and of course, the obligatory red kerchiefs."
"I can recall hundreds of little details as I think back to those trips. Seeing ol’ 4501 snorting and groaning, huffing and hissing, as the workers scurried around her. The thrill of watching her back up to couple up to the train. The way chills ran up my spine as we heard the two toots and then the train eased out of the station. The maze of tracks under the elevated highways around the Superdome. The sights and sounds of New Orleans as we wound our way out of the city. The old control tower near the out skirts of town. The camps and homes along Lake Pontchartrain. Crossing the loooonnnng bridge over the lake. The old Slidell station in a beautiful, park like setting. Getting that hot coffee, donut, and a new button for our caps from the commissary car. The Pearl River Bridge. The Photo Run. Using the passing sidings to let the Freight Trains pass. The "Y" at the coal station. The looks of disbelief from the unsuspecting people we passed. The determination of the Train Chasers as they jumped into their cars to try to beat us to next photo opportunity. The chicken box lunches at the Hattiesburg Station. The model train setup in the station. The servicing of the engine. Getting to climb up into the cab. Waiting for signal to go green to start the trip home. Watching the engine as we rounded the many, many curves. The way the whistle sound changed as the sun set. Pulling onto a siding to let Amtrak’s Crescent City Limited pass. The way New Orleans looked at night. The "Raccoon Look" we had when we took our goggles off. The soothing and relaxing sway of our car as we settled into our seats for the final hour of the trip. The smell of burning coal, condensing steam, and hot metal. But mostly the sounds. I will always remember the sounds. The clickity-clack of the tracks, the chug, chug, chug of powerful engine, the hissing of steam, and of course the mournful whistle. A sound that reaches into your very soul. Of course, 4501 was our favorite, but we have fond memories of little 750 and her helper diesels, the flat nosed Canadian engine, and even the diesels, which are now antiques as well."
"Yup, we really miss those trips. - Dennis Martin"
Jimmy Reuter fondly recalls:
"I took many of the stem excursions to Hattiesburg. I was a teenager and took many pictures along the way. I can remember hearing Walter Dove's whistle and running out the house at breakneck speed to catch the train at the Lakefront Airport as it made its way to Littlewoods. One Saturday in particular we followed it all the way to Picayune, MS, and we were all still in our pajamas!"
"It is a shame the excursions don't run any more."
"I got a great photo of the 4501 at Canal Blvd. in New Orleans in my office."
I could not have said it better myself, Jimmy! Hopefully, the New Orleans skyline will soon show the smoke of a steam locomotive once again as the refurbishment of the Algiers-built T&NO 745 (the old Audobon Park engine) continues in preparation for the year long celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase!