| Former Southern Pacific (Texas & New Orleans) Mikado 745 and its 4-car exhibit train were heading west on the BNSF (former SP) at Baldwin, Louisiana. The train had just crossed the Charenton Drainage and Navigation Canal (M.P. 104.1) on the first day of its tour around Louisiana and part of Mississippi. When this drawbridge was built in 1941 the main line of the Southern Pacific was double-tracked between Bayou Sale (milepost 95.6) and Cade, Louisiana (M.P. 132.1). The second track was removed in the early 1950's, and this bridge now provides the only evidence that there was once double track along this line. The train was owned by the Louisiana Railway Heritage Trust and had been restored by the Louisiana Steam Train Association. |