Can I Keep It?

I found this train. They wouldn’t let me keep it. There used to be a broken down old shed in Jefferson Parish. Oschner Hospital converted it into their clinic space. The first time I went there to see my doctor, this is what I saw.

Eventually, the hospital installed a fence and moved the old steam train just down the parking lot to where the local railroad historical society lives.

Let me tell you two things about that.

The historical society is volunteer. I like train so I thought I could join. No, I’m not some kind of master mechanic but there are things I could do like make pictures, build publicity programs and in general “get the word out.” Apparently, they had no interest because they didn’t have the courtsey to email or call back.

Instead, I learned all about the history of what I was looking at. There are two steam switcher engines that were built in the 1920s. The other cars in the picture are commuter passenger cars. They were all used on barges that used to cross the Mississippi River prior to the construction of The Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson Parish. It was built in 1937 which means those engines have been sitting around somewhere around 60 years.

That’s the story.