Railroad car builders quit applying bettendorf trucks in the 60s but they remained in use till the 90's. Open top hoppers are usually used for hauling bulk commodities like coal, coke, and ore.
@serigne926 I lived two doors down from the cemetary. The house isn't there anymore. Destroyed by hurricane Katrina. Beau and Richie were good kids. Hell, I went to the acadamy with Richie.
@Evansville64 Releasing the brakes would be interesting, they're giant hunks of rust, lol. As for rolling, they wouldn't go far. Louisiana is flatter than the bottom of a frying pan.
no, you're correct that they run near toca, but they run behind the gas plants in relation to bayou rd. the old 1910 southern rail ran between the plants and bayou rd.
Look like old ballast hoppers.There are no markings left on them. But they do look like they have been sitting since about 1960.If you want to know how old they are check for the casting date on the couplers.That will give you an idea of how old they are.
@318Captain They were left to mark the end of the tracks. The tracks were used for access to two nearby oil refineries by large trains until about 2003 when they were abandoned.
take a barge the size of a rail car, mount it on 4 or six large rubber tires. use a front end loader to tow or push the barge while straddling the rails and move toward the rail cars, clearing along the way"Path of the Tracks" load and bring back rail car. whole or in pieces. when done go back down the tracks till the next obstacle, and remove it. voila continue doing this it may create a better network from town to town or at least more emergency routes.
Why won't my reply to your comment appear? Anyway, thanks for the correction. I've updated the title. I was trying to ask if you might know when these hoppers may have been in service or what they were used for.
nope. southern ran along what is now Bayou road. These tracks split off from the old southern tracks location at Poydras. they ran close though. less than a quarter mile apart and parallel.
@w1ldyovvnz I thought they were a great find many years ago while working the racks at the gas plant when I worked for that rail line. Glad to see that Katrina did not wash them back out into the Gulf as did most everything else "down in the Parish". As a side note my great-grandfather was the B&B foreman on the old Louisiana Southern and he had stories of riding the train (motorcar) from the "lower ninth" down to Shell Beach to hunt.
very cool, I wonder if they want to get on the tracks and go somewhere? do hoppers dream? they got some soul, for sure. hope they survived Katrina, or did they? are they still there?
The State of LA should get a program started where scrap like this, scrap barges are available and ,produce to start using this stuff for barrier reefs, jetty and flood control improvements in stead of waiting for the next big FEMA check,,,yeah its beuty and art but where its at it would be better preserved protecting it's people, combine it into a bustop and reinforcing piece of the flood control plan.
My mother actually rents a house from her landlord that is an actual boxcar that has been recycled into a house! That is so neat! I never knew that something like that could be done! My only concern is lightning storms! living in a metal container could cause her to get struck?
@Semitruckman101 After doing more research, I've discovered that these cars were left there to mark the end of the tracks when the tracks were first laid in the early 1960s. They were in like new condition when they were abandoned (from what I was told).
wonder what rr did the hopper cars belonged to? Would be nice, a railroad museum could get them and restore them but they would have to be refitted with roller bearing trucks and modern air brake lines and hoses.
Hey something i just thought of!!!! Ive scrapped old railroad cars like that before with cutting torches. If you wanna make some money, u might find some brass on those cars.
Heck , we have ALL KINDS of abandoned tracks WAY over here along La hwy1 in Assumption Parish because of abandoned Cane Mills. They recently dug up the remaining rails that went over the road-crossing to re-pave the local street. Wish I would of cought the size and date, but alot of remnance of abandoned tracks here. I think the track here in question stops Kenilworth? Outside of Hwy 300?
@mstscrazyman17 graffiti isnt gang related, thanks for assuming though.. and writers have more respect then people would think, i doubt any one would paint these for 2 reasons: 1. they are kinda like "artifacts" its a really cool find, no one would wanna mess it up, they sould tay as they are. 2. look at the caked on fungus and moss stuff, paint isnt gonna sit vry well on it, even if you wiped it off, i think you'd have problems from the crap left underneath.
@evillhillbilly Trying to get to these cars with the equipment necessary to recycle them would do more environmental damage than would be offset by recycling them in the first place.
Hey Man them be Hoppers not box cars. Those are alot older than Katrina because of the bentindorf style trucks on them. Your camera work is shaky and shitty like mine, steady boy! Despite my complaints I liked the video. Wait till scrap goes up.
@ellieysama No one "threw" the "fucking train car". They moved it their on tracks they own on their property. Railroads don't "pay" to cecycle. This much scrap metal recycled would bring them in several thousand dollards per car. If the "corporate pigs" were after money they would have just scrapped the cars.
Great video and song selection! Very creative idea.
What a tremendous find! Thanks for sharing...
@SkyhawkACE123 The simplest answer is New Orleans, and then the rest of the country. They also pass through most of St. Bernard Parish, LA.
@lawbench191
They are connected to the CSX line in New Orleans...
Railroad car builders quit applying bettendorf trucks in the 60s but they remained in use till the 90's. Open top hoppers are usually used for hauling bulk commodities like coal, coke, and ore.
@w1ldyovvnz All the time, but they were pretty solid back then.
Its amazing what the earth will take back if given enought time .The things we build from steel sweat and blood are a brief footprint in time.
@donny457 The name of the song is "28 Ghosts IV". It's from the 2008 album "Ghosts: I-IV". Excellent album. All instrumentals.
@Conraildan I'd rather leave them as they are. Plenty of memories there.
Since before I was born. I've been told 1960 from a reliable source, but I can't be sure.
@serigne926 I lived two doors down from the cemetary. The house isn't there anymore. Destroyed by hurricane Katrina. Beau and Richie were good kids. Hell, I went to the acadamy with Richie.
My family owns all of the lots on the street that these cars are most easily accessible from... and they are VERY protective of their land.
@Evansville64 Releasing the brakes would be interesting, they're giant hunks of rust, lol. As for rolling, they wouldn't go far. Louisiana is flatter than the bottom of a frying pan.
cool im from st. bernard
no, you're correct that they run near toca, but they run behind the gas plants in relation to bayou rd. the old 1910 southern rail ran between the plants and bayou rd.
Look like old ballast hoppers.There are no markings left on them. But they do look like they have been sitting since about 1960.If you want to know how old they are check for the casting date on the couplers.That will give you an idea of how old they are.
Certainly gives a new meaning to the word "abandoned".
@318Captain They were left to mark the end of the tracks. The tracks were used for access to two nearby oil refineries by large trains until about 2003 when they were abandoned.
The tracks are abandoned for about three or four miles west of the hoppers. Then they connect with active tracks in Poydras, LA.
I wish they had something like that around here! Then again, in Massachusetts, they probablu would have scrapped them in a heartbeat!
If you look at 0:47 it looks like some gravel below the coupler. Maybe that is what was in it?
thats awesome i found a similar thing on a atv trail last year it was a 6cyl truck that almost looked liked it was from the 60s it is pretty awesome
Awesome song.Fit's the video.
I would love to have that in my backyard.
Its a sad site, but these hoppers are beyond saving. They are best left where they are. However, some paint might be nice to help slow the rusting.
and sorry for extensive comments on your video, i love this song btw, very calming =)
when I see stuff like this I allways want to go back to when they were being used or being put there
I found these on Google Earth! I was really bored and went hunting for them based on your information!
wow!,i wouldn't even abandon my hoppers,switchers,cars.
It does indeed.
@jeepers2655 The salt water accelerated the rot. That's about it.
About as far as you could possibly be from shreveport while still being in Louisiana. Southeast corner of the state.
take a barge the size of a rail car, mount it on 4 or six large rubber tires. use a front end loader to tow or push the barge while straddling the rails and move toward the rail cars, clearing along the way"Path of the Tracks" load and bring back rail car. whole or in pieces. when done go back down the tracks till the next obstacle, and remove it. voila continue doing this it may create a better network from town to town or at least more emergency routes.
Why won't my reply to your comment appear? Anyway, thanks for the correction. I've updated the title. I was trying to ask if you might know when these hoppers may have been in service or what they were used for.
nope. southern ran along what is now Bayou road. These tracks split off from the old southern tracks location at Poydras. they ran close though. less than a quarter mile apart and parallel.
@amtrakfilms139 They will probably be there until the earth reclaims them.
This looks like snake, spider, wasp, bee, chigger, and tick priority area. Bring the off!
They appear to have friction bearing trucks, so movement on most major rail lines would be a FRA no no....
i spotted these cars on Google maps... they are maybe a mile from this gas plant.
and the tracks run up to the rail yard near I-10 in New Orleans...
That line was Southern since 1910. Originally the Mexican Gulf Railroad. Those lines have been there since about 1860.
where exactly are theese located ?
@w1ldyovvnz I thought they were a great find many years ago while working the racks at the gas plant when I worked for that rail line. Glad to see that Katrina did not wash them back out into the Gulf as did most everything
else "down in the Parish". As a side note my great-grandfather was the B&B foreman on the old Louisiana Southern and he had stories of riding the train (motorcar) from the "lower ninth" down to Shell Beach to hunt.
yeah that is cool like what other people said u should make a fort and some paint to slow the rusting and try to clean the middle of it out
@brent3360 They parked them around 1960 when the tracks were built to mark the end of the tracks.
The railroad companies should be responsible for cleaning this up.
very cool, I wonder if they want to get on the tracks and go somewhere? do hoppers dream? they got some soul, for sure.
hope they survived Katrina, or did they? are they still there?
i found the site of the video on google maps- it's near the current end of the tracks, near some houses
The State of LA should get a program started where scrap like this, scrap barges are available and ,produce to start using this stuff for barrier reefs, jetty and flood control improvements in stead of waiting for the next big FEMA check,,,yeah its beuty and art but where its at it would be better preserved protecting it's people, combine it into a bustop and reinforcing piece of the flood control plan.
There's no hwy 300 around here that I'm familiar with, but these tracks do end in the kenilworth area.
My mother actually rents a house from her landlord that is an actual boxcar that has been recycled into a house! That is so neat! I never knew that something like that could be done! My only concern is lightning storms! living in a metal container could cause her to get struck?
@forgetdogs Given coupler change-outs are fairly common...it's about certain these cars do not retain their original couplers
a metal scrappers dream
railway steel is highley sought after for scrap metal its very high grade worth bucks
@Semitruckman101 After doing more research, I've discovered that these cars were left there to mark the end of the tracks when the tracks were first laid in the early 1960s. They were in like new condition when they were abandoned (from what I was told).
@GodStarRevisited69 I filmed this after Katrina. There was about 8 feet of water where these hoppers sit.
wonder what rr did the hopper cars belonged to? Would be nice, a railroad museum could get them and restore them but they would have to be refitted with roller bearing trucks and modern air brake lines and hoses.
Hey something i just thought of!!!! Ive scrapped old railroad cars like that before with cutting torches. If you wanna make some money, u might find some brass on those cars.
Those are old! They have journal boxes instead of sealed rollers on the wheels.
Touching...
Some serious tin worm on them!
Two things I would like to know is....1. Why were they left behind? and 2. Why is the track no longer used? was it an old spur or siding of some kind?
Man Id love to move them to a museum but they look to rusted and corroded to move. They'd probably just fall apart
An old siding or spur line. Get some tourches and start cutting them up.Scrap yards will pay good money !
Heck , we have ALL KINDS of abandoned tracks WAY over here along La hwy1 in Assumption Parish because of abandoned Cane Mills. They recently dug up the remaining rails that went over the road-crossing to re-pave the local street. Wish I would of cought the size and date, but alot of remnance of abandoned tracks here. I think the track here in question stops Kenilworth? Outside of Hwy 300?
Why are those two Hopper cars just sitting there on a railroad that's no longer in use rotting away?
@DetroitLove4U Nope. I've been playing on/around them since I was 5 years old. They've never been tagged, and I hope it stays that way.
sucks they got cut up...but sadder to see them rust to nothing
Wow! Thats like exactly what I wanted to know...lol. Thanks alot!
They can even be seen on google maps satellite view :-)
That remindsa me of the rail train near me, part of it the rails are still there and theres a hooper car
@iklesammykins Nope. I just thought it would be good to get them on film before they completely disintegrate. When I was a kid they were pretty solid.
where does that track go to/come from?
looks very errie.
Hey I saw you, you made the video of abandoned tracks in North Riverside, Illinois. And yea, why do they left them there for?
@mstscrazyman17 graffiti isnt gang related, thanks for assuming though..
and writers have more respect then people would think, i doubt any one would paint these for 2 reasons:
1. they are kinda like "artifacts" its a really cool find, no one would wanna mess it up, they sould tay as they are.
2. look at the caked on fungus and moss stuff, paint isnt gonna sit vry well on it, even if you wiped it off, i think you'd have problems from the crap left underneath.
are there more cars in the area
I was thinking these were by the old Toca plant - so they are off LA 39 by English Turn
so they just left them there and forgot about them i wonder what railway they belong to?
Are they still in that spot as we speak
this might be wierd... but i have a sudden urge to pay money to see that thing moving :D
Did u eva hav a look further down the line to see if there was anythin else?
when and why did they park them?
I wonder if The Hopper Children live inside those cars?
Why were they just left there?
Hey what Railroad was that?
@evillhillbilly Trying to get to these cars with the equipment necessary to recycle them would do more environmental damage than would be offset by recycling them in the first place.
Where the hell can I find it in the woods, there's a lot of trees there.
That's very sad
this must of been Ex Rock Island RR Tracks
No, google "faradays cage"
Did they have any graffiti?
Hmmm, the train is dead, but the hobo jungle lives on as a campsite?
I like the spider.
do bums live in it?
Hey Man them be Hoppers not box cars. Those are alot older than Katrina because of the bentindorf style trucks on them. Your camera work is shaky and shitty like mine, steady boy! Despite my complaints I liked the video. Wait till scrap goes up.
wat ya say we take some chain saws and a truck and lets move them
man i wish i knew were they were i would find some way to get them out and restore them
was that for like a school project or something
@Justasickpuppy : i know right i mean y would those gang members tag perfectly good or old train cars
@TRAINMANCW I'm in the process of trying to find out.
@ellieysama No one "threw" the "fucking train car". They moved it their on tracks they own on their property. Railroads don't "pay" to cecycle. This much scrap metal recycled would bring them in several thousand dollards per car. If the "corporate pigs" were after money they would have just scrapped the cars.