Sweet and easy S
tarting in 1995 and each fall for about a decade, a very sweet train traversed the rails in southern Louisiana. It was the Louisiana & Delta Railroad’s sugar cane train. While the L&D no longer handles this traffic, if you are looking for a prototype that’s not too difficult to model, can add op-
erational variety, uses interesting motive power and is sure to be a conversation starter, this may be it. The Louisiana & Delta R.R. was formed in 1987 when Genesee & Wyoming Industries acquired several Southern Pacific branch lines in south Louisiana. Along with various disconnected branch- es, they also received trackage rights on the SP mainline from Shriever, just west of New Orleans, to Lafayette, Louisiana. Although this route passed through the heart of the sugar plantations, the industry had abandoned the railroads in the 1950’s. Improved highways meant cane could be transported longer distances before the juices began to sour. As grinding mills closed and consoli- dated, the haulage distances increased. By the time the L&D was formed, cane was transported to the mills exclusively by truck, and the haulage of covered hoppers of raw sugar was declining. Changing economic conditions and markets caused the farmers of the western part of the state to convert acreage to sugar cane production in place of rice and soybeans. Since this was not a traditional sugar growing area and no new grinding mills had been constructed in decades, cane had to be hauled long distances to the mills in the eastern part of the state. This was a time sensitive commodity, so truckers took the logical step and put their heavily-loaded eighteen-wheelers onto the heavily-traveled Lake Charles to Lafayette section of Interstate 10 and connecting roads. Since the mills only operated during the harvest season, the trucks used to haul cane tended to be old, less roadworthy, and loaded with cane that protruded and flew off in the wind. The heavy loads also caused road damage on the sec- ondary highways. The state Department of Transportation searched for a solution to what was a deli- cate problem because the sugar farmers and mill owners had powerful political clout. In 1995 an innovative solution emerged from the Department of Agriculture, the “Cane Train,” a “roads to rail” project involving a government agency and industry. The Louisiana Department of Agri- culture financed the rehabilitation of a collection of 54 former TrailerTrain/TTX Company container flats, and the growers and their co-ops purchased the necessary surplus 20-foot containers. They con- tracted to have the tops removed and any large holes covered with wire mesh. The L&D obtained track- age rights extending from Lafayette to Lake Charles from the BNSF, which now controlled the former SP Sunset Route. The trackage rights were for 100 days each year and only applied to the cane train. The first day of operation varied with the weather and the beginning of the harvest, and extended for 100 days. Typically the season began in the end of September and ended in the first week of January. Cane can be harvested up until the first hard freeze, and in southern Louisiana that may be “next year.” Operation of the cane train was straightforward. Two train sets of 27 cars, each with three locomo-
tives, typically two on the front and one on the rear, ran daily during the season. The containers were loaded in the fields at central staging areas where the cane was transferred from tractor-pulled wag- ons. The containers were then transported to the loading area at the Port of Lake Charles and placed on a waiting eastbound train in the evening for departure the next morning. The loaded train nor- mally met the westbound empty about midway between Lake Charles and Lafayette, but not always, as BNSF kept the mainline busy and there were only a few places where meets could be scheduled. The loaded train arrived at Baldwin, Louisiana, and backed onto the L&D’s Weeks Island Branch where there was simply a gravel lot with a Mi-Jack type straddle crane over the main and a run- around siding. It removed the containers and placed them directly onto flatbed trucks for the final mile to the grinding mill. Early the next morning the empties were put on the waiting train and it was cleared for the return trip to Lake Charles, generally departing between 9 a.m. and noon. Modeling these trains isn’t difficult and could add seasonal fun to a layout operating session. All that is required are some old intermodal flat cars; beat-up and weathered containers; and sidings for loading and unloading. The L&D used a straddle crane (Walthers had the Mi-Jack crane available), but a Kla- mar tractor loader crane would make a plausible substitution. You can model the grinding mill or locate it off layout and stage the trucks for the last mile of haulage. Cut cane is easy to simulate using the straw from a whisk broom dipped in green dye or spray-painted green to give it a little more of a just- cut look. Don’t over do it, as most of the green seen in a field is from the leaves, which don’t contain any sugar and are stripped and left behind. Cut the straw into two- to four-foot scale lengths and lay them haphazardly in the containers. (They are loaded by a either a front end loader or a backhoe equipped with a grappling hook.) The motive power can be your existing power, or the cane train can be a good ex- cuse to acquire a few CF7’s or to try your skill at kitbashing a GP10 with a yoke type air filter. BRENDAN BROSNAN
42 FEBRUARY 2013
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