| At 7:20 P.M. on a Thursday evening Espee caboose 661 was bringing up the rear of Job 209. This transfer run from the railroad's Avondale Yard to the Southern Railway's Oliver Yard was on the Southern's BACK BELT at East City Junction. East City Tower, visible in the distance on the left, had been closed and boarded up for about three years. The track on the other side of the caboose is the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal EASTERN CONNECTION, and the signal protects the NOUPT-SOU switch. The freight train was getting under way after waiting for the southbound SOUTHERN CRESCENT to enter the NOUPT track. Job 209 had three 6-axle Alcos -- C630 3146, RSD12 2963, C630 3143 -- and 62 cars. |