End Of The Earth UPD*TE, Part 3

Another day, more photos uploaded...

New:

LA 1 (Southbound): 36 pictures between Mathews and Grand Isle.

Updated:

I-55: Added six pictures of northbound at various points near Ponchatoula and Hammond
US 51: Added three pictures of southbound in Hammond, from LA 1040 to the merge with I-55
Business US 51: Added northbound coverage between I-55 and US 190. Added southbound coverage of the concurrency with US 190. Geotagged the album.
LA 22: Added three pictures of westbound from the concurrency with Business US 51 in Ponchatoula

The rest of the To-Do list will have to wait yet another day.

End Of The Earth UPD*TE, Part 1

I finally took that trip to Grand Isle that I've been threatening to do ever since I got the Buick. Out of it, I took over 290 pictures. Some are unusable, though, so I'm going through what I do have, and updating piecemeal-stylee.

Clinches
Parishes: Lafourche Parish
Highways: US 51-X

Here's what I do have done.

New:

I-310: 38 pictures. Covers both southbound and northbound all the way between I-10 and US 90. Photographically clinched, both directions.
US 51-X: AKA Business US 51 in Ponchatoula and Hammond, LA. Six pictures of southbound between LA 22 and I-55/US 51 to start - however, I also went and photographically clinched it northbound, so expect more within the next couple of days.
LA 1 (Northbound): 17 pictures. Covers LA 1 North from Grand Isle to LA 308 in Golden Meadow.

(I've decided right now to split the album into northbound and southbound from the start, as I'm predicting both albums combined may have as many as 300-500 pictures apiece by this time next year. LA 1 is longer than Longcat, after all.)

Updated:

I-10: Added nine pictures of eastbound between I-55 and I-310.
I-12: Added seven pictures of the new Exit 60 signage from Friday. They're not geotagged or sorted yet.
I-55/US 51: Added 17 pictures of I-55 South and 15 pictures of US 51 South, of the concurrency between Exit 22 and LaPlace.
LA 22: Added eight pictures of westbound between LA 21 and Business US 51 South.

To-Do:

I-55: Got a couple of shots from northbound of the Exit 29 (I-12) complex and of the Exit 31 advance signage. Also got the brief bit of northbound between Old US 51 and Business US 51. Done!
US 51: There's a couple of stray shots in Hammond between US 51-X/190 and I-55 to add. Done!
US 51-X: Got to upload northbound, meaning a couple need cleaning. Damned fire orb in the sky. Someone please blow it up already. :P Done as it's getting for now.
Old US 51: The old road between LaPlace and Ponchatoula. I traveled it northbound. Wasn't much to see. Did take a few snaps, they'll get upped... probably last.
US 90: Need to add shots of westbound between I-310/LA 3127 and LA 1, and eastbound between LA 308 and I-310/LA 3127.
US 190: Took shots of eastbound between I-55 and LA 25. Need to sort the buggers. Also need to see if a shot in Mandeville or two needs updating. Done!
LA 1 (Southbound): Plenty of shots between US 90 and Grand Isle. Got to upload, sort and tag. (That'll be the Major Pain.) Done!
LA 22: Still got a couple more to add of the concurrency in Ponchatoula with US 51-X... and they got sunbleached. Usual BS. Done for now
LA 308: Took a few pics of that northbound, just need to clean them up.
World's Longest Continuous Viaduct: Yes, I actually do plan to make this album... call it a project, like the "Former LA 25" project that I still plan to do soon.

*****

One More Thing: I've thought about something that could be confusing, and I want to clear it up. Notice that some of my albums of old highways are named "Old (highway)," while others are called "Former (highway)." There's actually a rationale for that.

"Old" highways: These are highways whose former designation has been rerouted, most likely to a nearby new alignment such as a bypass, or to the Interstate or something. (Examples: Old US 11 (moved to nearby I-59), Old US 190 (moved to a different alignment nearby))

"Former" highways: These are truncated or decommissioned highways, either in whole or in the part near the section labeled "Former." (Examples: Former US 65 (truncated and replaced by US 425), Former LA 1093-2 (decommissioned entirely))

Now that we've cleared that up...

...And yet another way to post photos...

Taking a hint from the Rt. Hon. Herr Doktor Comrade Mister Otto Yamamoto, I decided to start posting to Picasa. Seems to be a better fit for me than Flickr, although I'll still use both for road pics in the future.

At the least, I can actually separate the pictures by highway designation instead of just highway types on my Picasa page, due to Flickr's free account limit of three sets. So, specific highways will link from the Picasa instead.

Without further ado, since a global embargo on the stuff's really screwing me over, here's a list of what's done so far (which will also be listed in the Permalink section of this blog):

US 11 - Bayou Sauvage, Irish Bayou, Slidell and Pearl River areas, mostly pics from northbound
US 51 - Nothing special, just the Tickfaw area along southbound
US 90 - Westbound from US 190's eastern terminus to US 11's southern terminus
US 190 - Mostly eastbound, mostly in Mandeville, but includes shot of the eastern terminus in White Kitchen
US 190-Y - Otherwise known as Business US 190 in Slidell

As well, the way I do my site will be redone once my Picasa's fully populated.

(Also, as an aside, I'm going to be needing a ride to make Froggie's meet in Slidell on Labor Day weekend, so comment if you can help a girl out.)

Great, now they've got me Flickring...

Ok, so I feel lame, and yet not. Maybe sleep would help.

In the meantime, I got a LOT of snaps today, as well as the ones from last week. I'm talking like 120 of them, taken, cropped and fix0rd in one day. They'll go up on my Photobucket and Accueil sometime during the week, but they're on my Flickr right this minute if you need instant gratification. They're mostly placed by sets for the time being.

I'll be adding the older snaps to the Flickr page as time permits as well.

(Sorry. Lotsa tags apply here.)

Independence, LA: 2 dead in car/train collision

The Advocate: Amtrak train in 2 collisions; 2 die, 1 hurt

I'll spare you the gory excerpt from the story, just go read it. The fatal collision occurred at a private crossing. It was marked by cross bucks and a yield sign. I saw nothing mentioned about a barrier, though. (Edit: Found here that there were indeed no lights or barriers at the crossing in Louisiana. - T) The train was attempting to signal the car with its whistle, to no avail. Over the past few years, if there's one thing drivers in Tangipahoa have proven, it's that they have no clue how to stop at a railroad crossing unless you add barriers of some sort to the mix.

There was also a wreck beforehand involving the same train, up near McComb, MS. That one yielded a non-fatal injury. It didn't say in the story what condition that crossing was in. (Edit: There are stop signs at the Mississippi crossing in question. - T) There's no word out of McComb yet and the stories out of Baton Rouge and New Orleans say little about that one other than the injury, so I won't assume that one was due to driver negligence until I know for sure.

The same train route was also involved in a collision near Jackson, MS last week with a garbage truck, hospitalizing six.

It's obvious that Louisiana needs to redouble its efforts to educate the driving public about railroad crossings. It wouldn't hurt Mississippi, either. Also, both states need to look into these crossings and improve them where necessary. You can't count on people to resist the temptation to beat the trains. Obviously cross bucks and yield signs aren't enough, even at these rural crossings. What's obviously needed is something to catch the driver's attention even more, like flashing lights and barriers.

Until then, many more people will die at these crossings. For some, it will be due to their own idiocy.