| When I took this slide at the ICG's Levee Yard -- along the Mississippi River near the heart of New Orleans -- I was just interested in getting a good shot of the 468. As it turned out, it was the only photo I ever took on any ICG activity here. This entire area became the site of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition, and any evidence of the extensive IC, L&N, and SP infrastructure that had occupied this part of the New Orleans riverfront disappeared.Years later, I realized that the true significance of this image was the background activity... the construction of the Riverfront Hilton was a harbinger of the massive and rapid redevelopment of this area that would erase almost all evidence of the railroads that had been here for 100 years. |