Big Cut and the C&P p.1

Sunday Afternoon: Company had cleared out and I felt the need for a little ride. It would just be a relaxing meander through lovely Louisiana, no purpose, no plan. Somewhere along the way a place name came to mind, "Big Cut". I can't remember how I knew of this place. I think I was doing some research and happened on it. Then I asked the house railroad authority, Mr. Lueck, what the heck it was. He told me. Somewhere out on the Louisiana Plains, I decided I needed to be there. I had done a guess estimate of its location having wandered Camp Claiborne before the free range policy was terminated. I was familiar with what looked like a rail bed and this place was right there, though I'd never been to it, or if I had it had been in a blur of speed and flying mud. What the heck, I thought. It's only 2:00 PM and I'm not that far. I found it, I shot it, I went to its opposite side and shot it, I went down in it, I shot from there, and then I traced a rail bed all the way to US165. I then came home, terminating the ride in a white out rain storm in the dark. Being soaked didn't dampen my enthusiasm. The first thing I did was to write Mr.Lueck and tell him that I'd found BC. I really like sharing with people that get as excited or at least portray the same excitement I'm experiencing. Take my word, the number of such people is limited. Obviously, he was excited and almost immediately opened his vault of goodies and started laying them on me. I told him I needed a picture of the bridge and he sent me an article and more and more. Then when I passed that around, Mark, the map man, got into the act and offered up his collection. Seems Camp Claiborne is one of his hobbies.

My dilemma is now how to handle this wealth. My pictures and ride report are both brilliant and captivating. Nevertheless, The story and pictures of the men and machines responsible for the Big Cut Bridge, and so much more, do trump my offerings a little.

You will get the history first. It's around 1941. It is one of those getterdone war stories that should be captured as a movie. These guys were not, for the most part, green inductees. They were railroad men gone to war. Let's get started. Here's "World War II Railroaders by William T.Church. Some pics by John B.Allen. I like to mention the photographers. First this paragraph whose gist I'll credit as soon as I find the source. If you were wondering what the heck I was talking about, maybe this will help.

The Army's 711th Railway Operating Battalion arrived in Louisiana in August of 1941. It's mission was to begin laying tracks connecting Camp Polk to Camp Claiborne some fifty miles away. They trudged through miles of swamps to raise twenty-five bridges, with the help of a clanging steam powered pile driver. The workers designed and built the bridges. After finishing the rail line, the 711th was sent to Iran where their Louisiana experience helped them maintain the Trans-Iranian Railroad which carried vital military materials to Russia throughout World War II.







































Now I'll try to explain the necessity of the Big Cut Bridge. Not to get into what I think was a little squabble between the Red River and Gulf and the Army, let's just leave it at "the Army's railroad needed to cross the RR&G line to get to Fort Polk". The Big Cut Bridge was the answer. See the map below.



The Red River and Gulf Right of Way through Big Cut before the C&P.



In Construction:





Ready:



Test:



Go:



There were other bridges:



Approaching Spring Creek on the way to Camp Polk.



The caption reads:



Why were there cars being pushed? The line was notorious for derailments. The speed limit was 15 mile per hour at first and I'll bet the cars were "track testers".

The crane would often follow at a distance.



They turned this:



And this:



Into this:



There was quite a celebration:



Dignitaries arriving.

And spike driven near LaCamp:





Here's the map on into Polk.



Now you have an idea of the historical weight of the place a whim had led me.
The NEXT PAGE will be my ride there and beyond. After leaving Big Cut, I made the mistake of following the rail bed of the Claiborne and Polk up the line to the east, then asking about what I suspected. For the ride, CLICK HERE