re: Interesting historical pictures thread (add captions please)

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...50 knots...

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May, 1886. President Grover Cleveland was making final preparations for his wedding. Jefferson Davis, in a rare public appearance, was drawing large and enthusiastic crowds of admirers. Throughout the nation, final preparations were being made for the celebration of Memorial Day. And in the South, plans were nearing completion for one of the most complex and dramatic two-day periods in railroading history-changing the gauge of an estimated 11,500 miles of track. It was a little over a half-century since the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company had inaugurated steam-powered freight and passenger travel on a regularly-scheduled basis. Horatio Allen, the railroad's chief engineer, had departed from the 4-foot 81/2-inch gauge used in England by prescribing a 5-foot gauge and in the years that followed, most of the South's railroads copied his example. But in the North, the British example was dominant. It made little difference in the years preceding the War Between the States, since the two regions exchanged few goods requiring rail transportation. But as the South began its recovery from the war, it became readily apparent that complete economic reconstruction would require easy commerce with the rest of the nation-an impossibility so long as differences in gauge existed. At first, the problem of interchange had been temporarily relieved by laboriously loading freight from one car to another at interchange points between railroads of different gauges. But the growing trade between the South and the rest of the nation soon required faster and less costly methods.

In effect, the pressures of free competition had provided a catalyst, and the stage was set for changing the gauge of practically every road in the South - a change that, ultimately, would be accomplished in less than 36 hours.

February 2-3, 1886, marked the first step. As agreed the previous October at a meeting of the Southern Time Convention, operating officers of the South's railroads met at the Kimball House in Atlanta in a "Convention ...called for the purpose of fixing date and arranging details for change of gauge."

Only one rail would be moved in on the day of the change, so inside spikes were hammered into place at the new gauge width well in advance of the change, leaving only the need for a few blows of the sledgehammer once the rail was placed. As May 31 drew near, some spikes were pulled from the rail that was to be moved in order to reduce as much as possible the time required to release the rail from its old position.

Finally, in the early morning hours of May 31, the concentrated work began. Men worked in crews of various sizes charged with various goats-some given specific mileages to cover, others under instructions to begin at a specified point and work in a specified direction until they met another crew working toward them.

Along thousands of miles of track-approximately half of which was operated by predecessors of today's Southern Railway System-spikes were pulled, rails moved in to the new gauge, and more spikes hammered into place. At shops and rendezvous points throughout the South, motive power and rolling stock were being altered to fit the new gauge. Wheels of cars were moved in, steam engine brakes and tires were altered-and the screeching of axles being narrowed on lathes joined the ringing of heavy hammers.

In less than three days, standard-gauge trains were serving the South.

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Kimball House in Atlanta

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The Gainesville yard of both the Florida Southern and the SF&W circa 1886. The narrow gauge tracks of the FS are on the far left while the five foot gauge of the SF&W are on the right.

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Here the view is from the south, with FS narrow gauge tracks on the right, the mainline on the far right. The next siding has narrow gauge flat cars

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Moving tracks

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Chinese workers moving track in California

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Logging line affiliated with the New Orleans And Northeastern Railroad. They typically used narrow guage tracks

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Narrow guage logging line on the left and a broad guage line on the right

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Train Depot at Laural, MS

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Workers setting rails

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Leander Perez rose to power as the undisputed political boss of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes in the 1920s. The shrewd lawyer was appointed judge in December of 1919, and from that point on, he was universally known as Judge Perez, though for most of his career he was a district attorney.

He became famous in his lifetime for his bitter fight against civil rights, and, after his death, for secretly diverting millions of dollars in oil royalties to companies he owned.

Plaquemines Parish native Leander Perez graduated from Tulane University Law School in 1914 and promptly set up a practice. In 1917 he married Agnes Chalin of New Orleans.

On Dec. 4, 1919, Judge Robert Hingle drowned in a fishing accident. Perez was named his successor by Gov.-elect John Parker, launching Perez’s political dynasty. In 1924, he was elected district attorney of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, a capacity in which he served until 1960. He never earned more than $7,000 a year as DA.

Political campaigns were contentious, controversial and often lopsided during Perez’s rule. In 1931, 28 would-be candidates claimed they failed to qualify because no one would identify the official they should sign up with. By the time they figured out who it was — Perez’s father — they were told it was too late.

As early as 1941, Perez’s ties to companies involved in lucrative mineral leases were under investigation. In 1983, it was discovered that $80 million in oil royalties had been paid to Delta Development Co., which Perez secretly owned.

Perez and two other opponents of school integration were excommunicated by Archbishop Joseph Rummel in 1962. Perez was quietly readmitted to the church before his death in 1969.
LINK

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Leander H. Perez displays a copy of The Times-Picayune of July 31, 1962, containing a story of a federal agency approving a $3 million loan for construction of a 17-story apartment house for senior citizens in New Orleans. Perez referred to the loan as the payoff for pushing Catholic school integration. Perez addressed a crowd of picketers protesting the integration of Our Lady of Good Harbor Catholic School in Buras.

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Leander Perez, right, and Gov. Earl Long

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Leander Perez

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Promised Land / Leander Perez House 5907 Hwy 39 Braithwaite, Louisiana

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udge Leander H. Perez, who for decades was Plaquemines Parish's most powerful political leader, was memorialized in 1977 with a $1 million, 12-acre park just below Belle Chasse.

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Gov. Huey P. Long's Impeachment Trial is Adjourned Sine Die. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Conference of leaders at both houses here resulted in agreement to adjoin the impeachment trial of Gov. Huey Long sine die. Long is shown at left, smiling as trial opened in Louisiana Senate. Beside him sit four of his attorneys. Left to right, John Overton, Sapides, chief counsel, Lewis Morgan, St. Tammany; Leander H. Perez, St. Bernard; Allen J. Ellender of Tarrebonne and Harvey A. Peltier. May 16, 1929

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September 7, 1962 An overflow crowd listens intently as Plaqyemines parish commission council president and segregation leader Leander H. Perez Sr. attacked school integration at a rally in Belle Chasse sponsored by the Parents and Friends of Catholic Children.

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Perez and two other opponents of school integration were excommunicated by Archbishop Joseph Rummel in 1962

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On Aug. 15, 1945, there were smiles all around after a meeting of the 25th Judicial District Democratic committee at which Richard A. Dowling, far left, and Leander H. Perez, second from left, dropped protests against each other's candidates for district attorney of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. Seated left to right, are Dowling, Perez, T.W. Serpas and Philip Rowley, committee members. Standing is J. Claude Meraux, third candidate for the office.

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Men roll barrels full of cotton aboard a paddlewheeler in New Orleans. 1901

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Bales of cotton cover a dock, waiting to be loaded onto steamships, New Orleans. 1901

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Cotton wharf in New Orleans with stevedores lounging on bales ready to be shipped. Early 1900s

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A line of paddle steamers ready to transport cotton. New Orleans, Louisiana. Ca. 1862

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Bales of cotton cover all the available space aboard the steamship William Carig, on the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Late 1800s

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Men stand atop bales of hay which have been loaded aboard the Henry Frank, Mississippi River steamship. Early 1900s

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Workers load cotton onto steamships at a dock in New Orleans, Louisiana. n.d.

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