| This structure was built by the Overseas Railway Corp. in 1928 to load railroad cars onto a ship -- the S.S. SEATRAIN -- for movement to Havana, Cuba. It was located on the west bank of the Mississippi River downstream from New Orleans; and was served by the New Orleans & Lower Coast Railroad, a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific. Overseas Railway Corp. became Seatrain Lines, and service was expanded to New Jersey in 1932. Service to Cuba ended around 1960 and to New Jersey in 1964. The central business district of New Orleans is in the upper left of the photo, and the white structure in the trees right behind the loader is part of the Mississippi River levee. The loader was finally scrapped at the beginning of the twenty-first century, although the trestle and concrete foundation remain. |