The Flood of 1927

Aftermath Of The 1927 Flood

During the summer and fall of 1926 the rain pounded the central United

States dumping tons of water in swollen tributaries that feed into the Mississippi

River; and the heavy rainfall continued into 1927. There was 27,000 square miles inundated by water from Cairo, Illinois, to the Gulf of Mexico ruining crops, buildings and homes. It created over a quarter of a million homeless refugees and millions of dollars in damages. It is unknown exactly how many died in the flood. Some estimated 250 in the affected states, but deaths due to disease and exposure after the immediate flood is estimated to exceed 1,000. In some areas it was September before the floodwaters receded.

The Atchafalaya River in Avoyelles Parish developed a break in its levy on

May 12th and another at Melville on May 17th. Some say, at Melville, the water rose about two feet per hour; and there was fifteen feet of water in the streets.

The flood of 1927 in essence rendered an entire fifty-seven mile long rail line inoperative. The railroad track belonged to Southern Pacific (SP) and the line was called the Lafayette-Baton Rouge Subdivision or the BR, as most local railroaders called it. When driving along Interstate Ten (I-10) between

Henderson and Ramah, travelers can still see remnants of the old railroad bed and pilings located about 100 yards north of the raised structure.

In the 1920’s the SP railroad ran a daily passenger train, which left Baton

Rouge at 06:40 AM heading west and arriving at Lafayette at 10:05 AM. After refueling and taking on water, the eastbound passenger train would then leave

Lafayette at 1:35 PM, arriving in Baton Rouge at 5:00 PM. The passenger trains

1 made regular stops at Breaux Bridge, Nina, Atchafalaya River, Wilbert and

Anchorage.

These were steam driven locomotives, which meant they needed water to heat in order to create steam to propel the train. There were stations along the route, between Lafayette and Baton Rouge, where a train could, if needed, take on water. Those stations were Breaux Bridge, Des Glaise and Grosse Tete.

A steam locomotive usually took on water about every 75 miles and oil about every fourth water stop. The Locomotive’s tender or tank car held about

7,000 gallons of water and about 3,000 gallons of oil.

There were freight trains, which ran on this rail line also, which meant they needed a place to meet or pass another train. Those places were called sidings or passing tracks. On the BR there were sidings at the following locations: Anse La Butte, Breaux Bridge, Henderson, Crusel, Ramah, Grosse Tete and Wilbert. The sidings or passing tracks back then were measured in railcar lengths; they were forty, fifty, sixty or ninety railcar lengths long.

Today’s trains are much longer, subsequently the sidings were extended and are now measured in feet; and many of today’s sidings are several miles long.

Maybe, back in the 1920’s all of the railcars were of the same type and length. Today, there are as many different types of railcars as there are different lengths.

In the 1920’s there were numerous railroads and many of them ran in different directions. Some railroads crossed over other railroads. On the Baton

Rouge Subdivision there were four rail crossings. One at Anchorage located on the west bank of the Mississippi River near Port Allen, Louisiana; and the other

2 was located at Grosse Tete, both crossing the T & P Railroad. Nina had a rail crossing called the N.I. & N. (New Iberia and Northern) and Breaux Bridge had the P. B. Subdivision Crossing, which ran between Port Barre and Cade,

Louisiana.

The flood of 1927 marked the beginning of the end for some of the communities in the Atchafalaya Basin. Communities like Bayou Chene, Pelba and Crusel slowly faded away, not to mention their livelihood.

The last steam locomotive used on the SP was removed from service in

February 1957 and replaced by the more reliable and efficient diesel locomotives.

Two of the last young men on the SP to qualify as locomotive engineers on stream engines were Feldon “Radio” Ohlsson and F. V. “Pappy” Landry. Pappy, now eighty-five years old and retired from SP, said he had just qualified on steam and now had to study diesels. Years ago a fireman (engineer in training) had to train for ten years before being promoted to locomotive engineer. Now its six months . . . .

Radio Ohlsson died in 2007. He was eighty-one years old.

Non-fiction

William J. Thibodeaux