Amtrak train #20 - the northbound CRESCENT - leaves the end of the NOUPT (New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal) trackage at East City Junction. It is entering the "North Main" of Norfolk Southern's Back Belt trackage as a UP-bound freight train holds the "South Main" on the right. The track veering of to the left ahead of the NOUPT trackage is the NS's ex-Southern Bernadotte Line, which once went as far as Trem and terminated on Basin Street but now stops at North Alexander Street at the line's last remaining customer, Masonry Products. The concrete piece in the foreground is part of the trestle over the Canal Boulevard underpass. Far off in the distance past the signal bridge, the NS tracks curve to the right and cross Interstate Highway 10 before going to single track and crossing the 17th Street Canal. |