OKRA 1982

The nearly forgotten engine was on what might have been her last, one way trip, to a scrap heap. Audubon was planning a major expansion to the Audubon Zoo, which would eventually become their signature Louisiana Swamp Exhibit. Word was that the steam locomotive would have to go.

The local model railroad club, the Crescent City Model Railroad Club (CCMRC) had many members who were both model railroaders as well as “railfans“. When word got out that the SP 745 might be on a one way ticket to extinction, about a dozen of the CCMRC banded together to form the Old Kenner Railway Association (OKRA).

Photos by Michael Palmieri