Bay St. Louis (CSX Bridge) – Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA | Train Spotting Location

Perched on the Gulf Coast where the CSX main line glides across open water, the Bay St. Louis Bridge offers railfans a rare, uninterrupted view of long freights skimming the horizon, their locomotives framed by salt marsh, shrimp boats, and the wide Mississippi sky. Nowhere else along the New Orleans–Mobile corridor can you watch a train appear as a single speck on a 2-mile trestle, grow into a thundering consist above tidal flats, and then disappear into pine forest—all while you stand safely on public shoreline with the sea breeze in your face.

🛤️ The Trainspotting Experience

A typical visit rewards patience with drama. From the city beachfront or the public fishing pier just south of the tracks, you gain an almost side-on perspective of the bridge’s steel lift span and the concrete trestle that stretches east and west. Sight lines exceed two miles in each direction, so you’ll spot headlights or end-of-train devices long before the locomotives reach the lift span. Expect resonant horn blasts that echo across the bay; sound travels freely over the water and warns of an approaching meet on this single-track section. Trains cross at track speed—roughly 40–45 mph—yet appear slower because of the expansive foreground, letting photographers frame multiple shots as power rolls by, followed by 100-plus cars rattling over the drawbridge joints. Nighttime visits are popular for light-trail photography, and the constant sea breeze keeps exhaust and dust from lingering.

🌄 Landscape, Setting and Local Atmosphere

Bay St. Louis sits at sea level, with sandy beaches, spartina marsh, and low-growing live oaks lining the waterfront. The bridge itself rides just a few feet above the tide, save for the central lift span that rises for marine traffic. Pelicans often perch on the pilings, and dolphins occasionally surface in the channel. Summer brings humid heat tempered by coastal winds, while winter offers mild, crystal-clear air ideal for long-distance shots. Late afternoons paint the water gold, and post-storm sunsets can turn the entire scene crimson, making the steel silhouette glow.

🚂 Type and Frequency of Train Activity

The bridge carries CSX’s busy NO&M Subdivision, funneling freight between New Orleans Gateway and Mobile terminals. Railfans commonly record 18–24 trains per 24 hours, with clusters in the early morning and late afternoon as crews time departures around bridge openings for maritime traffic. Traffic is predominantly manifest and intermodal, supplemented by unit trains of grain, aggregate, and occasional military equipment. Double-stacks are restricted west of Mobile, so expect traditional intermodal well cars single-stacked. Power is almost exclusively CSX AC4400, ES44AH, and the newer Tier 4 ET44-series, though foreign power from BNSF and Union Pacific appears regularly on through manifests. Passenger service has been absent since Hurricane Katrina, but Amtrak test runs for the proposed Gulf Coast corridor have crossed the bridge since 2021, hinting at future schedules.

📸 Best Angles for Photos and What Railfans Enjoy Most

• West Beach Boulevard Promenade: A raised seawall lets you shoot eastward with the bridge receding into the sunrise. Early morning sidelight illuminates nose art and road numbers.
• Municipal Fishing Pier: Stand almost parallel to the lift span; a medium telephoto (100–200 mm) compresses the entire train against open water, while wider lenses capture reflections. Sunset backlighting is superb here.
• North End Causeway: From the public sidewalk near Blaize Avenue you can frame trains exiting the bridge with downtown Bay St. Louis church spires in the distance—great for contextual shots.
Bring a wind filter for microphones; gusts can distort audio. Tripods are permitted on the pier but avoid blocking anglers. Because lighting flips quickly over water, shooters favor golden hour, yet overcast days produce even, glare-free exposures.

🕰️ Historical or Cultural Relevance

The span traces its lineage to the 1880s Louisville & Nashville Gulf Coast line that stitched together port cities along the Deep South. Hurricane Camille destroyed the original timber trestle in 1969; concrete replaced wood in the 1970 rebuild. Katrina’s 2005 storm surge sheared away 300 feet of girders, halting all east-west rail traffic for 59 days until emergency crews installed prefabricated sections—an engineering feat credited with accelerating regional economic recovery. The modern lift span, completed in 2008, offers 85 feet of horizontal clearance and illustrates post-Katrina resilience woven into local pride.

🧭 What Makes This Spot Different from Others

Most Gulf Coast railfan sites are hemmed by mangroves or private land; Bay St. Louis grants open public access directly beside the main line without fencing or obstructions. The water setting means unobstructed horizon lines and near–360-degree shooting angles—attributes usually found only at remote desert crossings. Coupled with reliable train frequency and an ever-changing backdrop of shrimp trawlers, thunderstorms, and seabirds, the bridge delivers a dynamic tableau that few mainland spots can equal.

📚 Additional Resources

Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum
CSX Transportation – NO&M Subdivision Timetable (public summary)
Historic American Engineering Record – Bay St. Louis Bridge Documentation"