After a golden 10 days off I went back to work. I got both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. I got called for the Q ATLAC, which goes from Alliance, Texas, to Atlanta with an on duty time of 3:20 pm. We had 3 motors on the head end.Our train weighed 5,525 tons and was 9,839 feet ong. Due to our length we were limited to 55 MPH. We were following the SLABAR the whole way, and they had less power than we did. It was torture. Our trip was over 7 hours. We came into Main 4 and swapped with the outbound crew. After a good sleep I got called for the H BARLUB, wit an on duty time of 10:30 am. The yard crew was putting it together for us. It was extremely small and light for an H train. It was to have 87 cars, wight 4,760 tons, and was 5,409 feet long. When we got out to ouer train the yard crew told us that it was missing a car, so it was even lighter and shorter than that. We had 4 motors on the head end, but one of them was dead. Due to the fact that our train weighed less than 5500 tons the first 10 cars on our train did not have to weigh at least 45 tons, and they did not. That is extremely rare. We had to wait a while before we could get out of the yard, but once we got going it was a pretty good trip. Just over 6 hours. I was really surprised when I tied up. It said I would go out in the wee hours of the morning. So I went to bed. I got up at 4 am, had two cups of coffee, and got called for the S MEMLHA at 5:10 am. The train goes from Memphis to LA. We had 3 motors on the head end, weight 5,654 tons, and we were 8,147 feet long. It was an awful trip. 10 hours. They kept stopping us. We pulled into Main 2 and swapped with the outbound. I got to the hotel in tie to go across the street to Barstow Burger and aget a burrtio. I ate and went to bed. I slept like a log. I ws projected to go home on a deadhead, with an on duty time of 7:30 am. I was determiend to get my breakfast. I went down and started eating when they opened up at 6 am. I didn't get my call until 6:07 am. I was not called for a deadhead, I was called for a Q train, I finsihed my breakfast and grabbed my stuff. I got down to the depot, but we got swapped from the Q train to a stack train. We got on at the steps. We had a crew deadheading on our train. It was the S LBCLO, which goes from Long Beach to Clovis, New Mexico. We had 4 mtoors on the head end, but one of them was isolated. We had 78 cars, weighed 6,159 tons, and we were 7,127 feet. Today was a good trip to make up for the bad one we had yessterday. We departed at 8:12 am and had clears almost all of the way. They stopped us at West Needles for less than a half hour, then we pulled in at 12:42. Our trip was exactly 4 and a half hours. I rolled my train by and tied up. I want to take one more round trip and RISA out for New Year's Day. That may or may not happen. I'm projected for being out more than 24 hours, so I might reset. I have included a picture of our leader, the 7066.

I got called for the "U NEEPPH," and the automated message said there was no train location. I also had a brakeman, so i assumed that we would be putting our train together in the Needles Yard and doing a Class I Air Brake Test. Whern I got to the depot I found out it wasn't that bad. It was the work train, in was in the "dead track" at Ibis, and we would just need to get on the train, untie it, and take it to Barstow. The work order said that we were to "et out" the train in Barstow, but the dispatcher said that it woud be going on. The work order said that it would be going on to Porphory, California. I really didn't need a brakeman. A van came and picked us up and ran us there. My engineer got on the two DPs and conditioned them. This train had 40 cars and two motors on each end, so it could go either direction. The van ran us up to the head end. My engineer had a few things to do. I volunteered to help my brakeman go release the brakes on the rear of the train but he said he would do it, since he was the "brakeman." The van ran him to the rear, he realeased the brakes and we were ready to go. We taked to the dispatcher and he said that a "foreman Meir" would throw the handswitch for us. We approached the switch, and the signal, which was red. The dispatcher gave foreman Meir perission to put the switch in manual and throw it. My engineer asked if theis was our authority to go onto the main, and he said it was. (Normally we need authority from the dispatcher to come out onto the main, and he needs to give us verbal authority to pass a red signal but this was an unusual situation. We were coming off a "dead track," and the signal is not "cut in" as we say (they haven't started to use it yet). Later we ooked in the rule book, and it's somewhat vague. But the way rwe read it, once you have authority to throw the switch, you have authority to come out onto the Main. The "dead track" is actually the old Main Two, but now they have built a new Main One, so the old Main One is now Main Two, and the old Main Two is now a "dead track," but it will soon be the new Main Three. Our train was limited to 45 MPH, yet we got around 5 crews. They kept us moving and our trip was 5 and a half hours. They told us to bringin it into I3 and spot it up for fuel, but it really didn't need fuel. I got to bed, around midnight, woke up and watched some TV, slept some more, went down to breakfast at 6 am, then went back to bed and slept like a log. I got called for a Q train with an on duty time of 1745 with a different engineer. My brakeman would have to go back with ,e. When I got down to the depot I found out that we had been "swapped" to the X SWAMNX5. I asked the trainmaster about it an he said it was on I1, they were performing a Class I Air Brake test on it, and when they were done we should be able to get on it and go. After we were on duty a differnet trainmaster said that it was ready to go. My engineer said that he thought something was wrong with the train. He called the router and he said there was a bad car that we had to set out. It was car # 68. Our train had 3 motors on the head end and was made up of 100 hoppers going from Swanson, California to Mina, South Dakota. I grabbed a van and we got on our train. My brakeman volunteered to do the setout himself, but I said I would help him.We got off and had our engineer pull the train ahead 68 cars. We tied 3 brakes behind the bad car, had him pull ahead and made the separation. We were to set it out in I4. My brakeman and I rode the car past the signal, I asked the router for the switch and when we had a red over a flashing red we shoved into I4, riding the car. The derail was donw and there were other cars in the track. We got off, shoved our engineer back to a hook, tied the brake on the bad car, and made the cut. We rode ahead past the signal. This time the router flagged us past the signal. He recited a script,and I repeated it. We shoved back into our trian mae the hook my brakeman laced the hoses, and we released the 3 brakes. The van ran us to the head end of our train. Wer got the signal very quickly, and we got out ahead of the crew that got our Q train, the crew that was called for our train. We departed at 1949 and they ran us good. We only stopped twice, and arrived in Needles at 1:50 am. I rolled my train by and tied up. It looks like I won't be going to work until around 4 am.

I got called for the "V CLOBAR," a vehicle train going from Clovis, New Mexico to Barstow. The workorder said that we were to set out our whole train in Barstow. The 2 motors were to stay there, and about half of the train was going to San Diego and the other half would go to San Bernadino. We figured we wud take it into the Receiving Yard, tie it down, and take the power to the house. We had been on duty 45 minutes when we departed. It was a good trip, though they stopped us a total of five times. When e got to Barstow they said to tie it down on I3.They would resymbol it and it would go on, probably to San Bernadino. I only had to tie one handbrake. It was still early when we go in, around 3. I got something to eat, watched TV and went to bed early. I slept about 10 hours! I got a call at 5 am for the "Q LACLPK," which goes from Los Angeles to Logistic Park, Kansas. My engineer and I weren't even on duty when it pulled up to the steps. We headed up any ay, and we were on duty by the time we got on board. It was a good train, with 3 motors on the head ed, 75 cars, weighing in at 5,379 tons and was 7,428 feet long. We had the 0/40 throttle restriction, but my engineer let TO run it and it and it pretty good. They took us out through the I Yard, and then onto the main. They only stopped us 3 times. Our trip was 5 and half hours. I was ready to do the roll by when someone in mechanical called the outbound and told them that there was an open container. They said to pull it p to East Needles and they would both close it and inspect the whole train for any other open containers. I rolled the train by and the open container was 25 cars back, and it was an upper container. I reported this to them. Well, new track has been laid up to MP 586.5. Also, those 2 platforms that broke off from a five packer are still on the ground at 593.8.I'm supposed to go out tomorrow around noon. I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep, enjoying my morning coffee, and then getting my call. But then, someone could lay off because they want to watch the world series, so I could go out earlier. I have attached a picture of our leader, the 6693.