I got called for the Kingman Switcher on a Saturday morning! The Kingman Switcher does not usually work on Saturday, unless the regular crew didn't finish the job, or unless they have special work to do. I hadn't been on this job in 5 years so I didn't know it very well. My engineer didn't know it very well. Fortunately I had a brakeman that did know the job. We took a van to the depot in Kingman. The trainmaster met us there and gave us our switching list. We also printed out our GTBs. The van took us to Nelson. Our train was there in the siding. We had to get authority to come out onto the main. I dropped the derail and threw the switch. We came out onto the main and then started switching. We had to set out cars, but didn't have to pick any up. We had to leave several cars there at Nelson, then take the rest to Berry. It turned out we had a bad list, so we had to make a couple of extra moves. My brakeman did most of the work. I worked the switch, helping him by tying brakes and lacing hoses when I could. We must have been there about 2 hours. We did the Class I as we came out onto the main. After that it was onto Berry, where the van met us. We had been told to leave most of the car on the "WYE" track at Berry, and some on the musket track. Not all of the cars fit onto the WYE, so we left our motors and the leftover cars on a runaround track that was next to the siding. I spent most of the time working the switch. It turned out to be a 12 hour day! I was exhausted from being on my feet all day. The van took us back to Needles. I told my brakeman that I owed him lunch. I don't know when I'm going out again.

I got called for the worst train I could be called for, the H KCKBAR. On duty time was 4:35 am. The train weighed over 18,000 tons! I swung by the Jack in the Box on the way to work and they were closed for one hour- the hour I happened to stop by there. We got on our train and departed. It looked like it was going to be a good tri then they stopped us for a while. We were second out at Dagget. I toned up the dispatcher and he said, "kick back and relax, you're behind a train with no crew." At this point we had 4 hours left to work. My engineer and I were irritated. How could they put us behind a train that was tied down and had no crew? A BARBAR eventually got on the train ahead of us and moved it. We pulled up to the East Barstow signal. Eventually we got relieved there. The van took us straight to the hotel and I tied up just before my 12 hours was up. I discovered, to my horror, that there was no hot water in the hotel! The employee at the desk said that they were "working on it." I took a cold shower, got a burrito from across the street, and went to bed Boy, did I sleep! I woke up in the middle of the night and looked in my cell phone. I was projected for the BARLUB at 4 am. I watched TV for a while and went back to sleep. I woke up at 5:30 am and looked t my cell phone again and I was projected for the Q STOCHI at 7:43 am. Rather than go back to bed I got up and started to get ready to go. I went down for breakfast and got my call at 6:13 am. I found out why I hadn't been called earlier. There were no engineers rested. We got called when my engineer was rested. I found, to my relief, that they had fixed the problem with the hot water. I got down to the depot and found out that our train was tied down on I1. It looked like it would be a routine trip. But when my engineer showed up he said that this grip had fallen out of the van on the way from the hotel. He had lost his IPAD, his reverser, his vest, and his wallet. I didn't know if we would have to call another engineer or not. He talked to the Terminal Manager and got a new reverser and vest. He reported the loss of his grip to the Barstow police, and made several other calls. I didn't envy him. There are a lot of sleazy people on the street in Barstow. I could imagine them going to town with his personal items. Fortunately he had lost no cash, and he was able to cancel his credit card. We eventually got on our train. I only had to untie one brake. Since there had been no engineers rested, we didn't have anyone ahead of us when we departed. They stopped us at Dagget to let a z train run around us. After an hour or two the dispatcher told my engineer to call the trainmaster in Barstow. When we came to a stop he callled and the Barstow police had found his grip with everything in it. That was a miracle. Our work order said that we had to set out a motor in Needles. We had 3 motors on the head end and one on the rear. We were hoping that they would highball it. The stopped us at West Needles and we sat there for over an hour and a half! We watched several trains both eastbound and westbound, pass us. First the dispatcher said that we would set out the motor in the roundhouse, then in the South house, then in the roundhouse again. They finally gave us the signal. When we came into the yard I had to line two switches to get us into Yard 2. We went to the east ed of the yard and our outbound was waiting there in the van. I have done this a few times before. Th outbound crew helped us and it went very quickly. We brought our motor into roundhouse 2. The van ran me to the depot. My engineer got on the DP of our train and signed the cards, then walked across the mains to the depot. I tied up. By this time it was almost 6 pm. I got up at 7 am today. I'm not projected to go out in the next 24 hours.

I got called for a dog catch. We dog caught the Q PEALAC at Berry, and then a stack train at Franconia. It was a 6 hour day. I got in bed by 5 am and slept most of the day. I was available all day but I didn't get called. I probably won't get called tonight and will start my rest cycle tomorrow morning.

I got called for a Unit train. On duty time was 11:00 pm. It was the Geo car again. The same engine and the same two cars. It was tied down on Yard 5. This time I was taknig it to Winslow. I had to release the brake on the first car. Our trip to WInslow was about 9 hours. When we got there the train master came out to meet us and told us to take it to the "ice track." My engineer told him, "There's already a train in the ice track." Turns out the tainmaster got us confused wiht another unit train. He told us to tie it down. We did. I got to the hotel in time for the free breakfast, went to bed, and got up around 4:30 pm. I was showing out the next morning. I bought a frozen dinner from the front desk, watched some TV, and went back to bed. I slept like a log. I got called at 5:20 am. It was too early for the free breakfast, so I had the van driver run through the drive through at McDonald's. I had the Z WSPSBD, going from Willow Springs, Illinois to San Bernadino. We had to wait an hour for our train to come in. The inbound said that they had been treated pretty well by the dispatcher. We got going pretty soon. We had 5 otors on the head end and they ran us pretty good. I think we only stopped once. It was a good trip. About 8 hours. I rolled my train by. I'm going to get some "held away" for my long stay in the hotel. I'm scheduled for Rules Training on Thursday, so at 6 pm tonight I'm going to lay off for 48 hours. An aquaintence of mine from San Diego is supposed to be in Needles today. I hope to get together with them.

I got called for a unit train with 2 cars. On duty time was 2:50 am. Hmmm, could it be the GEO car? It was. The Geo car measures the track and sends data to a computer in Fort Worth. There they see if track needs to be repaired. I have had the geo car twice before. Usually there is one engine, a hopper, and then the geo car. This time, for some reason, there were two geo cars. Our train was tied down on Main 1. For some reason the jokers had tied the brakes on the motor, and both cars. Unnecessary. I found the brake on one car but I couldn't find the other. My engineer went back and pressed a button on a "plunger." To make sure we had the brakes released I did a roll by. The wheels moved freely. It started out as a good trip then they kept stopping us. We sat outside Barstow for a while. Finally we were at the Barstow signal We still didn't know where we were yarding out train when they gave us the signal. I asked and they said, "Wait a minute." They told us the "balloon pocket." We went into the yard. I got off at the derail to the balloon picket, rolled my train by, and dropped the derail. The router threw the switch and I shoved my train into the balloon pocket. I restored the switch. Rather than tie both brakes my engineer just tied the motor and it held. The van came and ran us to the depot. It was a 12 hour day- exactly 12 hours. When I got to the hotel I grabbed a burrito and a turkey sandwich from Barstow Burger My room had no heat, and the light in the bathroom only worked halfway decent. As long as I stayed under the covers I was warm. I got called for a stack train at 2:30 am. It was cold in the room when I got out of my bed! On duty time was 4 am. Eventually they told us to get on our train at Hodge. It would be an RO (a Basic Day) for us. Our train as over 13,000 tons and over 16,000 feet long. We had 4 motors on the head end and 3 in the middle. It was a decent trip back. We got relieved at West Needles. Our day was just over 8 hours. I am now on my rest cycle. I have attached a picture of my unit train with the two Geo cars. They look like passenger cars. In fact, the railroad does use them as "officer cars" once in a while. By the way, it rained in Barstow.

Yesterday morning I got called for a Q train to Barstow. On duty time was 3:43 am. It started out as a good trip. I had a female engineer. Then they stopped us a few times. We were at the Barstow signal and they said they were going to "flip" us (send us back to Needles in a van) but we said that we had less than two hours left, so they scrubbed that idea. When I got to the hotel I had a big burrito and went to bed. I wok up after 4 hours and couldn't get back to sleep. I took some sleeping pills and slept until I got my call at 1:12 am. I was called for the "H BARGAL." My cell phone said that it was raining. I as glad that these days the yard crews put the H trains together. I went outside and it wasn't raining, but it was cold. I got down to the depot and the trainmaster told me that there were no yad crews and we would have to put the train together. I told my engineer that when he sowed up and he said something that I can't print. I found out that our cars were all in D5, and we would just have to hook the power on the head end. Our power was on Ready One, as close to the depot as it could be, so it was a short walk. We had 4 motors, and the leader was facing the right way. We were lined out so I didn't have to get down and line any switches. Also, a van had been assigned to help us. This was shaping up to be a good day- or so I thought. We used D1 as a runner. When we were over the switch I shoved my engineer back to a hook. I laced the hoses. There were no brakes on the head end. I got in the van and went to the rear of the train, checking my cars. We had 3 "strangers" (cars that we weren't supposed t have). I reported it to the Bowl Tower. I head somebody say, "Who put that train together?" Over the radio. The bowl tower said that two of the cars, both tankers, would have to be set out. I went to the rear of the train, hooked up the ETD (I had a hard time with it), did the Class III, and released three handbrakes at the rear of the train. I went to the "strangers, tied 3 brakes behind them and made the cut. The Bowel Tower told us to set the cars in the "South Track." i didn't know where that was but my van driver did. She took me here. There as a North Track and a South Track. There were two motors in the North Track. The derail was up. There was one hopper in the South Track. The van driver told me to drop the derail to the South Track. So did the Bowl Tower. But they didn't tell me anything else. I had my engineer pull the last car over the switch. The Bowl Tower threw the switch. I positioned myself near the hopper, and intended to make a hook there. I started my engineer back. After a few seconds I saw, to my horror, that the cars were going into the North Track. I told my engineer "stop" twice, but by the time he stopped the first car had gone over he derail and one truck went over the derail. I notified the Bowl Tower. I noticed that there was a hand throw switch that separated the North Track from the South Track. Nobody had told me that. I was unfamiliar with this part of the yard. A carman came out and said that it would be easy to get those tow cars back on the track. The superintendant. came out and talked to me. I had never met him before and he said he had never heard my name before and that was a good thing. I said, "The only cars that derailed are the ones that we were supposed to set out. The rest of our train is on the track. If it's okay I would like to make the cut, put our train back together, and leave." He asked me if I felt okay doing that and I said, "Sure." I got an "in between." closed the angel cock ,and made the cut. I had my engineer pull over the switch. When the Bowel Tower threw it I shoved him back to our train. I could not make the hook. The couplers were not aligned. I called for a carman. One of them showed up very quickly and lined one coupler for me. He gave me a tool to line the other one up. I lined it, then guided my engineer back to a hook. I laced the hoses, released the brakes, and had the van run me up to the head end. We were finally ready to go and departed after being on duty for 4 hours. As we got closer to Needles my IPAD said that we were to set out the 4th motor. When we were stopped outside of Needles my engineer got on the radio and said, "That motor had a bad air compressor. We will have to use another motor to set it out because the brakes don't work. Also, one of the motors had bad dynos, so if you set out one motor the outbound will only had 16 dynamic brakes. They highballed the set out. When we got we each had to write a statement about what happened. My engineer said, "All the times I put cars o the ground before I got a van ride home, but not today. " I found out that the cars that I had put on the ground were already yarded. When I got home I spoke to my union rep. He said that since they let us finish the job and didn't pull us from service and give us a drug test they were probably going to go easy on me. 7 years with the railroad and I have never put cars on the ground before. My union rep said that in 25 years he has put cars on the ground several times. It happens. So, I will see what happens. I'm not worried about it. I have included a picture of our leader, the 8073.

I got called for another dog catch. On duty time was 7:46 pm Mountain Time. We took the van out to West Berry to dog catch the "S OMASCO." Then we had to go and get on a unit train at Franconia. It had only one engine, 5 cars ad a crew that sprayed the sidings. We were limited to 30 MPH. We knew that we would have to yard the train afterwards and the spraying crew said it woud be better if we coud park the train on a track where they could bring their truck up to it. We wenti nto the South House extension. There wre no cars in there. I threw the switch, dropped the derail, and rolled my train by. I had to restore the derail, reline the switch, and tie one brake. We were done. I'm projected to go out around 11 pm tonight.

I got called for the "Z SBDWSP," a Z train going from San Bernadino to Willow Springs, Illinois. On duty time was 4:55 pm, Mountain Time. It looked like an easy day. No setuts for ick ups. I thought it would be "get on and get off." Instead when the inbound came in they said that we might have to set out a car in the "South House Extension." The inbound conductor volunteeered to stay and help us. The dispatcher came on and told us the car # and that we would not be setting it out in the South House extension, but instead the yard. So we excused the inbound conductor. After a few minutes the dispatcher came back on the radio and tols us that we would be setting it out in the South House extension, so I would have to tie my train down with the rear of the train on the hill. We pulled up. There was an engine in the east end of the South House exension. We notified the dispatcher. He said the rapid responder would be there to help us move it.. I started out by tying 6 brakes. My train moved. I tied 3 more. My train moved again. I tied 3 more. This time it held. By this time I had walked back to the depot.. The rapid responder ran me up to the South House extension. I made the cut and had my engineer pull ahead. I threw the swtich and had my engineer shove back. We did not make the hook on the first attampt I had my engineer pull ahead. The rapid responder got an in between and opened both couplers. I had my engineer shove back again and this time we made a good hook. The rapid reponser released the brake on the motor and "box carred' the egnine so that it would roll freely. I got on the setps on the west end of the mtoro and shoved us bck into the siding. The car, a 3 packer, easliy fit. I tied the brake on the car and did the release test. It held. I cut us away, had my engineer pull over the switch, restored the derail and lined the switch back to the main. I rode the shove back to within a car. I had my engineer make a hook, laced the hoses, and the rapid responder ran me to the head end of my train. I was tired. It didn't help that I had been awake since 7 am. The trip to Winslow was unventful. They ran us ike a Z train. I rolled my train by and took the van to the hotel. It was about 5 am when I got into bed. I took a nap and got up for the free breakfast at 6 am. I went back too bed and slep like a log. I got up, bought a frozen dinner from the front desk and ate. I ws expecting to get called at 5 pm. The call did not come. I looked in my cell phone and my time had been pushed back. I was to be called at 6:30 pm. I was debating going downstaris to have some coffee. As it turned out I got called for the "H KCKBAR" at 5:45. I got down to the depot, ran my paperework, and briefed iwth m engineer when she showed up. Then we got swapped to the Z WSPSBD. I had to print out new paperwork and we rebriefed. We had been on duty and hour when our trian came in. My engineer said that her grandmother was a Harvey Girl back in the 1940s. The trip back was about 8 hours. They ran us like a Z train I rolled my train by and tied up. I'm projected for a Z train after midnight tonight, but I think I will go to work sooner than that. I have included pictures of our two leaders, the 7116 and the 6855. Did you remember to set your clock ahead one hour? It didn't affect me because in Arizona we don't set our clocks back.

I was hoping that I wouldn't get called before I went on my rest cycle on Tuesday morning at 7 am, but I got a call for a dog catch at 2 am. When I got down to the depot my engineer informed me that we had been called to "pilot" Amtrak in case they didn't make it to Kingman, but they made it. Instead we were told to get in the van and "shadow" a train from Griffith to Needles to make sure that they made it in. They did make it. Then we were told to dog catch the Q CHISTO at Berry. We got in the van and went back to Berry. We releived the inbound crew. We pulled into Needles around 8:30 am. The dispatcher gave us another job. We were to go to the siding at Valentine and get on a train. Another train was supposed to come by and put a motor on our train. (Something was wrong with the leader, it was crappy Norfolk Souhern motor, but the one they were droppng off was also a Norfolk Southern motor). Then we were to take the train to Needles. I never did learn what the symbol of our train was. It was a "rolling bomb," made up mostly of tanker cars. It had 3 motors on the head end and 3 in the middle. My engineer got on the DPs in the middle and signed the cards. He noticed that the train was in emergency. We got on the head end. The rapid responder showed up and we discussed what we had to do. The oher trian came by. They had 4 motors on the head end and they were to give us their 4th motor. They uncoupled from their train, went past the switch, I helpd the conductor get ready for the separation.My engineer got on the motor and we took it back into the siding and hooked it onto our train. I conenected the hoses and the MU cable. That done, we did the locomotive air brake test. The van ran me to the head of the train. Since we had a new leader, we had to "arm" the ETD and do a two way. I gave my engineer the # of the ETD and kept pressng the button but it would not arm. The rapid responder came back nd gave me a new ETD. There was a train on the Main and he had to pass it between cars. I mounted the new ETD and it wouldn't arm. We were running out of time. The dispatcher told us to call it a day. The van ran me back to the head of the train. My engineer left a note as to what the next crew would have to do. There were 40 handbrakes tied on that train, the 3 motors and 37 cars). The next crew would have to do the Class III and a couple of other tests. The only question was if our driver had enough time to take us back to Needles. She tried calling her dispatcher and couldnot get through. However, I called and I got through. The disptacher authorized her to take us to Needles. It was 12 hour plus day and I was exhausted. I went home, enoyed a good meal, and the company of my two children, and watched TV. Today I am on my rest cycle.

I got called to go to Winslow on the Z STOWSP again. Once again we were limited to 55 MPH. On duty time was 3:46 in the afternoon. After we departed the dispatcher came on the radio and said, "I'm shoiwng that you are limited to 55 MPH, is that correct?" "We're over 90 TOB and we have some reefer cars, I responded." I called out the approach signals over the radio during the trip. They kept us behind an H train all night. We had more power than they did, but they kept slowing us down. We got to Winslow around 1 am. I went to the hotel, got up for the free breakfast at 6 :30, and went back to bed. I slept like a log until around 2 pm. It looked like I was going to be called in an hour, so I went downstairs to get something to eat. The restaurant wasn't open, but they made me a urkey sandwich anyway. I had no sooner got back to my room when I got my call. I was called for the "Q MEMSTO." On duty time was 4:50 pm. Our train was a small light train with only 2 motors on the head end. We had to ait a while berfore we departed, and it was an uneventful trip. We got in arund 2 am and I rolled my train by. I took a SMART Rest. I mark up at 1:22 am, but my rest cycle starts at 7 am tomorrow morning. They are supposed to "red line" me and not call me for anything except a dog catch because I am not supposed to leave my home terminal within 24 hours of my rest cycle. I may or may not get called after I mark up in the morning. I have attached a picture of our leader, the 4724. In other news, earlier today I approved the graphics for my new CD and I gave Discmakers permission to run 500 copies. I should have copies of my new CD, "Whither Thou Goest," available in 2 to 3 weeks.

As of March 1st we are to start turning our signal sheets in again (we had been using them and then throwing them away at the end of our trip, but I guess now they want to start reviewing them again). Also, we are to start calling out certain signals over the radio such as an Approach. In other words, when my train goes past a yellow signal I'm supposed to get n the radio and say, 'BNSF 1234, Aprroach at West Needles, 30 miles per hour." Most of us are not happy about having to call out singals, as there is already enough radio traffic. This will add more. I got called to dogcatch a Z train the other day, and then I got called to take a Z train to Winslow. First rip I've made to Winslow ina while. It was a long day and we tied up just before our 12 hours was up My engineer had a car and he was nice enough to give me a ride to the hotel. I got in bed around 2 am, got up for the free breakfast at 6 am, and went back to bed until I got my call at 2:30 pm. I was to take a stack train back to Needles. Our train only had 1.6 horsepower per ton, if that., so it would be slow going uphill. We were on duty for 45 minutes before we departed. I made sure to call out an Approach whenever we had one. It was a 10 hour day. I turned my signal sheet in, rolled my train by and tied up. I'm projected to go out this afternoon. I have included a picture of our leader, the 6170.