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.