I got called for the "Q LACATG," Which goes from Los Angeles to Atlanta, Georgia. We had a student engineer. It was a big train at over 10,000 tons, with 3 motors on the head end and 3 in the middle. They didn't run us very well. We were dog caught at Perrin. I got to the hotel around 1 am and slept for a couple of hours, got up for the free breakfast at 6, went back to bed, and got my call at noon, Pacific time. I was called for the "Z ALTSTO," going from Allliance, Texas to Stockton. When I got down to the depot I found out that our train had a set out. I was hoping that the inbound would do it, but the trainmaster said that we had to do it There was a "herder" on duty. I waslucky I aslo had a van driver than knew exactly what we were going to do so he was by helpful. This was going to be more complicated than it needed to be. My engineer would have to pull all the way through the yard to the west end, and shove into the yard. We had one car on the rear that was going to stay with us. I was told to put that in track "26." Somebody told me it was "the first track on the left." My van driver knew where it was. I lined the swtich and shoved us into track 26. The herder came out and helped us. He tied the brake and did the "squeal test." He made the cut. I had my engineer pull over the switch and shoved him into track 19, where the cars were going. (Track 19 is next to track 26, which makes it even more confusing). Once we were past the clearance marker I stopped the shove and tied 2 brakes. The herder tied 2 more. The train rolled. The herder tied 4 more. The train still rolled when the brakes were released. My engineer said the a release test was not practical since the weight of the rest of the train was making it roll. So we called it good. I made the cut, and had my engineer pull over the switch, threw the switch, and sent him back to that one car in 26. The herder took over the shove, laced the hoses, and released the brake. The van ran me up to the head end. I think we had been on duty for 2 hours when we departed. I saw an elk near the tracks just outside of Flagstaff (a big buck) and then a doe. There was a Q train ahdead of us that was only going about 55. We didn't know why. They should have been going 70. Also, here was a train doing some work near WIlliams Junction and a another trian was broken down at WIlliams Junction. All of this slowed things down. We had to stop a couple of times. We got dog caught at West Berry. Ater I tied up and was walking out to my car in the parking lot I saw my train coming in. If they had left us on the train we would have made it in. I'm projected to go to work on Monday around noon. I have attached a picture of a sign on the back door of the depot that says, 'Work Safely Today, Remember, Somebody Expects You Home Tonight." A reminder that what we do is dangerous.

I won a bid to get back on Board 36 (which means I will be going to Winslow from now on). I got called for the "Northbay," the hottest train I could be called for. On duty time was 8:45 pm. It was a good trip. On the way we saw a porcupine near the tracks just outside of Flagstaff. I checked into the hotel in Winslow around 2:45 am. I had a long layover in the hotel. After a couple of hours of sleep I went down for the free breakfast, went back to sleep for a while, went down to the grill in the evening to have something to eat, and went back to bed. I slept like a log and woke up just before I got my call. I was called for the H AMSBAR at 3:50 am Mountain Time. It was a Key Train so we would be limited to 50 MPH. Our train had 7 motors on the head end and one on the rear! We could not run all of those motors on the head end. My engineer called the "Road Foreman of Engines" and they discussed which engines he could run. (Our paperwork was all fouled up). We took the van out to East Winslow and relieved the crew there. After briefing with the inbound engineer my engineer had to come up with another game plan about which engines to run. (A couple of them had defects). He put engines 1-3 online, and the DP was online. Our HPT was just under 1.9, and our tons per dynamic brake was just under 300. That would do. We had no setouts or pickups). They ran us pretty good considering we were an H train. Our trip was about 8 hours. I rolled my train by and tied up. I'm projected to go out again tomorrow around noon. I'm tired. I have attached pictures of our leaders, the 7753 in Winslow and the and the 7862 in Needles.

I got called to dog catch the "H BARLUB" at Amboy. On duty time was 5:13 pm. The work order said that we would have to pick up a car in the Needles Yard. The profile also said that they train had a 10 MPH car, but we found out that the crew had set that out in Cadiz. It was one of the reasons why they were close to being DOL. We actually dog caught them at Goffs. The air conditioning on the motor didn't work very well and it was hot! They decided to high ball the pick up in Needles so we came in on Main 3 and the outbound relieved us there. . The dispatcher said to stick around a few minutes. He wanted to make sure a certain Z train was going to make it in. Around 8:30 pm he told us to tie up. This is what we call a "one and done." We dog caught one train and we were done. We were on duty just over 3 hours. We will be paid a basic day. No pictures.

I got called to dog catch the S LBTALT, a big stack train going to Winslow. We dog caught it at Peach Springs, but it was still a long trip. We were on duty for over 10 hours when we got to Winslow. The van driver had told me about a Mexican place called "Mi Pueblos." I asked if he would take me by there and he did. I had a chicken and rice burrito. To be honest I was a little disappointed. I would give it a B, but not an A. I slept for a while, got up and went to the grill on the first floor at 7 apm had a burger, and went back to bed I got up at 6 for the free breakfast, and saw that I was going to be called at 7 am so I got dressed and was ready to go when I got my call. I was called for the Z WSPSBD. It was shaping up to be a good day. I got down to the depot and I found out I had been swapped to the H AMSBAR. That wasn't so good. We weren't on duty until 10 am, and the inbound died at 10 am. They tied it down. We had a student engineer. At 10 am we went out to our train. It had 8 motors on the head end (half of them were dead). All of them were tied. They also tied 7 cars. It was overkill! It was a 110 hour day. I was tired when I got home, and slept like a log. I have attached a picture of our leader, the 8231. I'm not projected to go out today.

Wednesday I was projected to go out around 5 pm. I was getting in my 57 Chevy to take it for a wash when I got a call for a Z train to Winslow. That was a surprise. It was the Z LACWSP, going from Loas Angeles to Willow Springs, Illinois. It was a good trip. We saw some elk and deer along the way. They treated us like a Z train for the whole trip until we got to Winslow-then they held us out for an hour. Finally we came in. I rolled my train by, tied up and called the van. I got to the hotel while the grill was still open. I had a burger and some ginger ale. I slept like a rock until 6 am, went down for the free breafkast, and then went back to bed. I slept like a log until I got my call at 10 am. I was called for the Q NYCLAC, but we got swapped to the S ALTCDZ, going from Alliance, Texas to Cadiz. We would take it to Needles and a Needles crew woud set it out at Cadiz. There, the Calofornia and Arizona Railroad would take it to it's destination. It was a light train- less than 4,000 tons with only two motors on the head end. We waited a couple hours before our train came in. It turned out the Q NYCLAC had work, so we were glad we got swapped. We were on duty 11 hours when we pulled into Needles. I didn't feel good. I stuck around for a half hour to roll my tain by but they didn't leave, so I tied up. I'm not projected to go out for in the next 24 hours.

I was getting ready for bed Sunday night when I got a call- not an automated call but from a live person. There was a problem with the system. I was called to be a brakemanon the helpers. The person couldn't thell me much more. On duty time was 10:01 pm. I went to the depot and called the dispatcher. She sounded new. She said that we were to relieve the crew on a set of helpers that was alerady pushing a train. They were near Homer and going to Barstow. She said they needed a helper because the train needed an ETD. I said, "Well, why don't they just hang an ETD on it?" She couldn't answer that. We were to push the train all of the way to Barstow and then come back "light power" to Needles. The crew on the helpers were going to be DOL at 2 am. The crew on the train was ging DOL at 1:45 am. We were told to get on the train at Amboy. They asked my engineer to sign the cards on the middle DPs of another train. The we got on our helpers. We found out that our train had two dead motors, which is why it actually needed helpers. The lead motor could not communicate with the DP. The crew of the train was swapped out with another van. There was an ETD on the last coupler of the train. The red light kept flashing. We pushed the train to Barstow. The sun was up by he time we got there. They told the train to "hold back for one." They were going to put another motor on it. I cut us away form the train and hooked the air hose to the ETD. We ony had abut 3 and half hours left, so we told the dispatcher that we did not have enough time to make it to Needles and they should call a dog catch crew. If they had ran us all of the way, we might have made it, but they put us behind an H train. Whe we went thrugh Cadiz it looked like we weren't going to make it. We asked the dsiptacher if there was a dog catch crew on the way. She told us to ut our power in the pur at Fenner. When we got ther eanoth renginer toold us over the radio, "You can't put your train in there. The switch doesn't have an electronic lock." My engineer looked it up in the rule book. Because we had a train symbol we couldn't put our power in there. We had lost precious time by stopping there. The dispatcher told us t go between switches at Goff. For sme reason they crossed us over to Main One. We stopped and went DOL between switches at Goffs. We saw that a dog catch crew had been called but they would not be on duty for another 90 minutes. A train pulled up with a 3 man crew. They were on their way to Cadiz to take a train outof the siding, but they would "baby sit" our helpers until the dog catch crew showed up. The van took us to Needles. I claimed 341 miles for the round trip to Barstow and an RO (130 miles) because helpers aren't supposed to go all of the way to Barstow. It will be interesting to see if they deny it. It was after noon and I had been up all night I was exhausted. I'm not showing out in the next 24 hours.

I got called for another dog catch at 11:15 pm. I was asleep. I really didn't want to go to work. I gulped down two cups of coffee and went (even though there were flash flood warnings). . The van ran us out to Griffith and we got on the Q CHISTO. We took it to to Needles. Then we shadowed anH train from Berry to Needles. We were done around 8 am in the morning. I claimed 244 miles. Not bad for one night. The weather was nice today.

I got a call at 10:30 pm Saturday for a dog catch- I was to dog catch the train that we call the "North Bay." It goes from Bakersfield, through Barstow to Needles, and then on to Winslow. I was to dog catch it near Bakersfiled. I'm not qualified for the Bakersfield subdivison, so I called the dispatcher to ask if I would need a pilot. He said that the train woud probably be in Barstow by the time I dog caught it, so I would be okay. I gulped down two cups of coffee, and at 11:30 pm I got a call saying that the call had been "busted." I was not given a reason. I said, "Great, I just drank two cups of coffee now I won't be able to get back to sleep." But I did get back to sleep. I got another call at 6 am to be a brakeman. I was not given much information. When I got down to the depot I called the dispatcher and found out that my engineer and I would be taken out to Cadiz by van and we would man some helpers and wait to be called, -but the disptacher did not seem to think we would be needed. The van showed up and ran us to Cadiz. He did nt want to drive around to where our motors were in the siding so my engineer and I had to walk across both mains. We sat in one motor. I caught up on my reading and won a chess game on line. After 2pm, when the dispatchers changed shifts I called the new dispatcher and let him know we were there but we hadn't done anything all day. He didn't seem to know why we were ther either. He said he would work on getting us a van. Around 4 pm a van showed up and the dispatcher said we could go home. This driver was nice enough to come to us and she was pleasant to ltak to on the way home. I tied up and claimed 144 miles for the day (the distance to Cadiz and back). I also filed a "special claim" for the busted call. (16.25 miles). When I went home I was exhaused, even though I hadn't done anything all day. I went to bed around 9 pm and woke up refreshed at 7 am today. It looks like I won't go out until tomorrow.