I got called for a trip to Winslow on a stack train with a female engineer. We had a student engineer. It was a long trip. Over 10 hours. I complained about it being too cold and the student engineer did turn the AC off. He must have turned it on again because I was still cold. My nose was running. I out on my carhart and my wool cap and didn't say anything. I wanted to get off that train. As we entered Winslow I saw 5 emergency vehicles on the I-40. A car had overturned and caught fire. The fire was out by the time we got there but it was still smoking. We pulled into the yard. I told the outbound, "The AC works good." I waited 15 minutes and they hadn't departed. I went inside and tied up. I had heard that I might not get a hotel room due to the fact that it was the weekend of the "Standing On the Corner Festival." but I had no trouble getting a room. I was in time for the breakfast. I slept until 4 pm, went down to the grill, and watched the Green Bay Packers play the Dallas Cowboys while I ate something. I went back to bed. I got my call at 1 am. I was going back to Needles with a different engineer. I was called for the "H BELBAR." It was a very small train. It only had 42 cars, was just over 3700 tons, and was over 2600 feet. "We probably won't be setting out any cars," I said to myself. I had the van stop at McDonald's on the way to the depot and I got two hamburgers. I printed out the work order. We were supposed to pick up 8 cars in the yard. I talked to the trainmaster and he said that 7 of the cars were in one track and one car was in another. He said that if it were up to him we would just pick up one car but it wasn't up to him. There was no herder on duty. I told my engineer about the pick up. We waited. Another train had to pick up a motor, and another H train had a great deal of work to do in the yard. After a long wait the trainmaster came out and told us to take the van out to East WInslow and get on our train. They highballed our pick up. We were happy about that. The van ran us out to East Winslow. SInce he was what we call a "radius driver' he wasn't sure how to get here but he got us there. We got on our train and started moving. We hadn't gone very far when we heard someone say that a car was rolling free at Purina (the Purina Dog Chow factory in Flagstaff). We weren't sure if the car was rolling down the main line or not. Traffic stopped for a while. We started to move again. We came to a red intermediate signal. The disptatcher told us to proceed at 10 MPH and look for a broken rail. We did. My engineer saw the broken rail and stopped the train before we went over it. I reported the location of the broken rail. We would have to wait for the track supervisor to give us permission to go over the break. It took him over an hour to get out there He photographed it and measured it as being over 4". He gave us permission to proceed over the break at 10 MPH. We did so. The disptatcher told us that we would be relieved at Flagstaff, in front of the Purina factory. We had been on duty for nearly 7 hours by the time we got there We saw the car that had run away. It had not made it onto the main. It was a hopper. It had tipped over in the siding. There was a lot of dog food on the ground. Our relief crew was glad to get our ttrain because it was small and had a lot of power (We had 3 good engines, and 3 dead engines on the head end). I asked the van driver to stop at Maverick and got a burrito. He took us to Needles and we tied up under 11 hours. I don't know when I will go out again. I have attached a picture of the broken rail, and our leader on the Belbar, what we call a "red nose."

I got called for a U-train going to Winslow, but there was a traffic jam and our trian was held up So, we got swapped to a stack train. It still took a couple of hours for the train to come in. Then the inbound told us that we had 74 open containers and that we needed to pull down to the east end so security could close them. So we pulled down to the east end. Then the dispatcher said that they wanted to "highball" closing the contianers and get our train moving. The dispatcher asked security how many containers had debris falling out of them.They said about 10. So she told them to close those containers only. Still, that took a while. So we had been on duty for over 4 horus by the time we departed. As we got close to Berry they told us that we would be releived there. We had been on duty for 6 hours and we were only as far as Berry. The van took us the rest of the way to WInslow. We were ehading into a fantastic electrical storm! We saw all kinds of lightining. (I have attached a picture). When I got to the htoel I took a nice hot shower and went down to the grill. "The WIzard of OZ" was on the TV in the gril. I told the bartender, "I've never seen this movie before." She knew I was kidding. I had something to eat, watched TV till about 9 pm, and slept good. I got up at 6n for the free breakfast, and went back to bed. I slept until I got my call. I was being deadheaded to Needles on a Z train. When we got down there we found out that the trian we were deadheaddeing on had work. Then the dispatcher called me and said that he had ordered a van. We were to get in it with another crew and chase a couple of trains. I was hundry, We stopped ina Mavericka nd got a chicken and rice burrito. (Their burritos are really good). I hadn't had anything since breakfast. My engineer and I got on a stack train at Seligman. The other crew got on an H train. We had a pretty good trip. Our day was under 9 hours but it seemed longer. When we got to Needles we were told to tie our train down. I tied 3 handbrakes and that did it. It looks like I will be going to Winslow again in a couple of hours. It is the weekend and a lot of jokers liad off or took their rest cycle. Also, it is the weekend for the "Standing on the Corner Festival" in WInlsow. (Dedicated to the song by the Eagles). A lot of guys don't want to go to Winslow this weekend because supposedly there won't be any hotel rooms and they will have to go to overflow. I will go to Winslow.

Saturday morning I woke up an couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up and started drinking coffee. At 4 am I got a call from the BNSF, but it wasn't an automated call. It was a live person. They told me I was called for the "Kingman Switcher" and asked me if I wanted to be the brakeman or the conductor. "Brakeman," I said. I don't like that job, and I don't like to be the conductor because I don't know the job very well. If I work as the brakeman I make less money, but I'm not in charge of the job. I just do what the conductor tells me to do. The Kingman Switcher has a regular crew on Monday through Friday, but on Saturday they call people off the extra board. I was a llittle confused because I had heard that lately they haven't been calling a brakeman for the job on weekends. When I got to the depot I found out that the trainmaster had requested a brakeman. The conductor, the engineer and I were all off of the extra board, and none of us knew the job very well. We showed up at the depot in Needles, called the trainmaster, and he said he would meet us at the depot in Kingman. The van showed up and took us there. The trainmaster gave us our switch lists and told us what to do. He said if it looked like we couldn't get it done in 12 hours to call him about 90 minutes before we went DOL. The van tookd us to Berry. The van would be with us all day. We had to pull some cars out of a track and flip flop them.. The two tankers were going one place and the hoppers and gondolas were gong to another place. We had to hang an ETD and do a Class I Air Brake Test. We got on our train and went to McConico. I helped my conductor as much as possible. I did a lot of walking and threw a lot of swtiches and derails. We shoved the two tankers into one siding and left them there. We went ot Mcconnico and shoved the other cars into an empty track. There were a bunch of cars on the other two tracks and we were confused about which ones we were supposed to take. There were cars that weren't on the list. My conductor called the trainmaster and he said to take them all. It took us a while to put them together and to do the First Class Air Brake Test. Then we had to "run around our train" as we say to put the engine on the other end. We were getting close to 12 hours on duty. When we had permission from the disptacher I threw the swtich, dropped the derail, and rolled my train by. I got in the van and we met my train at Berry. I threw the swtich and rolled them by. My conductor and engineer tied the train down while the van ran me to the head of the train. We were done. We had finished t job, but it had taken almost 12 hours. Then, the van driver told us that she couldn't take us back to Needles. They can't work past 12 hours unless their dispatcher gives them permission. We called the trainmaster and our dispatcher. The dispatcher told a train to stop and pick us up. I was exhausted, We were tired and thirsty and hungry, and we had to ride a train to Needles. The ride wasn't so bad. I We got in and I tied up. My conductor and my engineer did a good job considering that the didn't know the job that well. Boy, my legs were tired! I slept like a log. I'm not projected to go out for the next 24 hours, of course that can change. I hate the Kingman Switcher.

I got called to dog catch a Z train going to Winslow- before 5 am and before I had my morning coffee. We were supposed to share a van with another crew. The dispatcher told us to call hiim when we got to Seligman, which was half of the way to Winslow. By default I got to sit in the front seat of the van-but the sun was right on me. Oh well. We called the dispatcher at Seligman and he said to call him at Darling. We called him at Daarling and he said to ride the van the rest of the way to Winslow. So we tied up at the depot and the van took us to the hotel. We had a 30 minute wait for a room. I helped myself to some coffee and my headache went away. Since I wqasn't tired I stayed up and watched TV. The refrigerator in the hotel is still out of order. I bought a frozen dinner. I expected to fall asleep very easily.- but I didn't. Finally I fell asleep. I had a bad dream that my train broke down, and somebody gave me a ride home. I said, "I have a few things to do." Then I couldn't find my truck in the parking lot, and my cell phone wouldn't work. I said, to myself, "I'm still on duty, I have to call the trainmaster." Then I woke up. I went back to sleep and had another bad dream but I can't remember any of it. I got up for the free breakfast at 6 am. I was finally awakened by my call. I was called for the Q ATGLAC, on duty time was 12:45 pm Mountain Time. Our train came in a few minutes before we were on duty. The inbound was okay with waiting for us. It was a small, light train with lots of power. There was a grain train in front of us, but there were no trains in fornt of it and no trains behind us. They ranus good. As we got closer to go to Needles we were going into an electric storm. There was a traffic jam in Needles and it took us a while to get in once we went over the Topock bridge. I stayed around to roll my train by, but they were frogged in by another train that had work to do so I tied up and left. I am not projected to go out in the next 24 hours but that can change any time. I have attached a picture of our leader, the 6968.

I had just gotten into bed on Saturday night when my phone rang. I was being called for a dog catch. We were to dog catch the H BELBAR near Darling. I printed out my paperwork and waited for our van to show up. We waited and waited. Fortunately another crew gave us their van. We wound up dog catching our train at Valentine. The Belbar was a big, heavy train with 114 cars. It was a Key train so we were limited to 50 MPH. It had 4 motors on the head end and 2 on the rear- but one of the motors on the rear of the train was dead- so one of the motors on the head end had to be isolated. It had an early version of Trip Optimizer that didn't work very well. We brought the train into Needles. The dispatcher asked us to "shadow" another train from Berry to Needles. I claimed 328 miles when I tied up. I am now on my rest cycle. I'm going to try to stay up for the rest of the day and sleep like a log tonight. I have attached a picture of our leader, the 9258.

I was planning on getting up just before 5 am on Thursday, but my phone rang at 4:41 am. I was called for the Z STOWSP, which goes from Stockton to WIllow Springs, Illinois. On duty time was 6:41 am Pacific Time. I gulped down two cups of coffee and went down to the depot. It took a while for our train to come in. There was a lot of talk at the depot about Charlie Kirk being assasinated.When the Mexican place across the street opened up at 7 am I phoned in an order for a burrito. Our train came in at 10 after 7. I threw my stuff in the cab, went and got my burrito, and got back on my train. My engineer complained about me not getting a burrito for him. (He was only kidding). It was a pretty good trip. We got to Winslow after the grill was open. They still haven't fixed the refrigerator in the kitchen, but I took a chance and ordered the "Bandit Burger." It was okay. I watched some TV and went to bed. I got up in time for the breakfast at 6 am. At 6:30 I was back in my room watching TV. They were just announcing that Charlie Kirk's killer had been caught when I got called for a stack train. I got down to the depot and printed out my paperwork. Our train was being held out at Coronado Junction. Two Z trains were going around it. We got swapped to one of the Z trains- the Z ALTSBD. It had 4 motors on the head end, 77 cards, and our horse power per ton was 2.9. This was a powerful train. We had been on duty for over an hour when we departed. It was a good trip. Just over 7 hours. We saw a fire just north of the tracks at mile post 356.8. I reported it but they already knew about it. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventfull trip. When I got back to Needles and was rolliing my train by there was a couple ther from Germany asking about the "old train station." I told them that the old Amtrak station was next door and they could go over and look at it, but there might be some homeless people there. I told them about my time in Germany, and that I was stationed at a place called "Miesau." They had never heard of it. (It's such a small town that most Germans have never heard of it). I told them it was near Landstuhl. Ramstein and Kaiserslautern. They knew where all of those places were. I also told them a ittle bit about the BNSF. As I was walking back to my car some fat slob asked me if I could spare some money so he could get cigarettes. I didn't give him anyhting. In the 7 years I have worked at Needles nobody has ever asked me for money outside of the depot. Prayers for Charlie Kirk's family, and thank God that his killer is in custody. I have attached a picture of the 3776, our leader on the Z ALTSBD. The 5142 is in the foreground.

was called onto duty at 1:21 am Mountain Time for the "S LBTALT." It was a big train with 4 motors on the head end and 1 on the rear. It had 118 cars. We departed at 2:25 am, Mountain Time. We tied up at 12:51 Mountain Time- just under 12 hours. The refrigerator at the hotel is still out of comission. The grill was closed when I got into the hotel so I walked to the Maverick for a burrito. They had a hard time taking my order. The burrito was okay, but not as good as I expected it to be. I slept for about 4 hours, got up and bought a frozen dinner from the front desk, and went to bed. I got called ar 2:13 am for a deadhead. I deadheaded back to Needles on a Z train. It was about a 9 hour trip. It gave me a chance to catch up on my reading. I have the next 3 days off. I have attached a picture of our leader on the SLBTALT, the 3928.

I got called to dogcatch the H BARTUL. First the dispatcher told us to get on a Q train because there were no vans available. Then after we departed they told us a van would meet us at Franconia. We got off the train and got in the van at Franconia. We got on our train at Seligman. The dispatcher had just told them to pick up a motor in the siding at Seligman- but it was not possible to do so the dispatcher highballed it. Our IPADs said that we were to set out a motor when we got to Winslow. Then when we got to Winslow they told us to highball the set out. We were happy about that, but then they asked us if anyone had told us that we had a car to inspect. No one had told us anything about that. They gave us a car # and an axle #. It was the 16th car back. We had a bunch of gondolas filled with scrap metal on the head end of our train followed by some auto cars. The car in question was the first auto car. They told us "track 12, in the pocket." My engineer and I weren't sure where that was, but the trainmaster helped us. As it was we were lined in and I didn't have to throw any switches. We met the outbound there. The outbound engineer took the train ahead. I stood on one side of the train and the outbound conductor stood on the other side. I got out my heat gun and checked the temperatures on one side and the other conductor checked the other side. The temperature on the second axle was higher than the other axles. We passed it on to the yard. It looked like the car in question woud have to be set out. At this point we turned it over to the outbound. My engineer and I had to climb over two trains to get to the depot. I really don't mind climbing over trains- except when I have my cooler and my grip with me. I had to put my stuff on the car, cimb onto the car, get off the car, and reach up and grab my stuff. My engineer had a truck and was nice enough to give me a ride to the hotel. They still haven't fixed the refrigerator at the hotel so I opted for a frozen dinner. I slept ike a log, went down for breakfast at 6 am, and got my call right as I was sitting down for breakfast. I was called for the Q CHISTO. We were to pick up a motor. Our train already had 3 motors on the head end and it didn't need another, but this motor was supposed to be taken to Stockton to be repaired. The inbound helped us. It was just the same as when we set a motor out in Winslow- but everything was reversed. My engineer and I took the motor out of the roundhouse. I had to line switches, then connect the hoses and the cable. We had to do a locomotive air brake test. We departed after being on duty only 55 minutes. It started out as a good trip- then they stopped us for a while, and then they started to give us high wind warnings that slowed us down to 20 MPH. Then we had flash flood warnings. It did rain pretty bad We were going into an electrical storm. When we were at Walapai there was a cloud of dust on the horizon. It looked like Armageddon. Our trip was almost 12 hours. I rolled my train by and tied up with only 15 minutes left. I have been off all day and I'm projected to go to work tomorrow morning. I have attached a picture of out leader- the 6734