Control Point SA036 Rosenberg, Texas. UP Sunset crosses the BNSF Galveston Sub. Green light and we are flying through.
Blue hour at Coulee, ND on the BNSF Crosby Sub (Northgate Branch) where a plow train is tying down for the next few days. This was Monday, and today we have a raging blizzard undoing all their work!
The starting procedure reminds me of my first and only motorbike - a 1977 Yamaha RD400. Set choke lever to start position, and kickstart the thing. Didn't have to mix the oil and gas, it had a separate tank for the oil. I doubt the Fairmont was kickstarted...
A high school buddy of mine had an 76 RD400. Sweet little bike! Easy riding and way quicker than my 78 GS400 was. The whole 2 stroke / 4 stroke thing. Fun stuff! I have a friend here, retired section gang, who rode those Fairmonts. And watched more than one get wiped out by a train that was ahead of schedule in those days!
I think I read somewhere that because track cars and hi-rail trucks won't reliably trip signals, they're insulated to never trip signals. When they're out on the line, their sole protection is authority to occupy a segment of track and long ago, they might not have had even that. I can imagine that in the days of track speeders, their noise would drown out the sound of an approaching train.
On the back of the tender. WORK SAFELY AND CAREFULLY PREVENT PERSONAL INJURIES AND DAMAGE TO FREIGHT AND EQUIPMENT Fred Schmiedkind Jr. photo. Bruce Blalock collection.
