ust a Saturday at the club, running with some friends (Jack, Kyle, Mike and Terry). We had just enough people for a full session, so I took the desk, Kyle the levers, Jack the local, Terry a lump of coal and Mike was my Tusk SO.

I gotta say that everyone really pitched in – while we didn’t get all the way through (Jack, due to his drive, had requested a hard 4pm stop). But we ran up to the Easton Turn and probably stopped about 30 real minutes short of completion. But I’ll note this – I forgot to buy cookies and it started to show at the three-hour mark. And for that, I apologize to the crews – they were a bit fatigued. Besides providing my lawfully-outlined snacks, I also think we’ll rotate jobs at the noon hour to give everyone a fresh change. Poor old Mike looked about done-in, running the Tusk desk and taking my annoying orders (at one point, a single clearance card could have carried three train orders. But I didn’t think it through so I kept doing the “Oh, wait! I need another order”. So Mike ended up stuffing the wad on his hoop and Terry got a handful.

The coal crew cuts off a hopper of furnaced coke and sets it aside for the local to get to. On the high iron, WE-2 rattles past.

Terry (nothing detrimental here, just observant) is a critical thinker but not quite an abstract one, seeing how he took to the Coal Tally Sheet like a brick to water (foam, froth,  and much agitation). The thing is, even the immortal Greg immediately liked it and understood it (I think he cheated all the time, but he did like running it). Reverend Jim is also a fan and likes doing it. So as Terry wound down in the last hour, I started taking over his sheet and simply passing orders up through Mike, which our fatigued scholar would dutifully pick off the hoop. So yes, I think sugar and job rotations might have pepped the session up.

I did get to run the new random event cards, with I liked. It simplifies things – events, weather, set outs and car crashes on Morgan Street, all handled in one place.

Overall, there were lots of laughs, humor and fun. A couple of other members (Joe and Pete) showed up to run trains, so at least our building is getting used in off-hours. And, of course, that’s partially why it’s there, right?

Anyway, thanks for all those who came out. Next time, I’ll get oreos and those peanut butter cookies that the coal team woofed down a run or two back.

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All photos Kyle S.

Up the line from Tuscarora, over in Easton, the turn fetches out the coke as another two-set of westbound MTs slide by.