oing some final switching in the Longwood yard. Got my buddy Greg back in the caboose, going through the waybills and trying to figure how to block this local. We’re shuffling in the yard throat with one eye down those long paired rails that follow the slow rises and falls of the marshy ground through a cave of cyprus trees. The L&S runs on a very simple operations principle – don’t crash. And we’ve got a train overdue.

It’s been (by my quick flip back through the blogs) four years since the last time we ran on this Southern division. Lot of water under that bridge. But Jim’s got a full house (and thanks to all those who attended). Mostly it’s two-man crews, engineer and conductor (of course, nobody wants to ride with JW). Me, I asked Greg to the ball. He let me drive. I’m happy.

It was a good day on the line. I showed him a cute timesaver trick I’d learned on that John Allen setup. And he showed me why you check your lading slips before leaving for the day. Coming out of Formosa, we’d have left three cars behind so that was a nice catch. But it was a lot of fun – tricky switching and yard shuffling. I had a great time.

I hope our host Jim sets up another session soon. And this is making me think that it’s time to get my own Cuesta Grade back into service.

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