fter a long time away from the Pacific NorthWest, a small crew was able to return to the WAZU RR (I still don’t know what it stands for), Doc Andy’s heavy power line between Spokane and Portland. It’s been possibly more than a year since we last ran.

Even with that time, the doc’s railroad ran flawlessly. I dispatched with more camera angles than a medium security prison. But I really didn’t need them – with long runs and plenty of sidings I could get everyone past everyone else with a minimum of wait and fuss (though we did have a greaser or two on some of the smaller ones).

After a while, Doc came in and let me run. I’d just gotten to the yard I needed to work when he asked me to jump in an Uber and drive up to a helper pocket just below Ares Siding. Ran down through Goblin’s Gate to latch onto the front of an intermodal and lugged him up the hill. Ubered back down to the yard and finished fussing with switching – got chewed out by the dispatcher for following orders. What do I know. I only had the written. He knew the “intent” of the railroad.

Heavy trains meeting (Credit: Franky Z)

Still, it was a pleasant day and really nice to get a run with the old sweats again. I’ll announce this to some of the younger guys next go round. You really want to come out and jump on this smooth-running railroad.

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