‘ve imagined walking down modeled South Morgan Street, waving to drunk George in the guard shack, to Betty who is having her smoke at the tower door. I pass the cross bucks standing over the grade crossing, past Jacob’s on the right (the smell of fuel hanging heavy in the Appalachian air) and the boarded-up passenger depot on the left. Another hundred yards down this road will bring me to the main drag of Tuscarora, quaint in its 1962 time frame, not a corporate logo to be seen. Yeah, this is the place I imagined and modeled.

So Jack’s reworked his Yosemite Valley mainline, from a figure eight to a relaxed oval. It does run a little better this way. But I had to comment on the interlocking tower, once guardian to the diamonds, now sitting out in the open, still lit up.

Jack smiled. “They are turning it into a bed and breakfast. A wine bar on the top floor, a small bedroom on the bottom”. I could only smile. You could tell (or so I supposed) that he’d given it thought. Didn’t have the heart to ask how they ever got the huge interlocking mechanism out the door at the base of the tower.

But yes, I really do like running on the Yosemite Valley, and Jack’s always asking me to bring new crews over. This time Terry and I’d come, and I granted him the long freight run to start (was going to let him classify it as well but Jack gave that to me – it’s a good solid switching job). Terry made his laps then pulled in, and Jack had the local switcher (kodachrome, of course. Always kodachrome) standing by for me. I swung onto the back of the freight and started breaking it down, setting up the day’s three locals.

Lining the Wawona Turn out of the main yard.

So while Terry and Jack ran out to Yosemite Valley to switch, I followed them for a ways (riding yellows) with my own turn but cut off a little earlier into Wawona Industrial. Had all sorts of work to do in the TOFC yard and the gravel dump. Jack’s gotten a little more restrictive on his switching – no mainline jaunts and only a single run-around on the main permitted, so I had to plan ahead. Still, it wasn’t too bad (I’m saying that now, but I thought I was almost done and found that I wasn’t a couple of times. Tight fit).

Coming home with the turn, passing the Valley Job, just finishing up.

Anyway, we both finished up. Terry got the last local, the one back up the main and out onto the extension (I really need to get a list of town names!). To give him room, I had to roll a shortie freight out (with the prettiest F-unit on the front). Circled the layout like a dark buzzard for a while until Terry was ready to come home. By then, I’d wyed around and was ready to come back. We met briefly on the Valley siding and up the Bear Jct cut I went, heading home.Terry built the long freight for the return dash.

And that was really it. Just casual Thursday afternoon ops, just a couple of guys chatting through a session and getting every little job done.

Thanks to Jack for the session and Terry for lunch. Great day!

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Rolling through Bear Jct with this short yet sweet reefer job, maybe local produce running out to market.