Stop the Train

Kids,

I got up bright and early
so I'd have plenty of time
to make Rawlins by 7:30.

I dusted off the truck and set up once again
in front of the Virginian for a quick shot.

Wishfull thinking perhaps...

Moments later a school bus loaded with kids

stopped by and wanted to check things out.

Followed by another and then another.

What can I tell you,
They have small school buses in Medicine Bow.

Mission accomplished,
I stopped by the Dip Bar
just down the street from The Virginian.

Seems the owner is quite the wood carver
and has many of his carving on display.

I guess!!!

Here it is up close.

He just starts with a block of wood
and whittles away everything
that doesn't look like a stagecoach.

Hard to believe!!!

By the time all this was accomplished,
plus my birthday stop at Mabel's
it was going on 11 o'clock.

Well, so much for an early start.

The first stop out of Medicine Bow
is Allen Station,
an old Railroad stop
long since deserted by travelers.

If you look far off in the distance,
you can see The Old Lincoln Highway.

This is a shot from the bridge...

Beautiful Country don't you think??

The wind was blowing so hard
you could barely stand up.

Next stop was Hanna,
a coal mining town of about 1200.

On the way to the Fire House,

I ran across these deer grazing in the street.

Quite a common site I'm told.

Initially, we took this shot

with a couple of the guys,

then did another after the Chief showed up.

I was greatly impressed with the Chief,
and his station.

It's one of the nicest I've seen,
and when you figure the population
is only 1200 people,
you have to be impressed.

Here is the mini Shop...

along with several ATV's

and the Brush Truck.

Check out the seat on the back.

How'd you like to man a line
going up a mountain strapped into that???

Oh, and this is pretty neat.

It's a portable pump for range fires.

You just set it in a creek or lake,
hook up your line and and off you go.

Assuming of course,
there's a creek or lake to put it in.

With the station tour complete,
it was off for a spin around town.

This is going down
The Old Lincoln Highway.

Do you see the flags???

There were several hundred placed in honor of 9-11.

Then it was time to hit the dusty trail,

Quite literally...

The Lincoln Highway went right past
the Fire house and off into the distance.

The Asst. Chief followed me all the way
to the main road - a total of 13 miles,
just to make sure I got there OK.

This is a little further down the road,
but you can still see The Old Lincoln Highway
off to the right.

Here's a neat shot with the Old Lincoln
in the background.

Because of the many route changes
occasionaly there're a few surprises.

Like Coyote Station...

This is Bill,
one of the few residents.

We had a lovely conversation...

Then there's Wilcott,
a small two horse town
at the junction of I-80.

Barb's husband in Medicine Bow said,
"Be sure and stop at the Cafe
in Wilcott for a cinnimon roll."

Thanks for the tip...

It was delicious!!!

I even coaxed the waitress outside for a picture.

At Wilcott I was faced with a critical desision.

Do I go into Rawlins some 30 miles away,
or jet down to Saratoga for a quick dip
in the thermal Hot Springs.

I'd been there 3 years ago
on my trip in the Bucket Truck.

If I didn't go now it was a 120 mile
back track so it was now or never.

The lure was too much...

I checked my watch,
there was still plenty of time...

Here's the entrance to the HOBO Pool,

and the one of the thermals
in the North Platte River

While natural they aren't very deep,
so it's kind of an adventure to become
fully emersed.

So, most normal people op for the HOBO Pool.

Here it is with the thermal in the middle.

See the tiny bubbles???

The temperature inside is about 118 degrees,

as apposed to 112 in the pool itself.

Being the brave soul that I'm,
I actually hung out next to the thermal.

Then,
after 30 minutes of Rest and Relaxation,
it was off to the races again.

That's Elk Mountain on the way back to I-80.

More on this later...

When I arrived in Rawlins,
I was running low on fuel
so I stopped to tank up.

Then it was off to the Union Pacific yards
to meet the "Inspection Special".

Acutally, I was almost 2 hours early,
and stopped in just to make sure
everything was on schedule.

My heart sunk to the floor and then some.

"You just missed it!"

"Yea, but, the schedule said 7:30..."

"I was supposed to meet the train..."

I showed it to the Train Master,
"See, right here, it says 1735 hours."

"That's right,
5:30,
it was right on schedule."

Duh, so much for a college education.

I must have gone 12, 1,2,3
instead of 12, 13, 14...

I couldn't believe it,
after all that planning.

I was in shock!!

I ran the different scenerios through my head.

If only the kids hadn't stopped by,
if only I hadn't stopped for the Cinnimon Roll,
if only I hadn't stopped for fuel,
and then the big one,
if only I hadn't gone to Saratoga for a little R & R.

I left the Train Master's office a dejected young man.

How goes the saying???

So close...and yet so far.

Well, it turns out Dick Davidson,
the chairman had gotten off at Ogden,
so it didn't matter anyway,
but I still wanted to see the engines.

I felt like I had an appointment with Destiny.

Then,
as if by magic,
the Train Master came out of his office
and yelled in my direction.

"If you hurry,
the train is stopped on the edge of town
waiting for a green light."

He quickly gave me directions.

Let's see, was that go right then left??

It was dark and unfamiliar territory.

I drove right past the turn off.

If I went straight it was right on to I-80
and I'd never get back in time.

If I backed up on the onramp...

Well, I think you get the picture.

I looked back,
it wasn't that far,
maybe a quarter of a mile
and the traffic was light.

Everytime a car came by I
stopped and waited for them to pass.

Slowly but surely,
I made it back to the turn off.

Whew!!!

But it was so dark,
you could barely see the road.

I flipped on the gumball
in hopes they'd see me and wait.

Then I made another wrong turn.
Boy, this was going to be close...

Then in desparation,
I stopped the truck,
jumped out of the cab
ran across a field
and through a ditch
untill I made it to the train.

There they were,
two brand new engines,
Numbers 4526, and 4527
with flags flying and the words,
"Building America" in big black letters.

It was quite a sight to behold!!

The engineer waved his light,
then stepped off the engine to greet me.

"We've been waiting for you," he said.

"They Stopped the Train."

The engineer invited me inside for a quick look see,
then I introduced Mr. Lincoln on November 19th
the 138th Anniversary of The Gettysburg Address.

Mission Accomplished!!!

Hard to believe,
but 100 percent true!!!

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