Part Fourteen

"The best laid plans Of Mice and Men often go awry"

Day 14 begins with trying to recover from something I ate yesterday to finding out how Hurricane Sandy just put a kink in my trip. Hence our title today.

When I go on extended vacations like I am doing here, I always watch what I eat and don’t over do it. In fact, the weather has been so nice at times that a good 30 minute walk, in the morning or in the evening, has been on the agenda.

Well, the trip caught up with me last night and continued this morning. I am doing much better but dog gone it!! What are you going to do?? A simple bowl of cereal will be dinner tonight.

And then there is Hurricane Sandy. Seems the megalopolis of Washington, DC to Boston is under the gun. It could be one of the windiest storms in over 30 years.

I would have been a fool to have just ignored this “perfect” storm and taken my chances, but having a folding cot at one of the nation’s busiest airports is not exactly something I would even like to try.

So I made my phone calls this morning and I will be going home this weekend. I don’t like having to cut my trip short, but it has really been one heck of a trip, complete with Denver snow and seeing snow up close in the Rocky Mountains.  And we can’t forget those high wind warnings from last week either. With time constraints as they are, we’ll do one more issue here and when I get back home, we’ll wrap up this great trip.

I leave Sidney at 10:30am MDT and start going east. The snow from Wednesday did make some impact on western Nebraska but not as bad as out in Wyoming and Colorado. Still, the countryside does look great. The temperature outside the Sonata is about 35 degrees. And every time I stop to take some pictures, you feel the cold and the overcast skies just make it feel like it wants to snow. As much as I like enjoy winter’s snow, I’ll be just fine enjoying the rest of fall.

A stop in Chappell shows you the main business district, i.e., the large grain elevators that straddle the UP’s main line:

And east and west of Chappell, you see the seams of snow:

Pretty much like what I experienced back on 2002 and 2008. And soon we are back in Colorado:

For one last time. I arrive in downtown Julesburg to see UP 5566 East waiting at the crossovers as the UP maintenance-of-way crews have about 10 miles of track 2 out of service while they pick up old spikes, tie plates, rail and crossties.

 Outside my mobile office, UP 6646 West rolls by with a 125 car empty unit grain train:

I swing over to the Julesburg General Store to pick up one of their spectacular ham and cheese subs. Upon coming back, UP 5566 East is on its way. Back into Nebraska for the last time:

 I drive ahead and stop outside Big Springs to sit back and enjoy lunch. Soon after, UP 5566 East catches up and rolls by me. West of Ogallala, I play tag - rear end DPU:

And the leader 5566:

 and make it to the head end. Overcast skies still rule the day.

Soon after, we depart the Mountain Time Zone, our host since last Sunday and enter the Central Time Zone. And I am greeted by UP 6044 West with more empty grain cars:

And there is still more corn to ship to market:

And we can’t forget our future “retirement” home of Cozad:

And the last shot of the day:

UP 8668 East at 55 cars in length with the reporting marks ARMN. They are part of Union Pacific’s 4,950-car mechanical refrigerator fleet, carrying fresh fruit and produce from the West to parts East. And as it was when I first saw this type of unit train in 2010, it was fascinating to see that every single car in the consist was covered with some sort of graffiti.

About an hour later, I arrive in Kearney a day early. Many thanks to the folks at Midtown Western Inn for the accommodation change And I lucked out in getting the “suite” over The Lounge restaurant complete with a balcony view.

So Day 14 comes to a close. The Weather Channel shows much of New England and the Mid-Atlantic coast under the high winds of the approaching Hurricane Sandy. I have already been running thru my head what has to be pulled in at my house and our family’s beach house. All I can say is watch the media outlets and stay abreast of the storm.

Time to get ready to head home. We’ll wrap things up later this weekend. Thanks for coming along.

I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Kearney, Nebraska.