Hopping Freights — part 6

In February 1981 I was waiting in the Oakland Desert Yard for a Roseville train. There was a dead line of many old switch engines filling up the last track over next to the Oakland Army Base. It was a great place to wait if it was raining, which it was, but you had to get out of sight every time the MP's drove by, which was surprisingly often, considering the "strategic importance" of the mostly deserted property. Hearing on my scanner that "my" train was ready to pull out, I walked over to the mainline, dodging puddles as I went, and enjoyed this view of the clearing storm, timed perfectly with my departure.