Hopping Freights — part 12

In December 1981 I was headed down the Central Valley, on my way to spend Christmas with my family in Southern California. The trip came to a grinding halt on this siding somewhere south of Stockton, where I (and my traveling companions) spent a miserable several hours huddling on the back of a grainer in the rain, while trackwork was underway at some point ahead of us. Never take a freight if you have to be somewhere at a certain time... never take a freight if you have to be somewhere at a certain time... never take a freight if you have to be somewhere at a certain time...