Go East, Young Man! (part 2)
looking for my roots in all the wrong places
My plan was to call each yard office on the Burlington Northern line from Portland's Lake Yard all the way across to the Northtown Yard in Minneapolis. I would make the calls late at night so I might find a more sympathetic (and cooperative) yard clerk than one that worked on the day shift. I pretended to be on vacation with my family and, since the "wife" was not too keen on train watching, I had to make the most out of what might have been only an hour or so during the day that I could be away from the "family".
I just inquired as to when I might see some trains, and which ones they might be. At that time the Burlington Northern labelled their trains with numbers, with even numbers going east and odd numbers going west, with the highest priority trains having the lower numbers, etc. I didn't want to appear as someone who wanted the clerk to spend hours on the phone telling me company secrets, I just pointed out that if I heard what number train was approaching on my scanner, I would have a better chance of setting up my camera for a good shot.
For the most part this plan worked famously, and I soon developed a chart of an eastbound fleet of trains from Oregon to Minnesota, and I could pick which ones to ride so that I would go through the most scenic areas during daylight, which proved to be a little more complicated than I hoped. Working my way back west from Minneapolis, it looked like I could catch the #2 train at night out of Portland, and after switching trains a few times on the way, I could sleep through the boring stretches and save the ride over the Rockies for the daylight hours. I was ecstatic! It was almost like the freight schedule was developed for the tramp's convenience.
All I had to do was get to Portland in the afternoon or early evening and I had nothing to worry about, except maybe running out of food or wine, so I "over-bought" before I left home, and quickly found out that six bottles of wine weighed a lot! Oh well, I thought, I only have to carry six until I get on the first train, and afterwards it'll only be five, then four...