Something Borrowed, Something Blue

There was an extraordinary amount of variety in the operating equipment at IRM today. Among other things, we had something borrowed (the Leviathan and the UP executive train) and something blue (the 309!). And this weekend is RPO oriented, so the veteran clerks were demonstrating the RPO, and on and on....

Attendance was huge, due largely to UP Family Day, and the parking lot was packed to overflowing. That's always good to see!

Dan and Chris Buck and I were running the 319 and 309. As usual, we had a diverse crowd of passengers. I was too busy to take many pictures, so I'll wait for others to send in some good ones.

Here are our UP-heritage waycars lined up on the west wye for people to walk through. A good time was had by all, except perhaps Harold Krewer, who as chief dispatcher was constantly juggling several sharp objects at once. He kept his cool much better than I possibly could have, I must say!

The unusual aspects of all this were great. I'm standing by the 309 loading passengers, and people ask me "Is this the train to Belvidere?" I could think of several smart-aleck responses, but of course I politely explain that the Belvidere train is loading over on the next track. And that's for UP employees only.

So all in all we had a great time. Thanks to everyone who made this complicated operation possible!

Also today I tested out the latest Hicks Car Works invention, the idea for which was suggested by Joel Ahrendt. The trap doors on the 308 and 309 are difficult to lift, so in our secret underground laboratory we have developed a hook to lift the trap, demonstrated here by Dan Buck. The Errant Trap Door Hook seems to work as intended, and now just needs to be painted blue. And I'll make a second one for the 308. Ask for it by name!





As for the title of this post: betcha didn't see that coming! I will certainly not be out at IRM next Saturday: my daughter Esther is getting married, so I have higher priorities! And of course Frank will be there too. But after the excitement has faded away and the newlyweds are well on their way, we'll back to our usual hijinks. So wish us well!