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When I caught wind that 3194 was leading an R614 for Lynch 3, me and dad set up camp and lay wait in Loyall for its arrival. We made a few errand runs back and forth in town, one of which leading us to an encounter with a Harlan City police officer who was on duty for the night. Knowing the law enforcement unit was on its way, we thought it would be nice to stop and notify the officer of the upcoming photo-op. Hours passed, and as the clock struck midnight the horn echoed in the distance. About that time, our new officer friend pulled in beside us for the catch. It crept through the yard at a slow pace, but I knew it wouldn’t stop until a short ways ahead at Baxter. I’ve made friends with the CV crews over the years, and I wanted to see who was on duty tonight. We pulled in by the switch tower and I crept through the cold dark night to the switch stand for the Poorfork. The conductor came down and approached the switch post, and I was overjoyed to find it was a great friend of mine. Somehow, I was able to talk him into easing the train to a stop on the crossing just ahead, where this photo beside our officer friends cruiser on an IPhone took place. I think it turned out quite nice and it made an amazing memory.

The day began as the Eastman train barreled down upon Loyall with 45 empties and a YN2 leader, a classic scene that is only ruined by the trailing YN3 ES44AH. This was strange compared to the normal operations, as they usually load the full 90 cars, take 45’s in 2 trips and brung the entire 90 empties back. The dispatcher got themselves into a bit of a pickle however. R615 was rolling in on Main 2 and the other 45 Eastman loads was on Main 1. In the yard tracks, only 3 are inspected and up to date for use, the rest are for storage or just out of service. A MOW train of ballast and ties took up one of those tracks, and a set of bad orders was on another, meaning that when Eastman arrived with the loads and went in on the only open track, it was impossible for the power to run around for its second cut. Instead of leaving first, the crew had to wait until the high rail finished up for the R615 instead, better news for me. I opted to catch them coming in by the old Baxter Interlocking Tower, built in 1926.