Dick Williams (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} kaseymoe) wrote,@ 2006-08-10 14:40:00 |
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Where the heck is Vacaville? Trip 58 for 2006.
My longest Class A move – but still not full sized equipment. The truck was a new Kenworth T-300 with digger/derrick aerial equipment by Terex and it was pulling a Wells Cargo enclosed utility trailer. The capacity of the trailer was enough (over 10k GVWR) to make the trip a Class A move – our highest category pay wise at 78 cpm with an additional 12 or 13 cents in fuel surcharge and 3cents in bus pass incentive.
This was a trip I did not want to do - definitely an FTD job – “Favor to Dispatch”. Hope Dispatch’s memory is long enough to reap some benefit someday. Supposedly a “hot” trip meaning the shipper wanted the truck and trailer picked up STAT and delivered the say way. Reminder – the receiver usually says, ”What was your hurry?” in such cases.
I got the job on Wednesday – made plans to pick the rig up Thursday morning and be off the sending lot by 10 or 11 am. Time was short and there was no return load so I took into account some spiff money waved in front of me to do this job and made a reservation on Southwest Airlines to fly from Sacramento to Kansas City Monday 8-1-6 for the fare of $329. That’s about double what I like to pay but I had the spiff and mentally used that to help with the ticket.
Plans – they should be called “hopes”. Gay drove me out to The Ponderosa –that’s the name of the marshalling and equipment yard of the sending outfit –PAR Electric, a company that does power line construction. The truck and trailer were going to their division in Vacaville, about 25 miles west of Sacramento and conveniently right off I-80.
I got to the Ponderosa around 10 am – the static pre-trip seemed ok. The trailer had electric brakes – not air brakes as a semi-trailer would have. Electrically operated brakes depend on a variable voltage coming down the brake wire that actuates the trailer brakes in proportion to the brake application on the truck itself –heavy pedal pressure up front – higher voltage and heavier braking on the trailer. Light application on the truck brakes – light application on the trailer.
There was one initial problem – the trailer had “cargo” – stuff in it. I didn’t ID everything but there were quite a few boxes of stuff and some long insulators as used for high voltage lines. We’re not only not supposed to move supplies or anything akin to “cargo” – we’re prohibited from doing so by the nature of our operating authority. I decided most of it could be termed supplies that went with the digger/derrick – things like climbing harnesses and extra pulleys – the long insulators didn’t seem to be in that category but rather than end the trip before it started I agreed to take it and “play dumb” if, for the first time, an inspector wanted to actually open the trailer and see what was what. I’ve never had that happen with the closed box trucks we move. Inspections are rare so the odds were in my favor.
Got underway. Fortunately I had a couple of miles of 2 lane, blacktop roads even before I got to a better class of two lane road, MO 92. Eased off the lot – all ok – up and down a couple of minor hills then a steeper grade – nothing siggy but enough I had to touch the brakes to keep speed down to about 30 mph. Happened to look back at that time and saw smoke coming from the rear of the trailer –lots of smoke. How could the damned thing be on fire already?!. Well it wasn’t of course but it was smoke from the tires. The trailer had three axles – two tires to each axle – and all six were “smokin’ “. Gonna be a long trip to Vacaville if I blow out all six trailer tires before I get to Platte City!
Did a couple of more tests – just barely touched the brakes – same thing – smoke and skid marks in the rear view mirror. Hmm, no way to turn around so had to go around the block – in this case that meant doing the circuit of section line roads to get back to the Ponderosa – just like Hoss had to do if he got thrown off his horse – tail draggin’, a slow trip back to the ranch house. No way to avoid all braking –even downshifting to 2nd gear and each time smoke and skid marks.
Pulled back in the lot – found the shop foreman who of course figured I didn’t know how to drive so he sent his man out to show me nothing was wrong other than operator error. The pro eased around the lot at a crawl – touched the brakes and the trailer tires skidded on the gravel – leaving parallel ruts all around their shop. This I enjoyed. A lot.
OK – everybody now in agreement – something’s wrong. The trailer brakes were making full application no matter how light the truck brakes were being applied. The shop guy figured it was the brake controller and swapped that out – no change. I was outside the truck and noticed that whenever the truck’s brake lights were on the trailer brakes were full on – there’s a clue. One that had eluded everyone – myself included up to that point.
I passed that bit of intel on to the shop guys but they didn’t seem to react much – lots more time with the test light and now a multitester. Hmm, looks like the brake circuit is getting a full 12 volts anytime the truck brakes are applied instead of 8 volts, 9 volts, 10 volts synched with pedal pressure. Hmmm - maybe the trailer brake circuit is wired to the brake light circuit.
Well I’d had too much fun watching this play out –I’d been there about 3 hours and no quick end was in sight. Also it was close to 2 pm and I didn’t want to start the trip that late in the day since I’d be badly out of synch for daytime driving and nighttime sleeping.
Called Rescue One for a ride from the Ponderosa back to home base with a request that the shop foreman give me a call to confirm they’d got the brakes fixed and the unit would be ready to go. He said it was ok to take off early Friday – even before they opened up and that was the new game plan – early departure Friday – synched up with the sun and the moon.
Drove myself out to the Ponderosa early Friday – followed the Reagan motto of “Trust but verify” – trusted them when they said they’d fixed the brakes – and made a swing around the shop testing the brakes. Ease forward – touch the brakes easy does it and watch the mirrors to see if I’m making ruts in the gravel. Then test the other way – ease forward, apply just the trailer brakes using the Johnson Bar or the little slider switch on the brake controller. There’s a sensitivity adjustment to vary the degree of trailer braking. I played around with that some but still not sure just what you’re looking for as to braking action. I seriously doubt the trailer brakes do much braking. My guess is the truck is supplying 90% of the braking action for both truck and trailer. Mainly I didn’t want the trailer brakes locking up and they weren’t so it was off to Vacaville.
All routing recommendations said go north before going west – north to Lincoln then West on I-80 all the way to Vacaville. So I took that routing as it’d avoid the Colorado mountains and the off Interstate connection from I-70 to I-80 you have to do in Utah. I’d done that routing – I-70 to I-80 about a month earlier on the Upper Lake CA trip so variety being a good thing I was ok with the I-80 all the way route.
Pretty much kills a day just getting across Nebraska – 429 miles from the Missouri River to the Wyoming line. Add the 160 miles getting to IA highway 2 and that is a day’s work – right at 600 miles and enough in anybody’s log book. The truck topped out at 64 mph. The trailer towed ok – in fact it was a good tow –very steady. I had decided in the beginning it would be a four day trip – the receiving outfit wasn’t open after 5 and there wasn’t much way I could get there by 5 on the 3rd day so it removes some stress just to plan on four days from the outset.
I had booked a return by air out of Sacramento – Southwest Air non-stop to Kansas City. Hard to think I could land a non-stop from anywhere on the west coast to KC but SW had a morning non-stop – refundable fare of $329. More than I’d normally pay but Dispatch’s spiff of $150 helped me over the mental hurdle and I booked that – however I booked it for Monday when I thought I was leaving on Thursday. Now with a Friday departure I’d be losing my pad but for now I left that reservation in place – for a change this was a refundable ticket so I’d get it back if I changed it or canx. As a contingency I also booked Amtrak for Tuesday –1115 am departure from SAC with 2 days en route to Omaha. That was $124 using Veteran’s Advantage card so I had options. And I have a bus pass so for zero out of pocket I could enjoy the comfort of a two day bus ride. Last choice.
Bypassed Kimball NE and figured I could end the driving day in Cheyenne or just east of CYS if I didn’t want to cross the Port of Entry scale long on hours. Didn’t look in earnest for a place to stay till I got to Pine Bluffs NE – just east of the Wyoming line. Added some fuel and spotted the Gator Motel. Walked over to get a room and learned there were no rooms – anywhere. None to be had there nor in Cheyenne or within 50 miles of CYS. Frontier Days – who’d have guessed? Anybody who knows Wyoming and rodeos and cowboy stuff but that wasn’t me so I was on the horns of a dilemma.
Already over on driving hours, no place to stay without going back to Kimball and no assurance they weren’t filled up also. And Wyoming’s “We Never Close” Port of Entry just ahead. Big problem and no good solution. Hmm, couldn’t wait to see how I’d get myself out of this. I always have to go in the Port to get a permit and as often as not they ask to see the log book so this wasn’t any ordinary scale house.
I mulled it – decided to head on west and hoped there’d be a motel even though the Gator Lady told me there was “nothing” to be had. She was right about that. I had decided to just take my chances with the Port and if I got through it to keep moving west till I was out of the motel blackout region – Laramie maybe even though I was tired and sure didn’t want to get all the way to LAR.
That was the plan till I spotted a TA Travel Center aka Truck Stop before I hit the Port. A new plan took shape – stop at the TA – eat, relax, chill and spend the night in the Kenworth Motel – avoiding the Port till morning. Was this the best of two bad choices or crazy? Still don’t know but that’s what happened. The Kenworth Motel was pretty unpromising as it had bucket seats with no good way to bridge the gap. I’ve tried and failed many times in the past and unless you bring some plywood it’s about impossible to span the seats with anything substantial enough to keep your butt from hanging in mid air. Look around – even chimps sometimes find things they can use as crude tools so I should be at least as clever as a chimp.
I needed about 18 inches to get from the floor to seat level. Two big Terex operating manuals got me the first five inches off the floor, they were taped together so they couldn’t slide apart. I had a hard shell cooler with me – that was great – add 12 inches – getting there and the last 4 inches would be my briefcase on top of the cooler. Whew – made it – I’d bridged the gap with a fairly steady patchwork of stuff. No definitely not comfortable but it’d work. And it did – fortunately it cooled off enough in the low dewpoint air so I didn’t need the truck air on – that bothers me – sacked out around midnight and slept half decent – till around 5 am. Not bad.
I was still facing the Port just ahead of me and had to wait till about 6 30 to make my ten hours off duty rest period look good but got underway with a hopeful heart and a clean log. The Port Officer was cool – assessed me $40 for a Wyoming Permit and told me to have a good day. No inquiry about how I’d slept, where I’d slept, or even a request to see the log. I was through the Port, had saved probably $55 as there’d likely be a gouge rate if everybody’s booked a year in advance and I was good to go – 400 miles of Wyoming I-80 ahead of me – 7 am and filled with Cheyenne’s “cheap” diesel. Cheap now being $2.949.
Pretty sparse for towns across WY I-80. Laramie, Rawlings, Rock Springs and Evanston to name the “biggies”. Kept my speed down around 59 or 60 most of the time – right at 2000 rpm. Seemed to be much easier on the truck dropping back those 4 mph from 64 to 60 which I felt confident would help me out in mpg. I had a pretty good feel for the mpg by now and the news wasn’t good – under 7 mpg on most legs. Pulling the trailer didn’t help and of course the altitude gain of 7000 feet from the Missouri River to the high country of Wyoming takes its toll on fuel economy.
The truck had a Cummins engine with six speed Eaton Fuller synchromeshed manual tranny. Easy truck to drive and for the driver AM/FM radio, arm rests and cruise control. The only glitchy thing - and all Kenworths have some glitchy electrical thing – I got a warning for low oil/check engine/stop engine at engine start. I knew the oil to be full so blew on through those warnings as I’ve been this route with other KWs. I don’t know what their final inspection amounts to but stuff slips though often enough I’m not sure they do a final inspection – and that includes the factory, the dealer and the specialty outfit that puts the equipment on. I the driveaway guy inherit their mistakes. Mostly it’s nuisance stuff and when I call Kenworth they say ignore it unless it’s a stop engine light and even then the engine protect system will degrade engine rpms if something awful is about to happen,
Running with Dave
Fuel stop at Evanston – last cheap fuel for a while as Utah and Nevada would be higher per my online info. I use Flying J’s website to dope out fuel costs state by state even though I try hard to stay off their premises. I fueled at the Evanston TA but after getting under way thought or imagined that the steering wheel was well off center where it hadn’t been up till then. So pulled into the Flying J just to get off the road and check the front tires in case one was low making the truck pull to the right.
I’d noticed a white truck passing me a couple of time while crossing WY – and took note that it was from Forest Equipment of Virginia. A driver friend, Harry, from Roanoke moves FEV trucks so I wondered if I might have only a two degree separation from Harry via the FEV driver. I knew it wasn’t Harry since I’d emailed him and knew he was home in Virginia – but was still a point of interest.
Well at the FJ I checked the front tires – even bought a tire gauge and pressure in both was 110 psi. So put that worry out of mind and probably the wheel had been off center all the way. But I noticed that the FEV truck was fueling so went over to say hello and see if the driver worked for the same outfit, Spirit-Miller, that Harry works for. Found out the outfit was Noah Transport and the driver was Dave H. who also works for Driveaway USA, my outfit. Quite a few drivers work for more than one outfit to stay busy and cut down on deadheading. Dave and I howdied – we’ve run into each other a few times in the past – his time with DUSA is double my own – ten years to five and Dave is a full time driver – on the road year round and often out for 3 or 4 weeks at a stretch.
We decided to run together which is actually pretty rare for me. But it would work out good since we were both going to the Sacramento area in similar trucks and our drive/sleep sked was aligned – we’d both need to shut down just past Salt Lake. So we hooked up and would run together for the next two days.
The first descent of the trip was coming down off the Laramie Range and the 2nd was just west of Evanston – the drop off Parley’s Summit into the Salt Lake valley. No engine brakes on my truck or Dave’s – that’s a real pain when you’re in serious mountains and the descent down Parley’s Canyon through Park City is fairly serious – some 6% grades. No problem but without engine braking it means more use of the service brakes and with it some queasiness over the trailer braking on my part
Through Salt Lake – oh this note needs to be sent STAT:
Dave, my new roadie, knew of and recommended we overnight just west of Salt Lake – at a motel adjacent to the Lakeport Flying J. Once past SLC it’s a 100 run across the salt flats and we were both empty on driving hours so the Oquirrh Inn was the right place at the right time. Sharing a room brought the cost down to $30 each – perfect. Decent room, no pool but that’s something I encounter rather rarely on the type of motel budget I try to stick with. A meal at Flying J – mess around trying to use the motel’s WiFi and then to bed.
“Free WiFi” or “Wireless Internet” - it’s touted often and seldom delivers. The technology of delivering a usable WiFi signal to 120 motel rooms isn’t perfected. We’re currently on wifi standard “G” – that’s better than A and B but far from good. Standard “N”, if the industry can agree on it, is in the wings and promises greater distance and better “penetration through walls” Bring it on except it means we’ll have to spend $49 on a new card to make use of it. .
In most motels the signal is weak and intermittent so don’t believe it when you see “Free Wireless Internet” on the signs. It may be free – it may be wireless but it’s not always usable. I ended up using the hard wired computer in their office – much easier than messing with Connect/Disconnect/Reconnect.
Overnighting in SLC meant neither of us could reach our Sacramento/Vacaville drops in time to make delivery so we’d be hooked up a 2nd night with short yardage to go on Monday – almost no miles in Dave’s case as his drop was in Sacramento – about 25 miles in my case – a 40 minute run to Vacaville.
We ran convoy all day Sunday – Dave in the lead. Coming down off Donner Pass was the exciting part of the trip for me – a 40 mile long downgrade – some of it 6% - most of it signed for 4 or 5%. 4% is easy – 5% requires some braking and at 6% you’re in lower gear and braking. No engine brakes on my truck so no help there. Jake or engine brake of some type are standard on heavy equipment but neither us had that on this trip. Dropping down one gear and using a Jake means you can make most descents without use of the service brakes in the empty trucks we move. So I like a Jake but had to do without from the long descent down from Donner Pass on I-80.
I-80 from Truckee to Auburn is a failed piece of highway – one rough riding son of a gun. I think the thought of closing long sections is so painful to everyone concerned they just can’t get started on the work but it’s badly needed as the concrete is broke up, busted up, potholed up and also a very busy and steep roadway. Closing lanes for the rebuild absolutely has to be done soon – it’s overdue –but it’ll also be a major bottleneck on a busy transcontinental route that has no good alternatives. Note to Arnie: “Get after it.”
Dave knew of another good deal for our night in Sacramento – the 49er Truckstop in West Sacramento. The place has “sleeping room” - cheap motel rooms that are bare bones with two beds, a shower and a TV – not much else and not much room. But the price was right for the area - $38 so we divided that by two again and another decent price for a night’s lodging.
Monday morning we headed for our trucks around 7 30 am and said our goodbyes. In this life and work we could see one another in 3 days or 3 years – never predict the vagaries of driveaway work. Never say you will or won’t see a given place or a given driver again.
The drop was easy – once I found the right driveway – PAR Electric came through and volunteered a ride into Vacaville – otherwise it would have been Cab City as this was a large storage lot/pole yard/maintenance shop well removed from bus routes. I was early for an 11 am bus to Sacramento – got to the Vacaville Greyhound station around 8 30 and planned to get some breakfast – kill time. But several others were waiting and it turned out the 7 45 am bus which should have been there and gone hadn’t arrived yet so I’d have a chance to reach Sacramento early by about 3 hours – if the 7 45 showed up. If it was off the road and down and embankment I’d be no worse off – still waiting on the 11 am coach.
The tardy bus (big wreck/tie up west of Vacaville) showed up around 8 45 and thus I got to Sacramento around 9 30am Monday. I had Amtrak reservations for the California Zephyr the next day, Tuesday at 11 14 am. I was actually in SAC early enough to make Monday’s train so called about changing the res and could have done so but the fare would go from $124 to $194.
Always a balancing act – the cost of my overnight stay was known, $24 at the SAC hostel – food for the day and night in SAC would run about $15 and there’d likely be some “sightseeing”. Home a day earlier might open things up to another trip sooner. I weighed things and decided to stay the course – just do what I’d already arranged and planned. And yes, there was a slight “fun” factor involved. I’d looked forward to having the time in Sacramento for a walking tour of the town.
That decision made – first thing to do it get rid of the backpack, green carrying case and ice chest. I’d brought a cooler from home with me and that was good but it’s also bulky once you give up your truck
SAC is an easy city to navigate – boring old grid system to the streets – numbered streets run north and south and the alphabetically lettered streets run east and west – so if you need to get to 10th and H and you’re at 14th and L you know what you need to do. Up four and over four. Simple. Boring. Works.
The Hostel was about a seven block walk north from the bus station - Amtrak about 4 blocks west of the Hostel so things were reasonably compact. I reached the SAC Hostel around 11 30 Monday morning. Some hostels close during the middle of the day but this one stays open with someone on the desk from morning till night and along with the convenient access it’s probably the most elegant hostel in the U.S. Most hostels are not what anybody’d call elegant – they’re often unique or in a beautiful setting or a convenient setting but few would be called elegant” or “grand”. This one would comes close.
The Hostel occupies the Llewelyn-Williams mansion – built in 1885 and one of many showy places that Sacramento boasted of in that era. It’s been continuously occupied so never feel into disuse or even disrepair. It has moved back and forth across the street a couple of times but is now in semi-public hands thanks to lots of donated money from local citizens who wanted to preserve it and make it available for a worthwhile civic endeavor.
Parlor, dining room, grand staircase, fireplaces, carved woodwork, the Hostel still carries the trappings of its past while the upstairs rooms have been redone to accommodate hostel-style dorm rooms and updated bath/shower rooms. I was in a room with 4 bunk beds and only 4 occupants which makes it nice – fewer wet towels and gear strewn around the place.
The Sacramento Hoselling International Hostel - housed in the Llewelyn-Williams mansion.
Most of us hostel visitors aren’t the greatest housekeepers so a room with 8 guys is crowded. Fortunately or luckily rooms are seldom full so the hostel accommodations are never as crowded as they could be. And there are typically some guests you never see. I don’t know what happens with them – they go oday trips then extend into overnights – they’re lost in a canyon, they get lucky at a bar – who knows but it’s not unusual to have somebody’s gear in place but you never see the guy.
Nice place – the number one hostel in my hostelling experience if old woodwork, a clean kitchen and convenient location are important.
Gear stowed I was unencumbered and ahead on the clock since I’d gotten an earlier bus than expected. My to do list included the State Capitol and the California State Railroad Museum. Didn’t know if I’d have time for both but the afternoon was young and I was game to try.
Back to the Capitol where I ate then signed up for the guided tour. Beautiful building and not what it seems. To conform with the earthquake standards imposed by the state on other buildings the State Capitol was closed and essentially gutted about 30 years ago – all interior walls rebuilt but in the old style. So someone who had been away between 1880 and 2006 might not realize the expensive and extensive work that had been done.
You visit the dome, the two legislative assemblies and the rotunda. The Senate and House are in rather striking red and green – a pattern borrowed from the British. The tour guide was from my own hometown, St. Joseph, Missouri so we had a short STJ reunion although he left there very early in his life and I’ve barely left at all. Real gold adorns the walls of the House – a tribute to the gold strikes in the Sierras not far to the east of Sacramento. Interesting film and exhibits on the SFO earthquake of 1906 and all in all a good place to spend a couple of hours.
The State Capitol - exterior and shown below the Senate chamber - the House is equally ornate but in green decor.
About Arnie - the tour guide confided that he’s seldom in Sacramento. Lives in LA – has his office there and there’s not a lot of need for his presence in Sacramento so he’s not there much. That had the ring of truth to it. Later I was in front of Arnie’s office and asked the State Highway Patrolman standing guard duty how often the Governor was in his office. Being a little more politic – he said,”Oh, he’s here quite a bit of the time”. Vague enough answer so it wasn’t out and out perjury but I suspect the guide’s accounting of Arnies time in the Capitol was less biased and more accurate.
After the Capitol – still time to walk west to the river and Old Sacramento – a touristy area along the river and at the moment I’m not sure if it’s called the American River or the Sacramento River – will have to check. For several blocks there are shops and an old fashioned boarded sidewalk that constitute Old Sacramento. Just to the north is the California State Railroad Museum – sort of a mecca for railfans.
Railroad museums have some inherent problems – the equipment they want to display is old, it’s huge and hard to move, if outside it corrodes and it takes a lot of work and money to keep the equipment looking good. Don’t ever start a railroad museum unless you have of space, a lot of money and then some more money. Nothing sadder than a railroad museum gone bad – rusting locomotives, musty smelling interiors – a feeling of abandonment.
This one’s definitely in the other category – a rail museum done right with deep pockets behind it, enclosed space for the rolling stock and exhibits that speak to the tremendous undertaking of the 19th century – the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. If you want a dramatic story of heroic men and times then few rival the building of the railroad across the western U.S. Lincoln’s visionary plan to unite the eastern and western parts of the country, the rivalry between the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroad makes for a dramatic tale. The SAC RR museum tells the story pretty well as do lots books, movies and magazine articles. Worth reviewing or reading for the first time – in its time it was our Trip to the Moon and in fact I’d say more audacious when you see in fact or photo the conquest of the Sierras.
My two biggies bagged – the Capitol and the RR Museum I was weary from head to foot. I did have to go on a food run and that took me several blocks back south from the Hostel – got the tail end of the day’s Chinese takeout food from a market east of the Capitol and took that back to the hostel. Shared it with one of the 2 other guys in the room – and he readily accepted the offered food then ragged on it for our next 12 hours together – too much sodium which I agreed with. Regular additions of soy to keep the stuff moist adds up over a 10 hour serving day so his point was valid – even though he could have kept his commentary to himself.
Tuesday morning – went on a coffee run – packed and took myself and my gear to the station around 10 for the 11 am eastbound Zephyr. Train was mostly on time into SAC from Emeryville. I’d taken this same trip about a month earlier when I moved a truck to Upper Lake CA and did my overnight in SFO at the Union Square hostel so the train trip would repeat that recent ride. It’s a two night run to Omaha on the CZ, California Zephyr. Leave SAC at 11 43 am Tuesday, cross Utah that night and cross Nebraska the 2nd night arriving Omaha nominally at 5 30 am on Thursday.
This trip would differ for part of the way – due to track work in Colorado the Zephyr would reroute between Salt Lake City and Denver. The normal route goes southeast from SLC to Green River UT then Grand Junction CO and follows the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon to the Continental Divide and Moffet Tunnel before making a dramatic drop down the Front Range into Denver – that evening.
This summer’s reroute skips western CO and instead we went from Salt Lake northeast to the other Green River – Green River Wyoming – across WY to Laramie then south to Denver. There were no station stops at all between SLC and DEN- only a crew change and loco service stop in Green River, WY. Even there they didn’t open the train so any smokers onboard had to go cold turkey for the entire day . I hope some went ahead and quit since they’d just shown they could go 12 hours – why not go 120 hours then go all the way?
Into Denver late - around midnight instead of 7 pm – the CZ is nearly always late this summer. I call it up sometimes on the internet just to see how late it is and 4 to 5 hours is typical into Omaha. The reroute through Wyoming adds miles but is actually a faster routing since the terrain and crossing of the divide is considerably lower – as in7500 feet versus something over 10,000 feet.
I had a seatmate from Reno to Salt Lake - young guy who has a very unusual job for landlocked Reno. He’s with an outfit that makes hi tech sails for the America’s Cup teams. Nearly all the contenders use this company’s sails – it’s called 3DL and they more or less mold the sails over huge forms thus giving the sale the proper 3D shape that formerly came from stitching many panels of sailcloth in the right pattern. Very high tech, very expensive, very effective. Dave had enough Type A in him that I could see his mood visibly change during the run from Reno to Salt Lake. He started out looking forward to the enforced isolation of the train – ended up frustrated by the delays and he looked like a guy who’d ditch his return 2 days on the train ticket for a 3 hours on the plane replacement. Maybe I’m wrong but I’ll stick by that bet. Dave the sailmaker from Reno.
The lounge/observation car on the Zephyr and shown below sluice boxes along the Yuba Riverbelow Donner Pass and Summit
I was fine with being 3 or 4 hours late. My end game was to take the Jefferson Lines bus from OMA to KC – that leaves at 12 35 pm every afternoon. If Amtrak arrived on time at 5 30 am I’d have lots of time to kill – too much time to kill in Omaha so for me late was good –up to a point. We made up some of our lost time during the nighttime dash across Nebraska – got to OMA around 10am and that was good – time to stow my gear in the bus station, get a Murphy Melt in the OMA library and detangle my legs a bit before the final 4 hours to KC.
Part of the detangling was a visit to the new Union Pacific Center in downtown OMA. It’s the new HQ building for the mighty Union Pacific Railroad. The Company Store’s in the Center. Anything you can stick a UP logo on they’ve done from golf balls to Golden Spikes to Polo Shirts and $69 jackets. The Center also a sort of nifty cafeteria – all the new “fresh stuff” style. I had coffee but the dining area is fun with box car siding motif and a picture window view of downtown Omaha. And finally the north entrance to UP Center features a massive video wall with the UP story told decade by decade. For me a review of the Transcontinental Railroad story I’d seen in SAC just 2 days earlier-told from the eastern end.
Good trip – not a barn burner money wise since the Kenworth pulling the trailer was a fuel hog – just over 6 mpg and diesel is always high crossing the Rockies. I enjoyed the 24 hours in Sacramento – more “class” to the city than I’d imagined and the Hostel itself was a treat. The train’s a tradeoff – in this case two days saved me around $200 so that’s a hundred bucks saved per day. If I’d come home sooner and gone right back out I’d likely have earned more that a hundred bucks a day – I always shoot for $150 to $200 a day for my time but I enjoyed the train ride itself and heck why not do a few things you enjoy.
As it was I did go right back out – got home from OMA around 6 pm Thursday and left that night at midnight on another Jefferson Lines bus for Independence Kansas where I picked up a Coca Cola truck that I’d bring back to KC and leave on a Lowe’s lot for a Monday delivery in Norfolk Nebraska.
Trip stats: Kenworth digger/derrick pulling Wells Cargo three axle enclosed trailer.
Contract :miles: 1742 my miles 1773
Fuel burn: 276.453 gallons $834.16 - average price $3.017
Fuel economy: 6.4 mpg 47 cents per mile
Trip income: $1862.48 including layover pay for wasted day due unit not ready to move.
Happy Trails
Dick Williams
My longest Class A move – but still not full sized equipment. The truck was a new Kenworth T-300 with digger/derrick aerial equipment by Terex and it was pulling a Wells Cargo enclosed utility trailer. The capacity of the trailer was enough (over 10k GVWR) to make the trip a Class A move – our highest category pay wise at 78 cpm with an additional 12 or 13 cents in fuel surcharge and 3cents in bus pass incentive.
This was a trip I did not want to do - definitely an FTD job – “Favor to Dispatch”. Hope Dispatch’s memory is long enough to reap some benefit someday. Supposedly a “hot” trip meaning the shipper wanted the truck and trailer picked up STAT and delivered the say way. Reminder – the receiver usually says, ”What was your hurry?” in such cases.
I got the job on Wednesday – made plans to pick the rig up Thursday morning and be off the sending lot by 10 or 11 am. Time was short and there was no return load so I took into account some spiff money waved in front of me to do this job and made a reservation on Southwest Airlines to fly from Sacramento to Kansas City Monday 8-1-6 for the fare of $329. That’s about double what I like to pay but I had the spiff and mentally used that to help with the ticket.
Plans – they should be called “hopes”. Gay drove me out to The Ponderosa –that’s the name of the marshalling and equipment yard of the sending outfit –PAR Electric, a company that does power line construction. The truck and trailer were going to their division in Vacaville, about 25 miles west of Sacramento and conveniently right off I-80.
I got to the Ponderosa around 10 am – the static pre-trip seemed ok. The trailer had electric brakes – not air brakes as a semi-trailer would have. Electrically operated brakes depend on a variable voltage coming down the brake wire that actuates the trailer brakes in proportion to the brake application on the truck itself –heavy pedal pressure up front – higher voltage and heavier braking on the trailer. Light application on the truck brakes – light application on the trailer.
There was one initial problem – the trailer had “cargo” – stuff in it. I didn’t ID everything but there were quite a few boxes of stuff and some long insulators as used for high voltage lines. We’re not only not supposed to move supplies or anything akin to “cargo” – we’re prohibited from doing so by the nature of our operating authority. I decided most of it could be termed supplies that went with the digger/derrick – things like climbing harnesses and extra pulleys – the long insulators didn’t seem to be in that category but rather than end the trip before it started I agreed to take it and “play dumb” if, for the first time, an inspector wanted to actually open the trailer and see what was what. I’ve never had that happen with the closed box trucks we move. Inspections are rare so the odds were in my favor.
Got underway. Fortunately I had a couple of miles of 2 lane, blacktop roads even before I got to a better class of two lane road, MO 92. Eased off the lot – all ok – up and down a couple of minor hills then a steeper grade – nothing siggy but enough I had to touch the brakes to keep speed down to about 30 mph. Happened to look back at that time and saw smoke coming from the rear of the trailer –lots of smoke. How could the damned thing be on fire already?!. Well it wasn’t of course but it was smoke from the tires. The trailer had three axles – two tires to each axle – and all six were “smokin’ “. Gonna be a long trip to Vacaville if I blow out all six trailer tires before I get to Platte City!
Did a couple of more tests – just barely touched the brakes – same thing – smoke and skid marks in the rear view mirror. Hmm, no way to turn around so had to go around the block – in this case that meant doing the circuit of section line roads to get back to the Ponderosa – just like Hoss had to do if he got thrown off his horse – tail draggin’, a slow trip back to the ranch house. No way to avoid all braking –even downshifting to 2nd gear and each time smoke and skid marks.
Pulled back in the lot – found the shop foreman who of course figured I didn’t know how to drive so he sent his man out to show me nothing was wrong other than operator error. The pro eased around the lot at a crawl – touched the brakes and the trailer tires skidded on the gravel – leaving parallel ruts all around their shop. This I enjoyed. A lot.
OK – everybody now in agreement – something’s wrong. The trailer brakes were making full application no matter how light the truck brakes were being applied. The shop guy figured it was the brake controller and swapped that out – no change. I was outside the truck and noticed that whenever the truck’s brake lights were on the trailer brakes were full on – there’s a clue. One that had eluded everyone – myself included up to that point.
I passed that bit of intel on to the shop guys but they didn’t seem to react much – lots more time with the test light and now a multitester. Hmm, looks like the brake circuit is getting a full 12 volts anytime the truck brakes are applied instead of 8 volts, 9 volts, 10 volts synched with pedal pressure. Hmmm - maybe the trailer brake circuit is wired to the brake light circuit.
Well I’d had too much fun watching this play out –I’d been there about 3 hours and no quick end was in sight. Also it was close to 2 pm and I didn’t want to start the trip that late in the day since I’d be badly out of synch for daytime driving and nighttime sleeping.
Called Rescue One for a ride from the Ponderosa back to home base with a request that the shop foreman give me a call to confirm they’d got the brakes fixed and the unit would be ready to go. He said it was ok to take off early Friday – even before they opened up and that was the new game plan – early departure Friday – synched up with the sun and the moon.
Drove myself out to the Ponderosa early Friday – followed the Reagan motto of “Trust but verify” – trusted them when they said they’d fixed the brakes – and made a swing around the shop testing the brakes. Ease forward – touch the brakes easy does it and watch the mirrors to see if I’m making ruts in the gravel. Then test the other way – ease forward, apply just the trailer brakes using the Johnson Bar or the little slider switch on the brake controller. There’s a sensitivity adjustment to vary the degree of trailer braking. I played around with that some but still not sure just what you’re looking for as to braking action. I seriously doubt the trailer brakes do much braking. My guess is the truck is supplying 90% of the braking action for both truck and trailer. Mainly I didn’t want the trailer brakes locking up and they weren’t so it was off to Vacaville.
All routing recommendations said go north before going west – north to Lincoln then West on I-80 all the way to Vacaville. So I took that routing as it’d avoid the Colorado mountains and the off Interstate connection from I-70 to I-80 you have to do in Utah. I’d done that routing – I-70 to I-80 about a month earlier on the Upper Lake CA trip so variety being a good thing I was ok with the I-80 all the way route.
Pretty much kills a day just getting across Nebraska – 429 miles from the Missouri River to the Wyoming line. Add the 160 miles getting to IA highway 2 and that is a day’s work – right at 600 miles and enough in anybody’s log book. The truck topped out at 64 mph. The trailer towed ok – in fact it was a good tow –very steady. I had decided in the beginning it would be a four day trip – the receiving outfit wasn’t open after 5 and there wasn’t much way I could get there by 5 on the 3rd day so it removes some stress just to plan on four days from the outset.
I had booked a return by air out of Sacramento – Southwest Air non-stop to Kansas City. Hard to think I could land a non-stop from anywhere on the west coast to KC but SW had a morning non-stop – refundable fare of $329. More than I’d normally pay but Dispatch’s spiff of $150 helped me over the mental hurdle and I booked that – however I booked it for Monday when I thought I was leaving on Thursday. Now with a Friday departure I’d be losing my pad but for now I left that reservation in place – for a change this was a refundable ticket so I’d get it back if I changed it or canx. As a contingency I also booked Amtrak for Tuesday –1115 am departure from SAC with 2 days en route to Omaha. That was $124 using Veteran’s Advantage card so I had options. And I have a bus pass so for zero out of pocket I could enjoy the comfort of a two day bus ride. Last choice.
Bypassed Kimball NE and figured I could end the driving day in Cheyenne or just east of CYS if I didn’t want to cross the Port of Entry scale long on hours. Didn’t look in earnest for a place to stay till I got to Pine Bluffs NE – just east of the Wyoming line. Added some fuel and spotted the Gator Motel. Walked over to get a room and learned there were no rooms – anywhere. None to be had there nor in Cheyenne or within 50 miles of CYS. Frontier Days – who’d have guessed? Anybody who knows Wyoming and rodeos and cowboy stuff but that wasn’t me so I was on the horns of a dilemma.
Already over on driving hours, no place to stay without going back to Kimball and no assurance they weren’t filled up also. And Wyoming’s “We Never Close” Port of Entry just ahead. Big problem and no good solution. Hmm, couldn’t wait to see how I’d get myself out of this. I always have to go in the Port to get a permit and as often as not they ask to see the log book so this wasn’t any ordinary scale house.
I mulled it – decided to head on west and hoped there’d be a motel even though the Gator Lady told me there was “nothing” to be had. She was right about that. I had decided to just take my chances with the Port and if I got through it to keep moving west till I was out of the motel blackout region – Laramie maybe even though I was tired and sure didn’t want to get all the way to LAR.
That was the plan till I spotted a TA Travel Center aka Truck Stop before I hit the Port. A new plan took shape – stop at the TA – eat, relax, chill and spend the night in the Kenworth Motel – avoiding the Port till morning. Was this the best of two bad choices or crazy? Still don’t know but that’s what happened. The Kenworth Motel was pretty unpromising as it had bucket seats with no good way to bridge the gap. I’ve tried and failed many times in the past and unless you bring some plywood it’s about impossible to span the seats with anything substantial enough to keep your butt from hanging in mid air. Look around – even chimps sometimes find things they can use as crude tools so I should be at least as clever as a chimp.
I needed about 18 inches to get from the floor to seat level. Two big Terex operating manuals got me the first five inches off the floor, they were taped together so they couldn’t slide apart. I had a hard shell cooler with me – that was great – add 12 inches – getting there and the last 4 inches would be my briefcase on top of the cooler. Whew – made it – I’d bridged the gap with a fairly steady patchwork of stuff. No definitely not comfortable but it’d work. And it did – fortunately it cooled off enough in the low dewpoint air so I didn’t need the truck air on – that bothers me – sacked out around midnight and slept half decent – till around 5 am. Not bad.
I was still facing the Port just ahead of me and had to wait till about 6 30 to make my ten hours off duty rest period look good but got underway with a hopeful heart and a clean log. The Port Officer was cool – assessed me $40 for a Wyoming Permit and told me to have a good day. No inquiry about how I’d slept, where I’d slept, or even a request to see the log. I was through the Port, had saved probably $55 as there’d likely be a gouge rate if everybody’s booked a year in advance and I was good to go – 400 miles of Wyoming I-80 ahead of me – 7 am and filled with Cheyenne’s “cheap” diesel. Cheap now being $2.949.
Pretty sparse for towns across WY I-80. Laramie, Rawlings, Rock Springs and Evanston to name the “biggies”. Kept my speed down around 59 or 60 most of the time – right at 2000 rpm. Seemed to be much easier on the truck dropping back those 4 mph from 64 to 60 which I felt confident would help me out in mpg. I had a pretty good feel for the mpg by now and the news wasn’t good – under 7 mpg on most legs. Pulling the trailer didn’t help and of course the altitude gain of 7000 feet from the Missouri River to the high country of Wyoming takes its toll on fuel economy.
The truck had a Cummins engine with six speed Eaton Fuller synchromeshed manual tranny. Easy truck to drive and for the driver AM/FM radio, arm rests and cruise control. The only glitchy thing - and all Kenworths have some glitchy electrical thing – I got a warning for low oil/check engine/stop engine at engine start. I knew the oil to be full so blew on through those warnings as I’ve been this route with other KWs. I don’t know what their final inspection amounts to but stuff slips though often enough I’m not sure they do a final inspection – and that includes the factory, the dealer and the specialty outfit that puts the equipment on. I the driveaway guy inherit their mistakes. Mostly it’s nuisance stuff and when I call Kenworth they say ignore it unless it’s a stop engine light and even then the engine protect system will degrade engine rpms if something awful is about to happen,
Running with Dave
Fuel stop at Evanston – last cheap fuel for a while as Utah and Nevada would be higher per my online info. I use Flying J’s website to dope out fuel costs state by state even though I try hard to stay off their premises. I fueled at the Evanston TA but after getting under way thought or imagined that the steering wheel was well off center where it hadn’t been up till then. So pulled into the Flying J just to get off the road and check the front tires in case one was low making the truck pull to the right.
I’d noticed a white truck passing me a couple of time while crossing WY – and took note that it was from Forest Equipment of Virginia. A driver friend, Harry, from Roanoke moves FEV trucks so I wondered if I might have only a two degree separation from Harry via the FEV driver. I knew it wasn’t Harry since I’d emailed him and knew he was home in Virginia – but was still a point of interest.
Well at the FJ I checked the front tires – even bought a tire gauge and pressure in both was 110 psi. So put that worry out of mind and probably the wheel had been off center all the way. But I noticed that the FEV truck was fueling so went over to say hello and see if the driver worked for the same outfit, Spirit-Miller, that Harry works for. Found out the outfit was Noah Transport and the driver was Dave H. who also works for Driveaway USA, my outfit. Quite a few drivers work for more than one outfit to stay busy and cut down on deadheading. Dave and I howdied – we’ve run into each other a few times in the past – his time with DUSA is double my own – ten years to five and Dave is a full time driver – on the road year round and often out for 3 or 4 weeks at a stretch.
We decided to run together which is actually pretty rare for me. But it would work out good since we were both going to the Sacramento area in similar trucks and our drive/sleep sked was aligned – we’d both need to shut down just past Salt Lake. So we hooked up and would run together for the next two days.
The first descent of the trip was coming down off the Laramie Range and the 2nd was just west of Evanston – the drop off Parley’s Summit into the Salt Lake valley. No engine brakes on my truck or Dave’s – that’s a real pain when you’re in serious mountains and the descent down Parley’s Canyon through Park City is fairly serious – some 6% grades. No problem but without engine braking it means more use of the service brakes and with it some queasiness over the trailer braking on my part
Through Salt Lake – oh this note needs to be sent STAT:
Utah Department of Transportation
Capitol Building
Salt Lake City, UT
Dear Department:
When following I-80 across Salt Lake City recently I was on the portion where I-80 follows I-15 and coming up on the split where I-80 would continue west toward Wendover. An overhead signboard advised out of town travelers as well as the locals “I-80 Westbound Ramp Closed – Use Alternate Route”
What the hell help is that if you’re not a local? Not much! I assumed Brigham Young would show up to lead me via some alternate route to Wendover but Brigham was tied up elsewhere I guess so I had to dope it out for myself. What do you do? Just follow the truck in front of you and hope he knows he knows an alternate route. That worked.
Yours truly,
Richard J. Williams
Dave, my new roadie, knew of and recommended we overnight just west of Salt Lake – at a motel adjacent to the Lakeport Flying J. Once past SLC it’s a 100 run across the salt flats and we were both empty on driving hours so the Oquirrh Inn was the right place at the right time. Sharing a room brought the cost down to $30 each – perfect. Decent room, no pool but that’s something I encounter rather rarely on the type of motel budget I try to stick with. A meal at Flying J – mess around trying to use the motel’s WiFi and then to bed.
“Free WiFi” or “Wireless Internet” - it’s touted often and seldom delivers. The technology of delivering a usable WiFi signal to 120 motel rooms isn’t perfected. We’re currently on wifi standard “G” – that’s better than A and B but far from good. Standard “N”, if the industry can agree on it, is in the wings and promises greater distance and better “penetration through walls” Bring it on except it means we’ll have to spend $49 on a new card to make use of it. .
In most motels the signal is weak and intermittent so don’t believe it when you see “Free Wireless Internet” on the signs. It may be free – it may be wireless but it’s not always usable. I ended up using the hard wired computer in their office – much easier than messing with Connect/Disconnect/Reconnect.
Overnighting in SLC meant neither of us could reach our Sacramento/Vacaville drops in time to make delivery so we’d be hooked up a 2nd night with short yardage to go on Monday – almost no miles in Dave’s case as his drop was in Sacramento – about 25 miles in my case – a 40 minute run to Vacaville.
We ran convoy all day Sunday – Dave in the lead. Coming down off Donner Pass was the exciting part of the trip for me – a 40 mile long downgrade – some of it 6% - most of it signed for 4 or 5%. 4% is easy – 5% requires some braking and at 6% you’re in lower gear and braking. No engine brakes on my truck so no help there. Jake or engine brake of some type are standard on heavy equipment but neither us had that on this trip. Dropping down one gear and using a Jake means you can make most descents without use of the service brakes in the empty trucks we move. So I like a Jake but had to do without from the long descent down from Donner Pass on I-80.
I-80 from Truckee to Auburn is a failed piece of highway – one rough riding son of a gun. I think the thought of closing long sections is so painful to everyone concerned they just can’t get started on the work but it’s badly needed as the concrete is broke up, busted up, potholed up and also a very busy and steep roadway. Closing lanes for the rebuild absolutely has to be done soon – it’s overdue –but it’ll also be a major bottleneck on a busy transcontinental route that has no good alternatives. Note to Arnie: “Get after it.”
Dave knew of another good deal for our night in Sacramento – the 49er Truckstop in West Sacramento. The place has “sleeping room” - cheap motel rooms that are bare bones with two beds, a shower and a TV – not much else and not much room. But the price was right for the area - $38 so we divided that by two again and another decent price for a night’s lodging.
Monday morning we headed for our trucks around 7 30 am and said our goodbyes. In this life and work we could see one another in 3 days or 3 years – never predict the vagaries of driveaway work. Never say you will or won’t see a given place or a given driver again.
The drop was easy – once I found the right driveway – PAR Electric came through and volunteered a ride into Vacaville – otherwise it would have been Cab City as this was a large storage lot/pole yard/maintenance shop well removed from bus routes. I was early for an 11 am bus to Sacramento – got to the Vacaville Greyhound station around 8 30 and planned to get some breakfast – kill time. But several others were waiting and it turned out the 7 45 am bus which should have been there and gone hadn’t arrived yet so I’d have a chance to reach Sacramento early by about 3 hours – if the 7 45 showed up. If it was off the road and down and embankment I’d be no worse off – still waiting on the 11 am coach.
The tardy bus (big wreck/tie up west of Vacaville) showed up around 8 45 and thus I got to Sacramento around 9 30am Monday. I had Amtrak reservations for the California Zephyr the next day, Tuesday at 11 14 am. I was actually in SAC early enough to make Monday’s train so called about changing the res and could have done so but the fare would go from $124 to $194.
Always a balancing act – the cost of my overnight stay was known, $24 at the SAC hostel – food for the day and night in SAC would run about $15 and there’d likely be some “sightseeing”. Home a day earlier might open things up to another trip sooner. I weighed things and decided to stay the course – just do what I’d already arranged and planned. And yes, there was a slight “fun” factor involved. I’d looked forward to having the time in Sacramento for a walking tour of the town.
That decision made – first thing to do it get rid of the backpack, green carrying case and ice chest. I’d brought a cooler from home with me and that was good but it’s also bulky once you give up your truck
SAC is an easy city to navigate – boring old grid system to the streets – numbered streets run north and south and the alphabetically lettered streets run east and west – so if you need to get to 10th and H and you’re at 14th and L you know what you need to do. Up four and over four. Simple. Boring. Works.
The Hostel was about a seven block walk north from the bus station - Amtrak about 4 blocks west of the Hostel so things were reasonably compact. I reached the SAC Hostel around 11 30 Monday morning. Some hostels close during the middle of the day but this one stays open with someone on the desk from morning till night and along with the convenient access it’s probably the most elegant hostel in the U.S. Most hostels are not what anybody’d call elegant – they’re often unique or in a beautiful setting or a convenient setting but few would be called elegant” or “grand”. This one would comes close.
The Hostel occupies the Llewelyn-Williams mansion – built in 1885 and one of many showy places that Sacramento boasted of in that era. It’s been continuously occupied so never feel into disuse or even disrepair. It has moved back and forth across the street a couple of times but is now in semi-public hands thanks to lots of donated money from local citizens who wanted to preserve it and make it available for a worthwhile civic endeavor.
Parlor, dining room, grand staircase, fireplaces, carved woodwork, the Hostel still carries the trappings of its past while the upstairs rooms have been redone to accommodate hostel-style dorm rooms and updated bath/shower rooms. I was in a room with 4 bunk beds and only 4 occupants which makes it nice – fewer wet towels and gear strewn around the place.
The Sacramento Hoselling International Hostel - housed in the Llewelyn-Williams mansion.
Most of us hostel visitors aren’t the greatest housekeepers so a room with 8 guys is crowded. Fortunately or luckily rooms are seldom full so the hostel accommodations are never as crowded as they could be. And there are typically some guests you never see. I don’t know what happens with them – they go oday trips then extend into overnights – they’re lost in a canyon, they get lucky at a bar – who knows but it’s not unusual to have somebody’s gear in place but you never see the guy.
Nice place – the number one hostel in my hostelling experience if old woodwork, a clean kitchen and convenient location are important.
Gear stowed I was unencumbered and ahead on the clock since I’d gotten an earlier bus than expected. My to do list included the State Capitol and the California State Railroad Museum. Didn’t know if I’d have time for both but the afternoon was young and I was game to try.
Back to the Capitol where I ate then signed up for the guided tour. Beautiful building and not what it seems. To conform with the earthquake standards imposed by the state on other buildings the State Capitol was closed and essentially gutted about 30 years ago – all interior walls rebuilt but in the old style. So someone who had been away between 1880 and 2006 might not realize the expensive and extensive work that had been done.
You visit the dome, the two legislative assemblies and the rotunda. The Senate and House are in rather striking red and green – a pattern borrowed from the British. The tour guide was from my own hometown, St. Joseph, Missouri so we had a short STJ reunion although he left there very early in his life and I’ve barely left at all. Real gold adorns the walls of the House – a tribute to the gold strikes in the Sierras not far to the east of Sacramento. Interesting film and exhibits on the SFO earthquake of 1906 and all in all a good place to spend a couple of hours.
The State Capitol - exterior and shown below the Senate chamber - the House is equally ornate but in green decor.
About Arnie - the tour guide confided that he’s seldom in Sacramento. Lives in LA – has his office there and there’s not a lot of need for his presence in Sacramento so he’s not there much. That had the ring of truth to it. Later I was in front of Arnie’s office and asked the State Highway Patrolman standing guard duty how often the Governor was in his office. Being a little more politic – he said,”Oh, he’s here quite a bit of the time”. Vague enough answer so it wasn’t out and out perjury but I suspect the guide’s accounting of Arnies time in the Capitol was less biased and more accurate.
After the Capitol – still time to walk west to the river and Old Sacramento – a touristy area along the river and at the moment I’m not sure if it’s called the American River or the Sacramento River – will have to check. For several blocks there are shops and an old fashioned boarded sidewalk that constitute Old Sacramento. Just to the north is the California State Railroad Museum – sort of a mecca for railfans.
Railroad museums have some inherent problems – the equipment they want to display is old, it’s huge and hard to move, if outside it corrodes and it takes a lot of work and money to keep the equipment looking good. Don’t ever start a railroad museum unless you have of space, a lot of money and then some more money. Nothing sadder than a railroad museum gone bad – rusting locomotives, musty smelling interiors – a feeling of abandonment.
This one’s definitely in the other category – a rail museum done right with deep pockets behind it, enclosed space for the rolling stock and exhibits that speak to the tremendous undertaking of the 19th century – the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. If you want a dramatic story of heroic men and times then few rival the building of the railroad across the western U.S. Lincoln’s visionary plan to unite the eastern and western parts of the country, the rivalry between the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroad makes for a dramatic tale. The SAC RR museum tells the story pretty well as do lots books, movies and magazine articles. Worth reviewing or reading for the first time – in its time it was our Trip to the Moon and in fact I’d say more audacious when you see in fact or photo the conquest of the Sierras.
My two biggies bagged – the Capitol and the RR Museum I was weary from head to foot. I did have to go on a food run and that took me several blocks back south from the Hostel – got the tail end of the day’s Chinese takeout food from a market east of the Capitol and took that back to the hostel. Shared it with one of the 2 other guys in the room – and he readily accepted the offered food then ragged on it for our next 12 hours together – too much sodium which I agreed with. Regular additions of soy to keep the stuff moist adds up over a 10 hour serving day so his point was valid – even though he could have kept his commentary to himself.
Tuesday morning – went on a coffee run – packed and took myself and my gear to the station around 10 for the 11 am eastbound Zephyr. Train was mostly on time into SAC from Emeryville. I’d taken this same trip about a month earlier when I moved a truck to Upper Lake CA and did my overnight in SFO at the Union Square hostel so the train trip would repeat that recent ride. It’s a two night run to Omaha on the CZ, California Zephyr. Leave SAC at 11 43 am Tuesday, cross Utah that night and cross Nebraska the 2nd night arriving Omaha nominally at 5 30 am on Thursday.
This trip would differ for part of the way – due to track work in Colorado the Zephyr would reroute between Salt Lake City and Denver. The normal route goes southeast from SLC to Green River UT then Grand Junction CO and follows the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon to the Continental Divide and Moffet Tunnel before making a dramatic drop down the Front Range into Denver – that evening.
This summer’s reroute skips western CO and instead we went from Salt Lake northeast to the other Green River – Green River Wyoming – across WY to Laramie then south to Denver. There were no station stops at all between SLC and DEN- only a crew change and loco service stop in Green River, WY. Even there they didn’t open the train so any smokers onboard had to go cold turkey for the entire day . I hope some went ahead and quit since they’d just shown they could go 12 hours – why not go 120 hours then go all the way?
Into Denver late - around midnight instead of 7 pm – the CZ is nearly always late this summer. I call it up sometimes on the internet just to see how late it is and 4 to 5 hours is typical into Omaha. The reroute through Wyoming adds miles but is actually a faster routing since the terrain and crossing of the divide is considerably lower – as in7500 feet versus something over 10,000 feet.
I had a seatmate from Reno to Salt Lake - young guy who has a very unusual job for landlocked Reno. He’s with an outfit that makes hi tech sails for the America’s Cup teams. Nearly all the contenders use this company’s sails – it’s called 3DL and they more or less mold the sails over huge forms thus giving the sale the proper 3D shape that formerly came from stitching many panels of sailcloth in the right pattern. Very high tech, very expensive, very effective. Dave had enough Type A in him that I could see his mood visibly change during the run from Reno to Salt Lake. He started out looking forward to the enforced isolation of the train – ended up frustrated by the delays and he looked like a guy who’d ditch his return 2 days on the train ticket for a 3 hours on the plane replacement. Maybe I’m wrong but I’ll stick by that bet. Dave the sailmaker from Reno.
The lounge/observation car on the Zephyr and shown below sluice boxes along the Yuba Riverbelow Donner Pass and Summit
I was fine with being 3 or 4 hours late. My end game was to take the Jefferson Lines bus from OMA to KC – that leaves at 12 35 pm every afternoon. If Amtrak arrived on time at 5 30 am I’d have lots of time to kill – too much time to kill in Omaha so for me late was good –up to a point. We made up some of our lost time during the nighttime dash across Nebraska – got to OMA around 10am and that was good – time to stow my gear in the bus station, get a Murphy Melt in the OMA library and detangle my legs a bit before the final 4 hours to KC.
Part of the detangling was a visit to the new Union Pacific Center in downtown OMA. It’s the new HQ building for the mighty Union Pacific Railroad. The Company Store’s in the Center. Anything you can stick a UP logo on they’ve done from golf balls to Golden Spikes to Polo Shirts and $69 jackets. The Center also a sort of nifty cafeteria – all the new “fresh stuff” style. I had coffee but the dining area is fun with box car siding motif and a picture window view of downtown Omaha. And finally the north entrance to UP Center features a massive video wall with the UP story told decade by decade. For me a review of the Transcontinental Railroad story I’d seen in SAC just 2 days earlier-told from the eastern end.
Good trip – not a barn burner money wise since the Kenworth pulling the trailer was a fuel hog – just over 6 mpg and diesel is always high crossing the Rockies. I enjoyed the 24 hours in Sacramento – more “class” to the city than I’d imagined and the Hostel itself was a treat. The train’s a tradeoff – in this case two days saved me around $200 so that’s a hundred bucks saved per day. If I’d come home sooner and gone right back out I’d likely have earned more that a hundred bucks a day – I always shoot for $150 to $200 a day for my time but I enjoyed the train ride itself and heck why not do a few things you enjoy.
As it was I did go right back out – got home from OMA around 6 pm Thursday and left that night at midnight on another Jefferson Lines bus for Independence Kansas where I picked up a Coca Cola truck that I’d bring back to KC and leave on a Lowe’s lot for a Monday delivery in Norfolk Nebraska.
Trip stats: Kenworth digger/derrick pulling Wells Cargo three axle enclosed trailer.
Contract :miles: 1742 my miles 1773
Fuel burn: 276.453 gallons $834.16 - average price $3.017
Fuel economy: 6.4 mpg 47 cents per mile
Trip income: $1862.48 including layover pay for wasted day due unit not ready to move.
Happy Trails
Dick Williams
