ABSTRACT
It’s 9 p.m. on a long summer evening at an obscure railroad location in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert – ironically named West Siberia in this burning desert that never sees snow or frost. Population: zero – as is the case for its neighboring railroad control points, East Siberia and Ash Hill. As the sky darkens, an eastbound intermodal train drifts downgrade and comes to a stop at the cantilever signal bridge. A van approaches on old Route 66, the two-lane road that parallels the Los Angeles–Chicago mainline of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), one of the busiest stretches of railroad in the U.S. with upwards of 100 trains passing each 24 hours. There are many crews on this stretch of desolate railroad – too many for everyone to know one another well. The crew from the eastbound climb down from the cab and prepare to hand the train over to the crew arriving in the van. There were lots of delays today getting out of the Port of Los Angeles–Long Beach and up Cajon Pass, and then a logjam at the big yard at Barstow, some 75 miles or so to the east, so the crew has run out of time to make it to the crew change point at Needles, another 75 miles to the east. The crewmembers exchange quick greetings, and the new crew is soon off. Just another day on America’s busiest and arguably most important rail line.
