| Morning dawns cold and overcast at Essex, signalling the arrival of a cold front, bringing much needed snow for skiing. A pair of BNSF C44-9Ws backs down on the work engine storage track; the Geeps are going to Havre for a lookover. |
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Once coupled to the heavy stack train, the Conductor gives the highball, and all four engines dig in to lift the train up over Essex Hill. Judging by the exhaust, the Geeps aren't accustomed to this much work. |
| Shortly after the departure of the stack train, a
rare single unit "baretable" train of empty intermodal flat cars rumbles up the hill. |
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The following morning, the Empire Builder glides
through, pausing briefly at what the town folks refer to "Essex Union Platform". |
| Out of nowhere, a Priority Piggyback Intermodal appears... |
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..and blows through Essex, leaving only a blizzard
cloud of snow behind. |
| A short walk to the east of Essex brings us to Shed
12, the westernmost such structure on Snowshed Mountain. As temperatures dropped to single digits, I walked in a circle to keep warm, as did John Stevens a century ago the night he discovered Marias Pass. The weather system, which has been threating all morning, finally lets loose with a torrent of snowflakes. An eastbound manifest grinds past, up the 1.8% grade. |
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As westbound trains descend Essex Hill under full dynamic braking, they make a distinctive noise, like a hive of angry bees buzzing. The lead locomotive on
this westbound stack train is |
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