Why there's no picture with this post

Usually, I start out a blog post with a photo that I took in the field. Sadly, this is a post without a picture. Here’s why.

 I figured the Labor Day holiday plus the diminished traffic levels of recent months would turn a Tuesday drive along U.S. 30 in eastern Iowa into a boring trip. Ever the optimist, I got off I-80 at Iowa City, ducked into my favorite Subway for a six-inch BMT on wheat only to find a busload of college kids so that was a no-go, and picked up 30 along the UP (Chicago & North Western for those of another shade of yellow) main line at Vernon, Iowa.

 I’d noticed plenty of track work on Labor Day on UP’s Lane Cutoff in Omaha. I’d also witnessed a moderately busy BNSF Railway at Ashland, Neb., the same day: One ballast train, one loaded coal train bound for Sioux City, and two westbound empty unit hopper trains going back to the Powder River Basin. So my expectations for Iowa and western Illinois were low. Really low. But I didn’t expect it to be this quiet.

 On the UP main line I saw a crossing replacement gang at Clarence, Iowa, an eastbound stack getting a new crew in Clinton, Iowa, and westbound stacks hustling out of Rochelle. I’d opened up my backpack, so my Nikon was at arm’s reach in the passenger seat, but I never even took it out. My one stop was for a Culver's double deluxe to go that turned out to be way overcooked.

 Yes, holidays are quiet, and mainline track work has to get done before winter comes. And fewer trains get loaded on holidays. I should have stuck to I-80 and got home an hour and 15 minutes earlier. My cat wouldn’t have fussed so much at me. Maybe.