Here’s a quick note from North Platte, Neb., on Wednesday night. Whether Big Boy runs to Grand Island on Thursday, as scheduled, will remain a mystery until tomorrow morning. There’s still flooding at Gibbon, Neb., where the Wood River is overflowing due to locally heavy rains.
I stopped by the site Wednesday on the drive in to watch the work. It appears that UP had to remove the pavement leading up to a crossing to let water drain. I saw several trains walk through the site with water lapping at their wheels. A Nebraska highway department employee said water is still expected to remain high on Thursday. But UP was still running a goodly number of trains on the route: I saw at least 20-25.
My money is on an eastbound Big Boy highball Thursday morning. If those big GEs can make it through, so can one of Alco's finest produts. We’ll see what the railroad and the rain gods have to say about that come daybreak.
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