| In an oddity, this full-length consist (empty presumed) was running north ("up hill") with a single pusher. The tracks through this area are the lowest grade down to Vancouver/sealevel, but with the usual traffic, would hardly ever (never?) be used for an empty load (still having large sections of single-track main line)... but with the China tariffs and marked reduction in exports, the tracks sometimes sit empty for an hour or more at a time. In the past, most south loaded consists would run several per hour at a minimum. Long way to say, "Yes, those are ditch lights and he's a single one a mile of covered hoppers going uphill without any mid-consist power and a single pusher back far outside of town in this shot. |