This Memorial Day in the US, flags everywhere, even on some bikes, but most places are open.
We departed North Platte and followed US30 EAST, which follows the UP Main Line for 250miles to Fremont, NE. There are a lot of trains running today, as well, this is a three track main line so lots of directional movements and overtakes. The UP still likes have trains sitting in sidings waiting and waiting, as well there overtakes are not well staged either, a complex subject which I will not try to explain on the blog.
We departed North Platte and followed US30 EAST, which follows the UP Main Line for 250miles to Fremont, NE. There are a lot of trains running today, as well, this is a three track main line so lots of directional movements and overtakes. The UP still likes have trains sitting in sidings waiting and waiting, as well there overtakes are not well staged either, a complex subject which I will not try to explain on the blog.
Most of what we are seeing is unit coal trains heading from and to mid west power plants. These trains are about 100 cars, 2 or 3 engines up front and one DPU (Distributed Power Unit) on the rear, and they roar by.
The landscape changes as well as you move East, soon the sand hills and open range give way to irrigation and corn and wheat farming, with massive grain elevators, much bigger then what we have in Manitoba, as well some of these operations have their own switch engines to move grain cars around.
Also passed several ethanol plants as well, which is what the US is adding to gasoline, our motorcycles don't like this stuff and Ben's bike has some major starting problems with the ethanol mix. We did find that BP has 91 and sometimes 92 octane gas without ethanol.
US30 is also one of the roads which was supplanted by I-80, so you pass by a number of old disused gas stations and a few abandoned motels, almost like Route 66, but it is not the Mother Road.
Some of the farms have large cattle herds, and smell is overwhelming, so to is a 60ft tall pile of fermenting corn, but this is the US mid west.
The landscape changes as well as you move East, soon the sand hills and open range give way to irrigation and corn and wheat farming, with massive grain elevators, much bigger then what we have in Manitoba, as well some of these operations have their own switch engines to move grain cars around.
Also passed several ethanol plants as well, which is what the US is adding to gasoline, our motorcycles don't like this stuff and Ben's bike has some major starting problems with the ethanol mix. We did find that BP has 91 and sometimes 92 octane gas without ethanol.
US30 is also one of the roads which was supplanted by I-80, so you pass by a number of old disused gas stations and a few abandoned motels, almost like Route 66, but it is not the Mother Road.
Some of the farms have large cattle herds, and smell is overwhelming, so to is a 60ft tall pile of fermenting corn, but this is the US mid west.
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