Though Wx4 had chosen bicycles to railfan America, we certainly were not purists. We weren't above accepting a ride if offered, and this was the case one cool day in Iowa. As we sat under a tree waiting out a shower, up rolled a brand-spanking-new Rock Island maintenance-of-way hi-railer. Its two young inhabitants greeted us with smiles and asked us if we wanted a lift. Well, let's see: northern Iowa is not flat from a cyclist's perspective; it's raining; we're working a strong headwind...

After a few miles, we had sated their curiosity about our wanderings, and the subject turned to their work. These two guys were the Rock's track gang responsible for patrolling and maintaining the local branch lines. I commented that the railroad must be pretty flush to buy them a new truck, and through the rear view mirror I could see the foreman roll his eyes.

He replied, I wish that they would give me something to haul in it. The truck pretty-much contained all of his worldly goods: a variety of the usual hand tools and jacks, plus two new crossties. Do ya see those two ties in the back? That's all that I have to spread over 130 miles of branch line.

You're kidding, said I! So, what do you do about the particularly bad spots - red flag them? Oh hell no, we let the trains derail. That way we can over-estimate the number of ties that we'll need to repair the track. Then we'll have a few to use in other places. Looks like you haven't had a derailment for awhile, since you only have those two ties. Yeh, things have gone pretty well. Nothing has gone on the ground for more than a week.

To this day, I don't know how much he was pulling my leg, if indeed he was.

His last comment about the railroad was: The branches are in bad shape, but the main line over in Manly is pretty good.
- EO