Bonus Train

Early this morning (I'm still working Central Zone hours), I heard on the radio scanner the Union Pacific dispatcher telling a train near us (at Darwin siding, about ten miles east) that they'd been put in the siting because of a "hot passenger train." That seemed odd to me, because Amtrak wasn't due for a couple more hours. A bit later, the dispatcher told the "Fernley Flyer" that they could go down to the east end of Fernley siding and wait for the "hot passenger train" to go by.

I got an idea of what other kind of passenger train UP might be running, and a took a short break from work to go look. My timing was good.

( Special Coming Through! )

Trains like this have very high priority (they usually have important railroad officials on board), so the dispatcher was clearing everything into sidings to make room for it.