"What's with the paint job on this thing?" Jim asked.
"What do you mean?" asked the worker.
"It looks like this is raw plastic!" said Jim.
"I don't know what that even means, but I do know the president of the railroad didn't like the way it looked when it came from the factory. He didn't get around to repainting it yet." said the worker.
"If you don't mind stepping back, sir. Time to clear the line and hopefully free that crawler that Cory drove into the salt."
Jim took a few steps back at the gleaming PRR B8a shoving the plow car. "Isn't that thing supposed to be a shop goat?" he thought to himself. "Seems a little far out for something without a tender."
After the plow left, a wreck train was close behind with a W120 wreck derrick in the lead.
Jim was greeted by a large jovial man on the idler car. He was quite possibly the largest man he had ever seen-- almost too big to be in scale!
"THE NAME'S FREDERICK PAYNE, BITCHES! LOOKS LIKE YOU NEED A RIDE BACK TO ALTOONA!" He said.
"Altoona! We're back on the Pennsy?" Asked Jim.
"YOU BETCHA! IT'S NOT TOO FAR AWAY. YOU MANAGED TO GET YOURSELF STUCK IN THE NEW PORTAGE TUNNEL IN GALLITZIN!"
"Gallitzin?! Are you sure? This place is a prairie, not a mountain top!" exclaimed Jim.
"NOPE, IT'S GALLITZIN. SIGN RIGHT OVER THERE SAYS SO. PLUS TUNNELS."
"You can't just name this place Gallitzin because it has tunnels!!"
Frederick got real close to Jim's face and looked him dead in the eye and said the five words that would stay with him forever.
"JUST F****** RUN TRAINS, MAN."
Jim thought it best not to mention that this derrick idler flat car was not a PRR design. But hey, at least they managed to spell Gallitzin correctly.
The Payne Train departed after Frederick poured himself a cup of a dark gray liquid out of a thermos. It didn't smell good and Jim was lucky he wasn't offered any.
"Well, I suppose it's time to get back aboard and to Altoona. Come on, Russ, let's go."
"Can't wait to see what 'Altoona' will look like." Jim said sarcastically to himself.
