Hurry Up & Wait

Hurry Up & Wait. Anybody with a military or railroad background knows this expression well.

UP train ZYCHO at MP 3 of the Lufkin Sub in Houston, Texas on Jan. 29, 2006 ©Robert Pierce

Norfolk Southern 9401 is holding the ZYCHO (Expedited Yard Center – Houston) at Jensen Avenue in Northeast Houston on January 29, 2006. Jensen is at MP 3 of the Lufkin Sub.

The letter  ‘Z’  at the beginning of a UP train symbol indicates that it’s the highest priority traffic on the railroad. Crews love to get called for Z trains because it’s the quickest trip on their crew district.

For the crew here, it was a quick trip over most of their run, because they’re waiting just a few miles out from the Settegast Ramp. The engineer said they’d been waiting over an hour due to congestion ahead.

Track speed from Shreveport, then wait for a route through Tower 26, Englewood, Tower 87 and Interstate Junction before you can shove your train into the Settegast ramp and go to the house.

Hurry up and wait. A typical day on the railroad.