Just what are those Sand Hills?

We've been working in the Nebraska Sand Hills east of Alliance for the past several days and as a curious person I have to ask just why are they there? And even better, why are they sand? From what little research I've done it's a fascinating chapter of geological history.

The sand was deposited there as outwash from retreating glaciers. The winds that followed (and continue today) blew the barren sand into huge dunes, some as high as 400 feet and as wide as 20 miles, so they appear as hills. If you view satellite imagery, however, it's very obvious they are sand dunes. Vegetation eventually began to grow and (mostly) cemented the dunes in place where they remain today. 

The area is the largest sand dune formation in the western hemisphere covering about 20,000 square miles. The dunes also sit on the Ogalla Aquifer which contains 1 billion acre-feet of ground water. Because of this the otherwise very dry area contains numerous lakes when water levels are high. I have noticed some of these small lakes.

If not for the railroad, Highway 2, fence, and some scattered ranches the area looks much like it did after vegetation took over the dunes. The sand is terrible for farming but great for ranching. Numerous windmills use the power of wind, the very source of power that created the massive dunes, to bring Ogalla water to the surface. It's an interesting circle here in the Sand Hills.

Back in the Saddle plus the First Storm

Alliance, Nebraska. It's an island of civilization set between the Sand Hills to the east and more fertile plains to the west. The town is only populated by about 8,900 people but compared to the endless hills of sand and grass just out of town it seems like a metropolis.

Our spray crew, consisting of James, Wes, and Tom, has been working on sterilizing the BNSF Sand Hills sub. Sterilization means we are spraying all BNSF property where they want no vegetation to grow. Primary areas of concern are the tracks and ballast, around buildings and bridges, material piles, and parking lots. The process is intense as every square inch of property must be covered and it must be done so when the wind is below 10 mph, not a small feat on the windswept prairie.

The BNSF Sand Hills subdivision stretches east from Alliance through the Sand Hills to Ravenna, NE. After the mining of coal began in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming this former Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy line became an important cor

ridor for coal moving east. Today there is a steady torrent of Powder River coal going east and empty aluminum gondolas going back west. 

Our job today was to spray about 20 miles of track near Mullen. The mainline varies between single and double track meaning we would have to dodge the coal traffic. We were lucky today, most traffic was moving east and we were heading west which meant few delays. Tom decided to put me back in the saddle of the passenger side of our hy-rail vehicle.

After getting back up into that seat everything began to come back to me. The switches to control the spray nozzles, the proper positioning of the Radiarc, finessing the boom arm to dodge signs and switchstands without stopping. Strange to be back.

Unfortunately the track inspector that accompanied us had other duties that day and a prohibition on overtime, so we had to quit earlier than anticipated. This was unfortunate since the weather was perfect for spraying and

 train traffic was slow. But that's the way it goes.

After getting done, cleaned up, and grabbing food Wes and I were back at the Days Inn taking in the beautiful Nebraska spring weather. Out to the west, however, was a massive, blue front, that dominated the sky. Rain. This was one of those beautiful isolated storms that pop up out of nowhere during the spring and summer. Green hills underneath a mass of swirling white and blue with whispy strands falling off the back of the front and backlit by the orange glow of a setting sun. Adding the spice to this wonderful mural of color are the purple blasts of lightning. Simply amazing. 

I grabbed my camera and a truck to get a few shots of this storm and got luckier than I could ever imagine. Just by chance, somehow someway, I photographed a lightning bolt. Just by chance that one bolt would appear in the 1/100th of a second I exposed the frame. I should have bought a lottery ticket.

Across the Desolation

Today was the 650 mile journey from Cooperstown, ND, to the work site at Alliance, NE. In order to get from there to here involves traveling through some of the most desolate prairie in the upper Great Plains; acres and acres of hills and grass punctuated only by an occasional town such as Pierre or Valentine. Most people would say it's a vast space of emptiness, and while it's true the area is very much devoid of any population, the landscape is far from boring.

The journey across central South Dakota is amazing in many aspects. Out ahead of you it appears as if someone has simply laid down a swath of asphalt across the rolling hills of green grass. There are no ranches, farms, or homes within the range of vision, there's not even any cattle to be seen, just a pale green carpet with rogue brown spots still adding texture. It would appear as if the road is the only human aspect to the entire landscape and you being the lone temporary inhabitant. 

But then there is the fence; the fence is a sure sign that somewhere there is a human presence. The fence lines cut straight lines over the organically shaped hills demarcating property lines determined decades ago. And as with nearly all fence west of the Mississippi it is the ubiquitous barbed wire. Three strands stretch for thousands of miles across the prairie, suspended in the air by wood or steel posts. The barbed wire holds in the imported creatures but allows passage for indigenous wildlife; they simply jump the fence or go underneath.

The hours pass much more quickly if one admires the job nature did of shaping the landscape, noting the ridges and how the coulees and valleys fall away from them. Lush grass and trees grow in the bottomlands while yucca and a few sparse weeds are all that thrive on the sandy hills. Occasional sheds and shacks scattered about haphazardly add the spice of human activity. 

Soon the sandhills of Nebraska give way to a plane and Alliance pops up above the flatness surrounding it. Watertowers stand above the trees, buildings become more numerous and so do the roads. Alliance, home to a huge BNSF mechanical facility, and a Days Inn motel, my new temporary home in Alliance.

Must be Associated with a Railroad

Obviously RAW is associated with railroads and everything that goes with them including the fact that plans change minute by minute. No Nebraska trip for me today, it's been postponed until 0700 tomorrow now. But that's like anything with the railroad, one plan now, another two minutes from now and a new plan four minutes later. 

I Hate Testing

Today found me in Cooperstown, ND, the home base for RAW, filling out paperwork, taking a drug test, and worst of all, retaking the tests to become a certified commercial pesticide applicator. My previous licenses for ND, MN, and NE all conveniently expired about three weeks before I was furloughed, so that meant I had to retake the tests instead of just getting them renewed. It's not a fun experience.

The test consists of two parts, the Ground Core section and the Right-of-Way section; both are open book, but it still takes forever to hunt down the answers. In addition, you are also tested on ND laws and given a pared down book of the Century Code as a reference. Any of you that have looked the wording of a law know how confusing the wording typically is (if an applicator as described in chapter 1 subsection 23 part B is licensed as approved by the state extension office acquires an emergency exemption as outlined in subsection 14 part J that person shall be subject to rules prescribed in chapter 12 except as outlined in, etc.). Combine that with wording on the test that differs from the law and it can take a while to determine the right answer. In fact it took me three and a half hours to complete the two sections. It does appear that I've passed though.

In addition I had to do the mandatory Department of Transportation drug screening and all the associated paperwork with becoming a commercial driver subject to DOT regulations. Fun. I also got to watch a video on defensive truck driving. More fun. The upside is the new per diem system my company is using to pay for on-the-road meals.

When I left nearly two years ago the company issued a credit card to each employee to charge everything on including meals, three a day. You had to keep all meal receipts and there was to be no alcohol charged to the card (obviously), but you could have drinks with your meal if you were not working anymore that day. The downside was you had to pay for your meal with the card, then pay for the drinks out of pocket, and be sure the receipt for the meal did not include the alcohol. It was a pain in the ass. The new per diem system now pays $30 a day into your bank account. The upside is that you get to keep whatever you don't use on meals that day. It also means that it can now be used on adult beverages. Freakin' awesome. Or a guy could be frugal and only eat baloney sandwiches and pocket the other $29, but what fun is that?

So tomorrow I show up to the shop at 0800, have to take a DOT physical, and then it's time to hit the road for the long drive to Alliance, Nebraska. I've never been there, but it's located in the far west side of NE in the sand hills. Basically it's the middle of nowhere, but that makes our job of spraying so much easier. There's always got to be a silver lining.

Smoking the Weeds

For two summers during college I worked for a company called Right-A-Way Applicators; the company does contract vegetation control for railroads, primarily BNSF, Union Pacific, and a handful of shortlines. It was a pretty good summer job but I never saw myself coming back after school.

But then I got furloughed from the railroad.

Luckily the recession doesn't affect weed growth and for safety reasons the railroads still need those weeds smoked, so RAW is actually in need of people, so I'm going back to finish out the rest of the season spraying weeds. This will put me on the road for four to five weeks at a time. I'm away from home, but I do get to do some traveling which is nice, not to mention my hotel and meals are all fully paid for!

What entails railroad vegetation control? A few things. There is the "on-track" spraying and the "off-track" spraying. If you haven't figured it out, on-track spraying means spraying everything with tracks. This is accomplished by a custom built hi-rail truck with a 750 gallon tank and a variety of spray nozzles and boom options. Off-track spraying is all other railroad property, such as parking lots, material piles, roads, and buildings. This is done mainly with a pickup outfitted with a tank and booms. In addition is a hand-held sprayer for those places you can't get to with the truck.

Before I can officially go back to weed spraying I have to retake the test to acquire my commercial applicator's license, which I will be doing tomorrow. It shouldn't be a problem, the North Dakota test is open book and not too hard to figure out. Then Wednesday morning it's off to the spray site.

Another summer smoking the weeds.