When I first heard they were making a one-day round trip Hinkle-Eastport, I knew it was going to make for a LONG day. Not just because of the distance and running times, but because of the heavy traffic the SI and Washy are handling right now, coupled with the limitations of a route that's got mostly manual-switch sidings, with some CTC and mostly ABS/TWC on one end and dark/TWC on the other. The return leg had them leaving Eastport in the evening and covering most of the route after dark. I think it was around 8 or 9pm when they finally came south out of Sandpoint. The current traffic level on this UP corridor has got them using the Coeur d'Alene Branch for meets again, something that was almost unheard of for the past couple of years. A typical northbound leaving Spokane can usually expect to meet three or more southbounds before reaching Eastport. We're entering the busiest time of year for potash exports; this past weekend saw two southbound loaded potash trains with mid-train DPUs through Spokane during the day Saturday and at least one more on Sunday. (Not counting any that may have slipped by my house while I slept.) Grain still heavy, too, and manifests have bounced back from those anemic car counts we saw last summer. One more fly in the ointment is the routine crop of slow orders we get each spring as the ground thaws out and segments of track either begin pumping mud up through the ballast or get dumped on by rockslides. Everything has been crawling behind my house at 10mph the past week or so.