I think the cliche goes "when you fail to plan, you plan to fail"... This branchline off the Stampede line already has been a soap opera thanks to the BS Tri City Railroad has provided. Needless to say, the track maintenance has been sketchy at best in the short amount of time I've been here. (The crossing at Van Geesen is one you need to cross your fingers that your vehicle doesn't get tore up going across...) There WERE a couple thousand ties installed within a couple miles of Rt182...but over all, it seems John Q Public/shipper is more than happy to load rail cars on the WEST side of the Columbia River, shirking the notion of driving the distance to the fabulous facility at Wallula. (Thank you Union Pacific?) So, along that stretch of track next to Rt 240 is seven cars and 700 tons of grain spread out like peanut butter! And both BNSF and UP are crippled in operations for a couple days. (Oh and btw, despite the typical BS in Trainorders, Tri City Railroad was NOT operating this train.)