Actually, the bridge at Marshall does have a sidewalk on the south side, which is where railfans would have been shooting from (before running across for going-away shots from the side of the bridge that does NOT have a sidewalk).

The pacer factor, and the crowd factor at places like Providence, where the best angle would have been ruined by half the people lining up on the wrong side of the cut, are why guys like me went for just a few choice locations, off the beaten path. There's nothing wrong with pacing itself. Everyone gets to enjoy an event like this in their own way, and were it not for the desire to be set up at a certain place well ahead of the train and traffic, I would have chosen to be driving side-by-side out of Sprague, WA, just so my son could see and hear a steam engine go from fast flying down to hard climbing as she starts into a 1 percent grade.

Must admit, the congestion at Sandpoint was far worse than even I expected. I had no idea they did a 4th of July parade like everyone else, and the stop and go detour around the south and west side of town was a killer. Saw a ton of fans just coming back from Bottle Bay Road as we hit the mile-long traffic jam on the long bridge. Thank God he was put in the hole (10 mph) at Naples for a running meet; we had less than a minute to spare for our shot east of Bonners Ferry, and plenty of time after that to get to the Katka overlook thanks to the service stop at Crossport. Lots of local folks lined up at the crossings, but the only full-fledged fan I noticed after Sandpoint appeared to be Funnelfan Ted Curphey, shooting the golf course S-curve off the highway just south of Bonners. Dispatcher told them to do plenty of bell and whistle coming into Troy, MT, because there were thousands crowding around the track for a parade there as well.