No. 18 was indeed the star of the run on Saturday. She arrived into the Eastgate station a little late on account of fitting her with her old spark arrestor prior to departing VC.

Once underway from Eastgate, the engine crew was going easy on her, with a couple of stops along the way to check bearing temps and assess her overall condition. On a few occasions the hogger did grab a handful of throttle and make her talk.

The trip back down was also uneventful, only one stop for the obligatory shoot-em-ups.
Word from the engine crew was that she ran well, and there were some minor issues that would be dealt with later.

Weather was on the hot side, with afternoon clouds leading to thunderstorms later that day.

Sorry, no pics, as I was quite happy to just ride for once...

Nevertheless, a little odd to see 18 running through treeless sagebrush covered terrain.

sda