In 55 years of railfanning I only got stuck once. It was a very rainy January in 1981 and I was going to spend a day railfanning inside the SP wye at Tehama. At the time I was driving a 78 Chevy Van and the local road into Tehama was covered with water. I retreated and came in from the East and couldn't reach the wye that way because of the flooded wash nearby. So smart me decided to try reaching the wye via a farmers field from the north. As soon as I crossed the tracks I knew I was in deep do-do. My wide tires slid on mud that was slicker than snot.

I kept heading towards the wye for about a quarter mile and could see this was a stupid idea, so I slowly turned around at a wide spot and headed back. Unfortunately, the slope of the slippery mud angled towards the tracks and I got stuck.

I walked to a nearby metal building where a man was welding some parts. I asked if he had a phone I could use to call for a tow. He said a tow truck company might not come out in mud like that, so he closed his shop and we went out in his 2-wheel drive Chevy pickup. We nearly got stuck trying to reach my van so he turned around and went back. He said for me to stay put while he got his farm tractor about a half-mile away. With his tractor he pulled me back to solid land again. (I took a photo of him hooking chains from his tractor to my van.)

I only had about ten bucks on me and I had to force him to take the money. I think his name was Ray and I owe him for saving me much grief. In the dozens of times I've past his shop since then I've never seen Ray or his shop open. God was watching me that day, although he was probably laughing at me for being so dumb.

I ended up getting a 4-wheel drive 1985 Bronco II and it never let me down during the 11 years I had it.