The 3043 is a good, clean unit with decent ex DMVS paint, and a great puller. The reporting marks are "WRIX" as it belongs to Western Rail. EWG has held on to it because the 2891 (ex UP exx D&RGW 5362 SD40T-2R tunnel motor) was having some electrical issues - it wouldn't load. Brad from POVA fixed the 2891 on 4/13 by replacing the load regulator and some -2 cards. We tested 2891 (mu'ed with GP7 1617 no less) on the Geiger spur "new section" early Thursday (4/14) morning. 2891 now runs, loads, and makes transition just fine.

In other interesting EWG news, Lafarge has begun unloading cement at their new location on the "Fairchild Lead". This is part of the project to rebuild runways at Fairchild AFB and Geiger field. They take 10 cars of cement at a time. The "Fairchild lead" is the remnant of the old Geiger spur that used to go across the east and north sides of FAB. The Fairchild lead begins at the north end of the new track west of Craig Rd and East of the base and it ends at the east gate of the airbase. It was used for car storage before Lafarge entered the picture.

Yesterday we pulled the first 10 empties and spotted 10 more loads for Lafarge. These cars are quite heavy and gettting them onto the Fairchild lead involves a shove up a short section of 3% grade WITH CURVES! This proved to be almost more than 56 year old GP7 1617 could handle. We had to pull the cut down to Craig Rd and then get a (throttle 8) run at the hill. The old girl was up to the challenge and got the job done.