To WAF, ain't that something... I'm a frequent visitor to Stampede & I still can't figure out the reasons why BNSF doesn't run the line more efficiently than they do. I count as a personal friend a recently retired BNSF engineer, ex - BN, exx - MILW Lines West. He told me that only a relatively few crews are currently qualified on the Stampede Sub; maybe this explains the deadheading of West crews.
I have enjoyed fanning Stampede since I moved up here in 1995. I've never understood why so many fans consider Stampede " inaccessable ". Most of the Forest Service roads up here are superhighways compared to those in SoCal. Of course most of the locations on Stampede are a " 1 shot " deal, due to dead end roads & backtracking. And the train frequency is miniscule...