When I got to the third trestle I turned around and looked west for quite some time. No light was visible where it had been the last trip.
Saturday I drove to the spot where the Sticky Road and the tracks cross under Interstate 30. I walked the tracks in the 96 degree heat counting my paces and taking notes about where I could see I30 and Highway 53, where I was going up, down, or level, and where the trestles are. Here's a sketch from my notes. The horizontal scale is pretty accurate. Since I had no way to measure vertical distances the vertical scale is pretty rough, but qualitatively accurate as to where the track goes up and down.
I usually took two railroad ties to a step. I took about 10,300 steps, round trip, and between the exertion and getting somewhat dehydrated, when I was through my lower legs were ready to cramp at the slightest provocation. Therefore I did not go out on the tracks that night as I had originally planned.
Sunday, with my lower legs sore but no longer cramping, I drove down the cemetery access road from Highway 53 to where it meets the tracks just east of trestle 2 (429.8 miles sign). I carried a small telescope to the west end of trestle 3 (429.9 miles) and looked west to see if the I30 freeway is visible from that spot. It is not. There are small hills in the way. All that can be seen in the distance are the very tops of trees that may be in the general vicinity of the freeway. The lights we saw on the previous trip were not cars on I30.
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