As an apprenticing S&C maintainer at the time, I took a break wiring up the new LED intermediate signal to snap a quick pic of hotshot 199 charging up the grade between Sprague and Vassar surrounded by some just past they’re peak fall colors. The searchlight signal in the distance is the eastbound approach signal to Sprague, equipped with “take siding” arrow indication and all, is nearing the end of its service, seeing its last few trains before being retired and torn down as the new signal system is installed block by block eliminating the dependency on the deteriorating pole line barely visible in the middle of the bush to the right.
