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        Trains leaving Primm have roughly the same miles to cover to Ivanpah as I do driving. So leaving Primm when the train does is necessary, though they slow considerably coming out of Nipton, which makes beating them to Ivanpah a snap. As you approach the exit off I-15 onto Nipton Rd you have gained some considerable elevation and can see all the way to Jean still. Well as I looked back down the valley I saw yet another westbound train, though from this distance I couldn't tell what. (Well over 30 miles at this point as the crow flies) I was a happy camper I'll tell you. It was about 2 pm now and the day was going to be winding down. I thought I'd catch these two trains coming up the hill, maybe follow the second all the way to Kelso and call it a day. Good plan right, well it got better.
        Sitting at the top of the exit looking at the 2nd westbound the scanner comes on with the DS telling the train in the picture above to be prepared to meet 2 at Ivanpah and to try and stay off the crossing there. I was jazzed now. 4 trains in the next hour, right on, and off to Ivanpah I went.  I made it to Ivanpah in enough time to head toward the approaching MROWC and caught them just a bit west of Moore. The clouds had built a little heavier, and the one overhead only obscured the first 2 locos, and was gaining on the front. Just a few more seconds and the nose would have been lit quite nicely, but it wasn't in the cards...
        I followed the train into the siding at Ivanpah and we waited. Remember how the DS wanted them to stay off the crossing? Well I don't know what how he wanted them to do it, because they only had a few hundred feet to spare in the siding and the crossing is in the middle, so staying off it is not an option. I suspect this happens often as Ivanpah is the longest siding on the entire eastern slope at almost 10,000 feet, with the others being less than 6,000'. Those longer trains are always going to get held here. Guess the locals are used to it, all 5 of them.