Chapter 1606
Get Down To Business
CamNet secured the heavy weapons range for their group. They watched as a truck unloaded ammunition for the Howitzer, mortar, and tank in the distance.
There were several attendants and instructors there.
"You people have some pull." The head instructor said.
Young Jesse and Hanna-Camille could see the instructors all check them out.
"We do." Young Jesse said.
Hanna-Camille wanted to remind them of the rules. She wanted to set them straight as to the nature of the girls.
"Your tips will be doubled or more, if the instructors don't ogle our group." Hanna-Camille said. "It's all female. It's all they look at personally."
The head instructor was warned about it. The parent company stood to make a lot of money if the girls, the guests, were satisfied with the experience. He would ensure there were no problems or difficulties on the part of the staff.
"I'll remind the men. There are two female instructors on the way." The head instructor said. "They're currently with the M60 tank. It will be added to the lineup as well."
Hanna-Camille didn't want to seem rude. It didn't matter if they were male or female. It mattered about the way they acted. It was about personal responsibility and integrity.
"Male instructors are fine, as long as they do their jobs." Hanna-Camille said.
The head instructor nodded. He didn't want any problems.
"I'm Matt." The head instructor said. "I'm going to get you started."
The three of them shook hands.
"This is Jesse. I'm Camille." Hanna-Camille said.
Matt got straight down to business.
"This is an APC or Armored Personnel Carrier. This version is an M113A2…." Matt said.
He went on to give them a brief history and explain everything.
They all wore special head gear with a headset for communication.
Hanna-Camille was first up in the driver's compartment.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 26 1963
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cameron looked towards the east.
"Do you see the fencing up ahead?" Cameron asked. "It's on the south side of the railroad tracks."
Young Allison looked ahead.
"I see what looks like a guard booth as well." Young Allison said.
Cameron took a look around them. There were no other vehicles.
"It's the launch site for LA-98." Cameron said. "LA-98C is higher up on the hill. We can't see it from where we're currently at."
Young Allison looked around the area. There were hills in all directions around them.
"This seems like an out of the way location for a Nike site." Young Allison said.
Cameron didn't want Young Allison to worry about anything.
"LA-98 was only equipped with Nike Ajax missiles." Cameron said. "They never received the Nike Hercules missiles. The launch site itself will be abandoned in five more years. Someone will build a few buildings almost over the top of it. Parts of it are still there and not covered with earth in modern times. I don't want to go any closer. It will make the guards nervous if we do."
Cameron didn't want her description recorded in case she ran into some difficulty at any other military sites she might decide to infiltrate during the current time period. She was fairly certain if she were to approach the guard booth, and allow the wind to continue to blow her short skirt up, the guards would probably never see her face at all. Their attention would be focused elsewhere. A loose top seemed to have the same effect. The bottom was always able to generate more curiosity than the top, even though in actuality less could be seen, at least under normal circumstances. The smooth clean look was still another twenty years away. In her case, everything could be seen on the bottom. It was a trait of all the females in the Resistance. She believed it was an effective strategy.
"You can turn around and go back to Soledad Canyon Road." Cameron said. "We'll continue through the canyon."
Young Allison did as she was instructed. They would continue to parallel the railroad tracks and the Santa Clara River. In a few miles, they really entered a canyon. There was no more wide open space anywhere.
"The railroad tracks on the other side of the canyon are about to cross the river." Cameron said. "You can see the bridge. It goes right into Tunnel 19. There's a short curved section of track and Tunnel 18 is only a few hundred feet away. We can drive over the top of Tunnel 19 if you want, there's a dirt road. The canyon is very narrow here."
Cameron was aware of previous flooding in the area between Tunnel 18 and Tunnel 19. The canyon was extremely narrow. Several times when there was heavy rain, the passage of the river itself became blocked with debris. The two railroad tunnels ended up acting like culverts to allow the water to continue on the river's course. Needless to say, it did damage to both tunnels and filled them with debris as the water receded.
Young Allison visited the location in modern times. She could see the road was very narrow.
"I'll stay off of the dirt for now." Young Allison said.
She needed to pass through a highway tunnel for vehicles. It was because there was no room for the road in the narrow canyon. It wasn't very long. In a minute, there was a sign for Agua Dulce Canyon Road. She knew there was a small airport situated there amongst the hills. Where there were aircraft, there was avgas.
"Do you want me to take the road to the airport?" Young Allison asked. "We still have half a tank of fuel."
Cameron looked down at her short skirt.
"I think we can make it a little further before we need to tank up." Cameron said.
Cameron knew they could also visit Vasquez Rocks if they took the other road. It would best be left for a journey at another time. It was another famous filming location, even if it wasn't used as frequently as the Chatsworth or Santa Susana areas. The latter two areas were much closer to Hollywood and the other associated movie studios. There were several located throughout Burbank and North Hollywood. The less distance a studio needed to move personnel and equipment, the more time and money was saved doing so. Based upon how the director set up the shots, would determine which areas could be used for more than one shot. There would be over two thousand movies and television shows filmed in the Chatsworth area from 1912 onward.
Young Allison drove past the turnoff and over a couple of bridges. The first bridge took them over the railroad tracks. The second bridge took them over the Santa Clara River. The canyon was much narrower now. There were a lot of twists and turns to the road. Only a few of them were sharp. She checked out the feel of the car on the curves. She was glad to do it without any traffic. She could see the car handled surprisingly well for being a large vehicle. Not only was the car set up for acceleration, it could also handle the curves as well.
There were a few campgrounds along the way tucked into the canyon. Most of them were between the river and the railroad tracks, some of them were on the other side of the railroad tracks in the hills.
After a few more minutes, Cameron wanted to point out another feature of the canyon.
"In the location off to the left, is where the Nature Preserve will be established a decade from now." Cameron said. "It will end up with quite a few felines, including tigers and lions."
Young Allison visited the overlook before in modern times. She saw some of the big cats. Most of them were on top of their enclosures in the sun. She thought it was an instinctual thing to do so they could have a better view of what was happening around them. She also knew they would live out their lives waiting for someone to feed them as they slowly forgot their instincts on how to provide for themselves. Maybe if some unfortunate individual climbed the fence, which happened before, to pet one of the big cats, it wouldn't be as quick to grab them because it wouldn't see them as food. Perhaps when the big cat realized there was no food coming, then the trespasser would serve the purpose instead.
"I think people should have thought twice before they acquired one as a pet." Young Allison said. "It seems like it would cost a lot to provide them with the proper diet. I think it would consist mainly of fresh raw meat. I wonder how many of them were killed once the cost of caring for them became a burden."
Cameron felt a slight glitch impulse.
"The Nature Preserve was better for them rather than termination." Cameron said.
Young Allison went over a tall bridge which crossed the river and the railroad tracks. They continue through the canyon. After a while there was a sign which indicated the community of Acton was up ahead. She checked her speed to make sure she was within the limit. She'd been pushing it through the canyon earlier.
"This really seems like an out of the way location." Young Allison said.
Cameron scanned the area around them.
"The 14 Freeway will be built about a mile north of where we're at." Cameron said. "It will breathe a little life into all of these out of the way communities."
Young Allison spotted a cantilever signal bridge when the road neared the railroad tracks.
"You don't often see that type of block signal." Young Allison said.
Cameron was aware the majority of them were searchlight signals.
"The active stations still have train order signals with the semaphore arms." Cameron said. "I saw them on the station at Lang."
Cameron knew the train order stations handed up 'orders' to the head end crew, as well as the rear end crew. They used a device shaped like a 'Y' with the orders tied to a string between them. The crew member who would retrieve them, would stick their arm out and catch it in the crook of it. It informed the crew what they were supposed to do and when. The stations were originally connected with telegraph lines. There was actually a difference in railroad telegraphy as compared to International Morse Code. The differences were the letters F, J, L, O, P, Q, R, X, Y, Z, and all digits except the number 4. Later on phones became more common. Most of the locomotives and cabooses were equipped with radios as well. The written train order was still what they used to operate by. Complete radio dispatch was still a few years away.
They passed by a community with the name of Paris. It was right outside of Acton. A few minutes later, Soledad Canyon Road rejoined with Route 6. They were on Sierra Highway again. It was right near the location of Vincent. It was the top of the grade for both sides of Soledad Canyon.
There was a sign for the Angeles Forest Highway. It was another road through the mountains. There was major intersection up ahead. Route 6 took a turn to the north. The road straight ahead turned into Pearblossom Highway. It would go through the community of Little Rock. It would eventually end up near Victorville and Route 66.
Young Allison wasn't quite sure where they were headed. The railroad tracks took a giant horseshoe curve off to the east before they came back over and crossed over Route 6 at a grade crossing. The extra distance was needed to keep the grade from being too steep. The tracks were now on the west side of them.
Cameron pointed out some things along their location.
"We'll pass by Una Lake, also referred to as Wagon Wheel Lake." Cameron said. "It's a very small but deep lake. We're currently near the San Andreas Fault. We'll cross over it. Lake Palmdale is just off to our left. It's another reservoir. It was created in 1924. It's another earth filled dam."
In the time period they left from, Young Allison remembered every time they took the 14 Freeway, they passed through a cut in the rocks where the San Andreas Fault ran. The strata was completely twisted in every direction possible.
"I'm glad this area here isn't too well populated, even in modern times." Young Allison said. "It doesn't seem like the brightest idea to put this type of reservoir on top of the major fault in California."
Cameron didn't think so either. Decades later, a group of houses would be built on the other side of the 14 Freeway right next to the fault. She really wondered if greed had no bounds.
A few minutes later, she pointed out the location of where the 'Colton Cut Off' would be constructed. It was constructed in the late Sixties to bypass the Los Angeles area for through freight headed east along the Sunset Route. It would also regulate Soledad Canyon to a very second rate status as a freight line.
The county would eventually take over the track from Los Angeles to Palmdale. They would use a route change Southern Pacific would conduct next year in 1964. It eased many of the curves. It was to allow higher speeds. Espee didn't do the track work. They concentrated on the Colton Cutoff instead. It saved a lot more time. The county would foot the bill and construct the improvements three decades later when the line was mainly used for commuter traffic. It connected the Antelope Valley with the San Fernando Valley and ended up at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.
They soon spotted the Palmdale depot. The wooden depot was still there. It would be replaced with a steel shack within a few years and demolished.
Cameron glanced over at Young Allison and smiled.
"You know where we're at now." Cameron said. "Do you want to drive by where your house will be constructed?"
Down To Business
Some things are more difficult than others
To absorb, understand and process
Especially when it happens
Under conditions of stress or duress
Few seem to understand the meaning
Of success or even happiness
Often when they do move ahead
It's even easier to falter and regress
It is the sour fruit of their own actions
Which seem to cause them distress
A self created mess is no good
It can even lead to madness
The goal should always be
To stress to excel and progress
There will always be moments
Of darkness and weakness
When the fun and games are over
One can try to impress
It's time to wake up
And get down to business
Nobody