Training the desert

We’re still in the desert, perhaps an hour or so before Reno. We haven’t seen the sun today; it’s been overcast and snowing. Lots of flat land here, with mountain ranges in the distance (turns out the mountains I see aren’t the Sierra Nevadas, because they’re Very Much Bigger, as in 6000 feet of elevation). We’re around 7 hours behind schedule. A couple times we’ve been reduced to 20 mph due to frozen switches, but right now we’re at full speed ahead. The conductor just told us (to allay passenger worries) that Union Pacific will be sending a snowplow train right ahead of us as we travel through the mountains, so that should help. Ok, just had announcement that we’re 30 minutes away from Sparks Nevada, then 8 minutes later is Reno. I’ve heard that all other roads, and other trains, are all closed except for us. Yay for us!