legends · 4 min read ·
Plough Log
A snowplough driver clears Mile 14 over and over, and the road he leaves is longer each time.
**Highlands Roads Authority — Winter Service: Snowplough Log (Vehicle SP-6, driver: Ewan Mackie)**
*Route: A-road, Strath Dunmore to Kinlochan Pass, 22 miles. Plough and grit.*
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**11 Feb · 22:00.** Depart depot. Snow heavy, wind NE 6. Visibility poor. Plough down. Salt on. Mile 0.
**11 Feb · 22:40.** Mile 6. Cleared. Slow going. Drifting at the bends.
**11 Feb · 23:20.** Mile 12. Cleared. Cat's eyes visible. Ice on the verge.
**11 Feb · 00:00.** Mile 14, the Braes. Cleared. Wind easing.
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**11 Feb · 00:40.** Mile 14, the Braes. Cleared. Snow heavy again.
*Driver's note: I think I've lost count. The mileposts all say 14. I'm sure I passed the Braes at midnight. I must have turned back. Radio fault.*
**11 Feb · 01:20.** Mile 14, the Braes. Cleared.
**11 Feb · 02:00.** Mile 14, the Braes. Cleared.
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**Depot radio log (11 Feb)**
02:05. Depot to SP-6, status?
02:05. SP-6 to depot, Mile 14, the Braes. Making slow progress. I keep coming round to the same bend.
02:06. Depot to SP-6, you must be going in circles. There are no loops on that road.
02:06. SP-6 to depot, I know. I'm following the road.
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**Driver's log (12 Feb)**
**03:00.** Mile 14. I stopped the truck. I got out and looked at the marker post. It's the one I've seen: grey concrete, the number in white, the lichen on the north side. The snow around it is pristine. No tracks. The road behind me is clear, ploughed edge to edge, the salt still dark on the tarmac. The road ahead is clear, ploughed edge to edge, the salt still dark.
I cannot tell which way I am going.
**04:30.** Mile 14. I have been counting the passes. Seventy-one times. The truck's odometer has gone up by twelve miles. The marker has not changed.
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**Depot radio log (12 Feb)**
05:10. Depot to SP-6, send a position.
05:10. SP-6 to depot, Mile 14, the Braes.
05:11. Depot to SP-6, say again.
05:11. SP-6 to depot, Mile 14. I've counted a hundred and four.
05:12. Depot to SP-6, Ewan, we've had a vehicle go out to find you. They've done the whole road to the pass and back and there's no sign of the plough. They say the road is clear to the pass. They say there's no snow on it at all.
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**Driver's log (12 Feb)**
**07:00.** Daylight. The snow has stopped. The road runs between two white banks, straight and dark, and the sun is on the hills. I can see the pass in the distance, a notch in the skyline, eight miles off. I have been looking at it all night. It has not got any closer.
Mile 14. The marker is on my left. The Braes bend is on my right. The snow on the verge is perfect. I have not seen another vehicle or a person or an animal for nine hours.
I notice something I did not before. The marker post has a name on the back. It's scratched into the concrete with a nail. The writing is shaky, as if it was done with cold hands. It says: *E. Mackie, Sat. 11 Feb.*
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**Depot radio log (12 Feb)**
09:00. Depot to SP-6, Ewan?
09:00. [No response.]
09:30. Depot to SP-6, we are sending a team to Mile 14.
11:00. Team to depot, we are at Mile 14. We have the plough. It is parked at the roadside with its engine running and its lights on. The cab is empty. The fuel gauge shows full. The odometer reads 3,412 miles more than it did last night.
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**Highlands Roads Authority — Incident Summary (SP-6)**
Driver E. Mackie was last seen at 22:00 on 11 February. The plough was recovered at 11:00 on 12 February. No sign of the driver. No sign of a collision. The road surface between Mile 0 and Mile 22 had been ploughed 211 times in the period, according to the plough's position log.
The road has been closed. A new plough has been assigned.
*Note by the depot manager: the log from SP-6 is still running. This morning's entry reads: **Mile 14. Cleared.** The plough is in the yard. It has not been started. The log does not come from the plough.*