Every day they roll through Tahatchapie, California, by the dozens.

Freight trains, some several miles long, are traveling what's called the Tahatchapie Loop.

It's a 19th century engineering marvel, one that enables heavy trains to cross the Tahatchapie Mountains,

climbing 77 feet in less than a mile.

The loop is essentially a big helix, which attracts train buffs from around the world. It also attracts train robbers or tweakers who prey upon any trains that might break down there.

Keeping those tracks clear and the trains moving is the job of the rapid responders who work out of the

Burlington Northern Santa Fe shop east of town. That was the job Rob Limon was doing on the day he

died in August 2014. Remember, this wasn't his normal gig. Rob usually worked 90 miles away at the big train yard in Barstow.

He just happened to be filling in that day, doing a favor for a friend.

Had Rob been killed by a tweaker? Someone who'd wandered into the train shop, looking for something to steal.

That's what Rob's friends thought. We thought maybe it was some kind of railroad robbery.

BNSF put out a reward, you know, if anybody knew of anything, silent witness, that type of thing.

The reward was for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

A hundred grand. And wouldn't you know it? The tip-line phones soon started ringing.

How many phone calls you got? A lot. I would say in the 50s or more, there was a lot of phone calls.

This is the story of that hunt for a killer and of the twisted trail that led to a conspiracy

to hide the truth. Truthful people usually don't get caught in those kind of traps.

In this episode, you'll hear how the murder of Rob Limon shine a bright light on high times

in the high desert. So many salacious details started coming out. They made their choices or adults.

Unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't work out the way it hoped.

You'll hear how that murder destroyed close friendships.

After that, I had to get a restraining order.

...