Southwest Trip - 3

Hi, On the second full day of our trip, 3/23, we headed east along UP's former SP Sunset Route.  We left the motel a few minutes before 8:00 AM and took I-10 over Beaumont Pass.  Our intent was to catchup with an eastbound or to hear one behind us on the radio so we could find a good spot to wait for it.  The bast laid plans..., as they say.  No eastbounds.  Lots of westbounds, though.

This was not the problem it might seem, however, as the scenery over the western stretch was not particularly attractive.  The portion of the line along I-10 is very urbanized and I-10 frequently is close to the track.  Once off I-10 on the east side of Indio the line is flat and straight although there was an abundance of searchlight signals.  Things did get more interesting when the line broke away from the Salton Sea.

After traveling a couple of hours we came upon a work zone where a section of second main track was being installed.  Eventually an eastbound arrived at the work area and when it was cleared through we beat it to Niland, CA where classic signal bridges were still standing.  This was about 3 hours after leaving San Bernardino.

From Niland we attempted to follow the railroad.  Although we eventually ran out of back road we did find a number of locations around Iris siding.  The first group of photos are at East Iris.  First up was a westbound stack train.

The train in the first 2 photos had a single DPU.

An eastbound was next

with a pair of DPUs.

Some more time was spent exploring and we concluded we had to back track to Niland.  On the way we encountered this eastbound,

again with DPUs.  The DPUs certainly added to the productivity this day.

Another westbound was right on the heels of the one above so we shot it at West Iris where it took the siding for a meet.

The eastbound was not long in coming.

Here are its DPUs.

Another double tracking project was underway at Mesquite.

It was now time to get down the road and find a place to stay in Yuma, AZ.  As we got near to the state line at Araz we decided we had time to explore and found the signal bridge shown below.  The train showed up after a short wait.

Again this train had a DPU.

A short distance further east was Winterhaven, CA, right on the state line.  We observed the westbound stack train leaving Yuma and doubled back to shoot it.  When we arrived at this spot an eastbound manifest was about to pass.  We were concerned it would block our westbound so we did the best we could with the meet.

Fortunately, the trains were running left handed.

So ended our day.  I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Southwest Trip - 2

Hi, After spending the night at San Bernardino, our second day of the trip, 3/22, also was devoted to Cajon Pass.  Our first train was an eastbound UP headed for the former Los Angeles and Salt Lake route.  We caught it at the west end of the Cajon Siding interlocking.

Another UP train headed for the same route was about 20 minutes behind.

We then moved to Sullivan's curve where we waited almost 2 hours for the next train.  UP ran some light engines about 20 minutes prior to this train.  There were a number of westbound trains on the south track but we were not in position to photograph them.  Note, the 2 north tracks are the longer but lower grade route than the south track where the  ruling grade is about 3 percent.

We had noted an operating searchlight signal where CA route 138 crosses the south track so we set up there to shoot the next westbound.  This is one of a very few searchlight signals left on BNSF in Cajon Pass and, as the picture show, it won't be around for long.

We then moved on to Summit.  First up was an eastbound which I shot from a point a little way down the hill.

This train was followed shortly by a UP westbound that had come off the former LA & SL.

Another eastbound BNSF train provided the opportunity to move even further down the hill.  The westbound signals for the Silverwood interlocking can be seen in the top right side of the photo.  UP trains have the option at this point of continuing on BNSF into San Bernardino or taking the new connection, built in 1999, to the Palmdale Cutoff.

Before we left Summit a westbound BNSF train showed up.  The grade crossing is gated and there is a security guard shack.  However, shooting is still possible from this location.

Our next stop was Frost, located between the east side of Hesperia and the west end of the Upper Narrows in Victorville, CA.  At this point westbound trains cross over the eastbound track to access the South track.  If the dispatcher decides to run a westbound down one of the North Tracks there are interlockings at Lugo and Summit for him to change things.

Lugo also has operating Searchlight signals at this time.  Here a UP train heads west.

This train off the former LS & SL is connecting to the Palmdale Cutoff.  The train will have easier access to UP's former SP West Colton Yard.  It also reduces trackage rights mileage and charges for UP.

An eastbound BNSF stack train is climbing through Silverwood.

Another UP train will take the connection to the Palmdale Cutoff.

Our final location for the day was the east end of Cajon Siding.  Here a UP train with a pair of DPUs heads for Los Angeles.

Our last train was an eastbound BNSF stacker climbing the hill.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  In the next installment we will follow the Sunset route to Yuma, AZ.

Southwest Trip - 1

Hi, Friends Dale Diacont, Jeremy Beck, and Jim Mixter joined me for a trip to Southern California and Arizona.  We left Washington on March 21 in the morning and returned the afternoon of April 2.  The plan was to follow the Sunset Route of UP into New Mexico, if possible, with time spent on 2 shortlines, Copper Basin and Arizona & Eastern, as well as Cajon and Tehachapi Passes.  As I will relate in later posts the best laid plans...

We landed about 40 minutes early, picked up our mini van and headed for Cajon Pass.  Our first photo location was at Keenbrook where the following 5 photos were taken.  Photos 1, 3 and 4 are of eastbound trains climbing the grade while photos 2 and 5 are of westbound trains dropping down grade.  In spite of having made a number of trips to Cajon this was a new location for me and there are more angles left to explore.

After leaving Keenbrook we headed uphill and stopped to explore Swarthout Canyon Road where we shot this westbound UP stack train.

Still further upgrade we stopped at Cajon Siding.  This westbound was photographed coming off the north track.

It was a very heavy manifest freight and had a pair of DPUs on the rear.

Our next to last stop for the day was at Cajon Junction, where the tracks pass under CA Route 138 using 3 separate underpasses.  Soon after we got there a BNSF stack train came up grade on their North Track.

A few minutes later UP sent a train up the Palmdale Cutoff.

Our final location was at Summit where we caught the same train we had photographed at Cajon Junction  coming through the cut there.

Our last shot of the day was of a westbound coming through a crossover from Track 1 to Track 2.  By doing so this train would go down the North Track instead of the South Track.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  There are many more to come.