In the near vicinity of the “Natural Crossover” at M.P. 39.1 on the Cajon Sub where Main 1 westbound goes over and becomes Main 2 the location has been one of the coolest (neatest) train watching spots in all of Southern California! One could drive a short distance on a dirt road and see and witness off the big cliffs a spectacular sight! The view has been destroyed with the putting in of the new Green Tree Blvd. overpass, and access is no more and the great view is simply not the same! For looky-loos and the curious, a visit to the site will change you forever with sadness … HOWEVER, it would seem Victorville (CA) could (NOT would) capitalize on the site’s notoriety, and somehow turn the location into a tourist attraction, with parking spaces, restroom, and a wonderful view of the many trains passing!
Very nearby is a camping location right alongside the tracks for the railfan campers among us. When my step-father-in-law was alive many years ago, he stayed there a number of times. He used to tell me how cool it was to see so many trains pass there!
Yes, we did have a thread on this subject. But, this thread was a feeler, and until I could get out that way. Ironically, it was yesterday afternoon, and, in my assessment, there is really bad news! It is not clear what is going on, but things don’t look right and it appears all further construction has stopped!
It is hoped a few photos can be posted either tonight or tomorrow.
Is there still real-estate and access that would allow construction of an overlook to act like the Rochelle ‘railroad park’. And perhaps add one or two steer-and-zoom railcams?
From ground level, the new Green Tree Blvd. bridge. When this contributor was on site, train action was heavy.
(Click on photo to make bigger.)
As seen in the below view, much of the mountainside was cutaway. Previously, one would severely look down onto the “Natural Crossover.” Now, one is almost at the same level as it (top track).
One can see how much the new roadway was cut down by the embankment on the left, and this isn’t half of it!.
You, in my view, posted all Greek. Sounds like a new lingo was created! What is a heatmap? (Dictionary.com doesn’t even list the word!) How does that relate to bridges and their locations?
The Green Tree Blvd. Bridge was a badly needed structure and is a boon for locals!
On July 14 you brought up duplicate subject threads. That is the case occasionally, or a slightly different perspective is highlighted. The “Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates” thread has been running for 15 years, and obviously isn’t one of those. Interesting, a non-TRAINS website where users have to pay to use chronically updates with new threads! That site also seems to be clickish, and if you are not part of a gang, many in the gangs attack and slander you! The TRAINS forums are not like that and is a model for other forums.
It looks like the bridge has pedestrian walkways on each side of it in addition to the bike lanes striped on the road.
There are bike lanes that appear to be connected to the bridge and striped through the bridge on each side of the traffic lanes. There are no sidewalks connecting to the pedestrian lanes on the bridge but perhaps those will come in the future.
There are wide shoulders and it does appear that a person might be able to park completely off the road and the bike lane and walk on to the bridge pedestrian lanes.
It appears possible to grab some photos through the “spindles” of the fence on the overpass.
Back in the late 80s I spent time for a severAl years n the neighborhoods to the east visiting a friend who who was stationed at George Air Force base when it was still a base. The run around that lake was six miles.
This article has more photos of the Green Tree Road bridge from various angles and locations.
The article indicates bike lanes are part of the project, which can be seen on the road striping on each side of the road and are divided from auto trafic on the bridge itself, and then there is a divider between the bike lanes and pedestrian lanes on both sides.
Of course nowhere in the Atlas, at least nowhere on what is diaplayed on an iPhone, is there the least shred of information on what this means or how to use it. Presumably it’s a kewl way to show how many pictures are in the database by location.
