Saturday Morning I got, got ready, grabbed my soon-to-be 2 year old son and headed up the Freeway to Cajon Pass. Right off the bat a southbound BNSF was passing under the I-15. I followed the tracks with my eyes toward San Bernardino to see a northbound heading in my direction. I then looked back to the Pass side of the freeway to see yet another train sitting at the lights. I then knew that it was going to be a great day.
I had only a couple of hours to spend on the hill before it was back to the house for some chores. I was just happy that the boss let me and Jared out of her sights for a short time to go railfanning.
The day before I made arrangements to meet Chad up on the hill, so sure enough as I approached the area that we committed to meet, there he was. As he will tell you, him and Joe spent the night under the stars as trains passed them by.
After proper introductions we were greeted with not one but two trains heading Northbound as they both came around the corner at the same time. A second later a southbound peaked over the Summit. For the remainder of my allowed time we saw about over 15 trains. There wasn’t more than I’d say 10 minutes that we had to wait for something.
My son Jared found favor with Chad’s homeboy, Joe. Joe and Jared took turns throwing rocks. Joe too has a son named Jarad just a little younger then my Jared.
BNSF seemed to be using a lot of helpers on the hill which I haven’t seen for sometime. To me, its been mainly D.P.U.s. So that was a treat as well. All in all it was a perfect day to sit back and view some trains.
Nice shots. I like the first one the best. Got to like those side by side races up the hill. It was a very busy weekend on the pass. We actually went up fri and stayed both nights. We camped on Hill 582 under the stars. I was going to get a room at the Best Western but they wanted way too much money for that dump. I’ll post some too when I get my film back. I got several 3 in one shots that should be good ones.
I like that first shot as well, especailly how one train has BNSF and the other has UP power. I also like the one with the yellow/blue SF loco passing the signal. Its got a nice color pallete, its nicely lit, yet the headlights still show up clearly.
I like the click-to-enlarge photos. Very nice, the page loaded quickly, but still has a full-res preview. How did you do that?
That is a question that Chad could answer better than I
It was nice to see a blue bonnett on the hill more than once.
I uploaded my pictures onto Photobucket.com then highlight the section unter the picture that gives it URL then past it onto this message board. That’s all that I do.
Hill 582 is named for the signal right below it on the #1 track, it is mile 58.2 from Barstow (Valley Jct. I think). It is just a hill that an old railfan that frequented it started fixing up in the mid 90s. It is NICELY landscaped with several varietys of cacti and trees. It is a refreshing (and sometimes nessasary) spot of shade in an otherwise shadeless place. The hill has excellent views of all three tracks. There is a gentelman named Dave that goes up there 2-3 times a week to water and haul away the trash (there is a can). This is not a Forrest service facility but they do allow it to exist (this is USFS land). There is also a register box where guests can sign and leave comments. And as you can see in the picture of Jared there are several memorial plaques there too. If anyone visits the hill be sure to sign the book and leave only footprints (and a little water is always good).
Brian, You really need to set aside some time to spend more then a few hours up there.
Zak, So true about all the NS power out here lately both on the Sunset and BNSF. It’s a wonder they still have enough locos for there trains.
Not these days but in the 90s they were quite common. We do see LOTS of NS and not as much CSX. On some days 2 out of 3 trains will have at least on NS in the consist and sometimes more NS then BNSF. Same thing on the Sunset, LOTS of NS power.
