UP Heritage Chase

On Saturday August 1st, I made my way up to Cajon Pass to see if I could catch the Union Pacific KG1LA train which was being led by three of their special paint scheme units: UP 1983, the Western Pacific heritage unit; UP 1996, the Southern Pacific heritage unit; and UP 2002, one of the Olympic torch units for the 2002 winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. I was able to catch four BNSF trains before another rail fan I know pulled up behind me. I found out that the train I was waiting for was not far away.

This firs image shows the train as it passes through the cut below Summit.














After capturing my images there, I made my way to my next location. I had to see which set of tracks the train was on in order to make my decision on my next location. I saw that the train had crossed over from the BNSF tracks the UP tracks (the Palmdale cut-off). I headed for Mormon Rocks. As I passed over the BNSF track at Pine Lodge, I saw several people set up for wonderful angles to catch the train on the BNSF mains. They guessed wrong. Other were set up where they could make quick adjustments in their choice of angle. This second group made the wiser choice. I turned off to set up for my shot trying to position myself so would have minimal impact on the other photographer on the other side of the highway. This image is one of my captures as the train crosses Cajon wash.


On to the next location--Swarthout Canyon Rd. When I arrived at the grade crossing for the BNSF tracks, I was greeted by malfunctioning crossing gates. I knew they were malfunctioning since there were no westbound trains between this location and Summit and no sound of an eastbound working hard up the pass. To be sure of the eastbound issue, I turned around and drove down Cajon Blvd. to eye ball the tracks. They were clear, so I turned around and made my way up to the location along the UP tracks. There were quite a few photographers on the hill I was thinking of at first which caused me to rethink my choice of shot. I decided to use my 70mm to 200mm lens since I went with my wide angle the previous two locations. I tried to position myself to the side again to minimize my interference in the others images. There was a delay in the arrival of the train due to a northbound train coming up the tracks. This allowed me to make a few test shot for the angle I chose. After the train passed, there was a bit of a wait. Finally, just as the train was about to arrive, a person came driving up along the tracks, and I was sure I was going to miss my shots with his truck driving by between me and the train. As it worked out, he decided to stop just before entering my frame. Now I had to worry about the dust cloud that he kicked up and was drifting across my view. I am pleased with the resulting image.


My last location was Pepper Ave. where the train would come off the Palmdale cut-off and on to the Alhambra sub as it approached West Colton. When I arrived on the scene, there were a lot more people waiting. I don't think I have ever seen this location with so many photographers. I like the view in this image and was pleased with the result.

















One last image shows some of the photographers at Pepper Ave. as the train continued along the tracks.














Thanks for stopping by and looking

Ken