An Afternoon in the Mojave Desert

It's been a long time since my last post. I've been more involved with my flickr account. However, last Thrusday (July 15, 2010) I noticed the build up of thunder clouds in the east while I was at my daughter swim lessons and decided that there could be some great opportunities to capture some storm action. I took off and made my way up through Cajon Pass where I made a stop to look for a different view of a place I used to spend so much time. I made my way up to the off road vehicle staging area above Summit and found a very nice view of the pass. This first image shows the pass with the clouds forming. The temperatures at this location were in the low to mid-90s.

I hung out there for a while and captured a few images of the vegetation that surprisingly still green.











A BNSF mixed freight made its way up the pass leading to this different perspective of train traffic.









After the train passed by, it was time to continue the journey into the Mojave Desert. My route took me along the surface streets leading to Hesperia and into Victorville. I jumped on I-15 and headed toward Barstow. The storms along the highway were beginning to dump scattered rain showers in the distance, so I pulled over at a couple different locations to photograph the action.
















I continued past Barstow and got of the interstate just past the Marine Corps Logistic base east of Barstow and made my way toward Daggett. The lights of a westbound train appeared in the distance, so I pulled over to set up for a few images with the approaching storms to add some drama. The train came to a stop, which meant I had time to wait. The train got its light to continue to Barstow, and it was time to get some images.

This first image seems to give a better perspective to the size of the storms in relation to the train.









The train approaches my location and passes me by with the storm clouds making their way over Dagget.









Continuing along Santa Fe St., I came to a set of signals by the grade crossing for Hidden Springs Rd. and decided to get a few images from this location.











The storms were growing and I got a few more images along National Trails Highway (historic Route 66). This black and white image shows the storm clouds over I-40.











At one of my favorite spots led to a image of the mother road under stormy skies.











I continued along Route 66 past Newberry Springs but decided that it might be a good idea to make my way toward home given the time and what appeared to be less storm activity eastward. I jumped back on I-40.











I decided to get off at National Trails Highway at Newberry Springs to get some images of the storm clouds over the hill in the area.









Making my way back toward Daggett after capturing my images at Newberry Springs, some irrigation lines that were in an alfalfa field(?) caught my attention.




















Continuing on along Santa Fe St., I came to the signals where the train I photographed earlier had stopped. They were lit and seemed to be begging for a picture. :-)











Continuing on after capturing the images of the signals brought me back on to historic Route 66 where I decided to set up for a train shot since the signals seemed to indicate something would be coming along soon. I was not disappointed. Two eastbound trains came out of Barstow.

































After stopping for gas in Barstow, I got on I-15 and continued my trek home. The storm activity was quite active along the way which prompted me to get off at Hodge Rd. to find a somewhat remote looking location to photograph the activity.





Retracing my route through Victorville and Hesperia led me back to Cajon Summit where I was greeted with this beautiful sunset and, as luck would have it, a train heading down the tracks.










It was a fun day with the excitement of the thunder storms. There were a lot of lightning strikes and claps of thunder to enjoy. I only wish I could have captured a lightning bolt or two in my images.

Thanks for stopping by and looking. I hope you enjoyed the report.

Ken

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

Favorite Rail Images from 2008

With 2008 drawing to a close, I put together a slide show of some of my favorite images from my adventures along the rails during the year. The show is around 15 minute long and is chronological in order through the year. You might have to down load an updated version of the free presenter software in order to view the show. The software is windows based. I hope you enjoy the show.








I want to wish everyone the best for 2009.

Ken

Wide Angle View

At another website that I visit, there is a photo assignment to capture an image using 21mm focal length or less. The prompted me to get out and try to capture some images with my 17mm to 40mm lens. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

A lone hopper sits in an industrial spur in Pomona.













A set of tank cars parked in the spur at a candle factory in Pomona.













A couple of views of the cabooses and private cars inside their cage at the Fullerton Amtrak Station.