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

Some Free Time in Cajon Pass

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. I had a busy summer at both of my colleges and did not really have much to share. I am now on a three week break before the fall semester starts at both of my colleges. I made a few trips up to Cajon Pass this week, and I'm sure I'll be back before the break is over. I thought I'd share a few images from my wanderings around the the pass.

Monday morning (8/4/08), I went up to the pass and spent a few hours watching the trains and capturing images. I arrived in the pass around 6:30 a.m. It was pretty gray and overcast at first. The first train I was able to capture was a Union Pacific (UP) mixed freight train heading down the Palmdale Cutoff. I set up for the train near Mormon Rocks and came up with these two images. UP 5384 leading the train across the dry wash as it makes its way south.















As I was scrambling down the embankment, I saw the DPUs (Distributed Power Units) at the end of the train and came up with this grab shot.















After getting back to my car, I made my way up State Highway 138 to see what was happening at Summit. A BNSF manifest started down the pass. I captured a few images of it and saw another train come around the curve above Summit. It was Amtrak's Southwest Chief (train #3). It started to overtake the manifest. Here is an image of it as it rounds the curve above Silverwood.















I got in my car and made my way down to Cleghorn Rd. to set up for a shot of this train as it came down the track from Sullivan's Curve.















After the Southwest Chief cleared, I waited for the BNSF manifest to appear on track 3. Just as the train came into view, a BNSF truck made a dash across the tracks in order to avoid waiting for the train.















BNSF 7712 passed by my location.















It was back to Summit to see what was coming next. Another train started down track 2, so I made my way back to Cleghorn Rd. to capture this image of this colorful set of locomotives led by BNSF 4712.














After capturing images of BNSF 4712, I decided to take a drive along the UP tracks to Sullivan's Curve after a quick stop at one of the fast food establishments in the area. I wanted to catch something coming around the curve with the new track laid in place. An eastbound BNSF baretabel came up and around the curve. Shortly afterward, a southbound UP train came into view and allowed me to capture this image.















I really liked the sky at the time and the way the clouds were sprawled out over the rock formation. Now if I only had a train in the image.















Another train was making its way up the tracks, so I decided to take a drive and explore for a different photo location. I drove along the Palmdale Cutoff where it is high above the BNSF mains at Martinez east of Summit. I used my 200mm lens to capture this image of BNSF 7550 working its way through the S-curves.















I started back toward the street. As I made my way down the road known as Powerline Road, I saw another train heading upBNSF track 3. I made my way to Summit and had just enough time to get into position for shots the train as it rounded the curve above Silverwood. The train was slowing down when I heard a horn in the opposite direction. BNSF 512 was leading a manifest, and a container train was heading down the same track and crossing over to track 2. the result was this image of the head ends of both trains meeting.





















I turned around as BNSF 512 creeped up as the train in front of it cleared.





















I made may way down to Cleghorn Rd. and set up for images of BNSF 5345 coming down from Sullivan's Curve. I decided to use the wide angle for this train.















It was time to head home to be able to go to my daughter's swimming lessons and support her as she learns to swim.


I made a second trip up to Cajon late Wednesday afternoon. I saw a few trains making their way down the tracks as I drove up I-15. As it turned out, I would only end up capturing one train. BNSF 7672 crosses over the dry wash as it approaches Highway 138.















I also made a trip this afternoon (Thursday, 8/7/08) with my daughter accompanying me, I was able to get a couple images worth sharing. This first image has BNSF 4301 leading a container train down track 1.















It got slow as I drove around looking for vantage points. Finally, there was some action. I had missed a train heading up track 1, but I guessed that the next train would also be coming up from San Bernardio, so I went back over to Sullivan's Curve to wait. I could hear the sound of a train working up the tracks and was in position to capture this image of UP 8469 leading a manifest around Sullivan's Curve on track 1.















It was getting late, so we made our way home to have dinner.

I hope you enjoyed the images and commentary. Thank you for stopping by and viewing my blog.

Ken