Cajon Pass, CA.

Hi All,

One of the great places to view mountain railroading in Southern California is Cajon Pass. This is the route out of the Los Angeles basin heading for Nevada and Arizona.

Originally, the tracks were used by Santa Fe, Union Pacific, and Southern Pacific, and represent a climb of over three percent. Today, BNSF, and UP make the climb. Amtrak makes the climb at speed as well.

Mountain Railroading is something to behold. Umpteen thousand horsepower hauling endless freights, including TOFC and COFC. Ground shaking and thundering, black smoke belching from the engines' exhaust and the train isn't even doing 30 mph. The engineman and fireman simply sit back, feed sand as needed and patiently wait it out.

The climb parallels Interstate 15 going North. Many places along the route are ideal for train watching. And as you come down the mountain towards Los Angeles or San Bernardino, you can look over the cliff and see the trains battling the climb. Some famous spots along the climb are Sullivan's Curve, named for a famous RR photographer, Herb Sullivan, and Stein's Hill, named for another famous RR photographer, Richard Steinheimer.

The Cajon Pass is a must see for visiting RR fans to the area, or for the local RR fans.

Hi,

There are several videotapes and DVD's of Cajon Pass. Pentrex, Trains Magazine, Valhalla etc. are available.

Besides watching the trains climbing and descending the Pass from the I-15 freeway as you travel it, you can also pull off onto a rest area and use your camera. By the way, a rest area is anywhere you can safely pull off the freeway and either stretch your legs, as a minimum, or use the services available, such as restrooms, food, fuel. The one that is probably most popular for railfans using the freeway as a place to take photographs, videotape, recordings etc. is just off the Kenwood Ave exit. I believe that is the correct name for it. On the Northbound side of the freeway is a McDonalds and the old Tiffany's coffee shop, since closed, and on the Southbound side is the 76 gas station, and other services. You have a vantage point of looking down into the pass, and to your right, north, you can see Stein's Hill and Sullivan's Curve.

There are videiotapes and DVD's of # 3985 and # 4449 climbing Cajon Pass as well. When they did it you can't imagine how large the crowds and helicopters and following cars there were. They blew their whistles all the way up the pass. If I remember correctly, # 4449 stalled on the climb, overheated bearings.

Hi All,

I normally stick to the freeway areas while watching the activity on Cajon Pass. However, those around you, and those that live in the area always tell you about those individuals that prefer to wander among the tracks of Cajon Pass and the surrounding area. Have heard many tall tales of these people getting rousted by railroad bulls, forestry security, and some of the landowners there. I have also heard that you have to wear high top boots and other protective gear, since there are unfriendly animals as well. One specifically mentioned rattlesnakes. Something to avoid. So, if you are in the area, and wish to watch the trains, binoculars, telephoto lenses etc. are the way to go. Some of the fellas with the video cameras have highly directional microphones, possibly some even have shotgun microphones, all designed to pick up just the sounds of the trains. Or, in general, Railfans are a very resourceful lot and are innovative as well.

Hi,

There have been some threads on how many engines can be seen hauling a freight. That is, the maximum number of engines ever seen on a train. Cajon Pass qualifies on that one. It would not be unusual to see a 150 car freight, fully loaded with as much as 30,000 horsepower on the point. Some years ago, helpers were commonplace on Cajon Pass, however nowadays that is a rarity. Union Pacifid, Unlimited Power, will put as many engines as needed at the point to allow the train to climb Cajon Pass, at the speed limit.

Amtrak now will go with a typical passenger train of ten cars and place 8000 hp at the point. When Santa Fe and SP did it they would use 6000 hp.

Hi,

I notice that while there are many visitors to this thread, so far no one has made any comments or additions to it. Strikes me as odd. This is only one great spot in Southern California where train watching is excellent, with plenty of trains to watch, and from the freeway's areas, safe and affords an excellent view without any danger. Moreover, the other railfans generally are more than happy to advise you of proper photo exposures, places to shoot from etc. etc. Generally very friendly and helpful neighbors.

As an aside, you sometimes find photographers there at night, with their tripods taking time exposures. They allow the trains to "paint in" the photos.

Hi All,

Interesting phenomenon happened yesterday. Went into LA via Metrolink to do some shopping. As usual, the train was packed and a fellow took the seat next to mine. Again, as usual we started talking. Seems he is a locomotive engineer for BNSF. Note he did not call himself an Engineman. I mentioned that he probably ran up and down Cajon Pass, putting his 6000 hp diesel into run eight and sitting back and patiently waiting for the engines to climb up Cajon. He said he had done that many times and just got used to it. It was quite a climb, even for all the horsepower he had at his command with the long string of cars, full goods and empties, behind all that horsepower.

I mentioned to him that at one time there was a thread on a forum that Santa Fe had considered electrifying parts of the RR, including Cajon Pass. It never happened, but the postings speculated on seeing GG-1's climbing Cajon Pass for the Santa Fe, with Santa Fe markings on them. He said he had heard of those engines but couldn't see what advantage they would have. Then I told him that diesel engines have limited horsepower, limited by the maximum horsepower of the diesel itself, while electric locomotives are not, they will receive whatever amount of power they want from the Catenary. So, an electric locomotive has two horsepower ratings, continuous horsepower, for the GG-1 4620 HP, and short term horsepower, usually about 20 minutes, for the GG-1 as much as 10,000 HP. He was amazed and said that was incredible. It would have been a tremendous advantage to have an electric locomotive, or several MU'd, to climb Cajon Pass. He could reach the speed limit, or possibly exceed it so that the speed limit could be increased. When I told him that when an electric locomotive is in the dynamic braking mode, helping to slow down the train decending Cajon Pass, it dumps the generated electricity back into the Catenary. If timed properly, the decending train would help power the ascending train up the hill. That is when he flipped out and said what a shame it was that Cajon Pass, and other parts of the Santa Fe, were never electrified.