Cajon Pass, California

Hi All,

Looks like we need a Hot Spot on the West Coast. Cajon Pass takes you north from San Bernardino to Barstow through a box canyon called Cajon Pass. Lots of train action, Union Pacific and ex- Southern Pacific, and Santa Fe, now BNSF. Amtrak comes racing up the mountain which runs about a 2.5 % grade. Lots of trains, tremendous horsepower, lots of black smoke exhaust and the ground shakes as if an earthquake was going on. Mountain railroading at its best. Beats the heck out of Horseshoe Curve.

Cajon Pass is the route to get you from Los Angeles to Arizona and points east. And vice versa. From Interstate 15 Freeway, lots of places to photograph and watch and LISTEN. The trains easily drown out the sound of the Freeway traffic.

Yup. I was out in Los Angeles for business last week, finally took some time to get there. well worth the trip. Three lines, easily accessible off I-15 at 183, all sorts of traffic, all sorts of power, lots of trains all morning... nothing like this on the East Coast, and Mormon Rocks to frame the images. I'm amazed how long the stack trains are going up that grade, seeing them stretched out rather than a glimpse through the trees around here in NJ... truly astonishing.

Hi,

Glad that someone pointed out Mormon Rocks to you. I am surprised that they stopped there. Two more spots should have been pointed out. Both are named for famous RR photographers. The first is Sullivan's Curve. Very famous landmark and very famous photographer. The second is Stein's hill. This one isn't so obvious for its namesake. It is named for a photographer named Steinheimer. A long climbing S curve on the then Santa Fe tracks, now BNSF. This hill is the one closest to the I-15 Free way. No trains highball up that curve. They break their backs. It is run 8 up Stein's Hill. Bring your earplugs.

I stumbled upon Mormon Rocks myself, I had looked in the TRAINS Hot Spots book and thought twice about buying it, but I realized that I could find my way around without difficulty. I wish I had seen your post last Thursday, I actually was there Saturday morning! One question... A north/eastbound BNSF stack train passed me on what I guess is track 2 (the center track at 138), and then either stalled or stopped about a mile past 138. Then two westbounds ran down track 1. Was this a stall, or is this stop near the summit normal?

Hi,

So far all you said is normal. What isn't normal is when you get to Summit, you will find the whole thing gated and well patrolled with RR security. I guess they think you will steal the tracks.

Some time ago, I was told where to park my car and proceed ahead on foot. I wanted to take my Beach Cruiser, the five speed Schwinn. They advised me that would be like commiting suicide. The Bulls would be right on top of me. Never did take that chance.

Thanks Alan!

I'll stand by my earlier comments, there is nothing like this in the northeast. I've been to Horseshoe Curve, I've crossed the Hellgate Bridge, I'm old enough to have seen the carfloat era on the Hudson. Great memories, but to see the shear horsepower on display and see the strength of American railroads, you have to see Cajon Pass. Made me think seriously about buying BNSF stock!

Rich

Hi Rich,

The way it is done today is from the 15 freeway or safe places such as that, with videocameras and sound recording equipment. Long lenses are the way to go, zoom lenses abound. Believe it or not, the crewmembers, especially the enginemen are still friendly and will wave back or give you a short toot or two on their air horns. I guess they feel safe inside their engines and aren't worried about you waving to them. Just remember when you wave do it with an opened hand. If they think you have rocks in your hand they will reach for the microphone and be on the radio tout de suite.

I exited 15 at 138, turned left, and got off 138 betweeen tracks 2 and 3, looked like onto the old highway immediately north of 138, bounced between 2 and 3 as I saw signals change, felt vibration, or heard horns. Took some photos the old fashioned way, slide film. Got a friendly toot of the horn several times. While I was parked there, several BNSF MOW pickups passed, as did USFS people, everyone was smiling and waving. No hassles, no confrontations, not even a second look. Maybe because I just look like a middle-aged business guy taking pictures of trains...

Sometimes it appears Cajon Pass gets a little too hot:

http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_3669600

Brief passage:

• Eleven cars of a westbound BNSF Railway freight train derailed on their way out of the Cajon Pass on Monday morning, spilling corn kernels in 3-foot-tall mounds onto the tracks and tearing up the rail bed.
  Shortly after 10 a.m., the rear eleven cars of a 6,289-foot train traveling west from Barstow to Los Angeles hopped the track near Cleghorn Road, turning several train cars on their sides and leaving others tilted at a precarious angle. All of the overturned cars carried corn, but information on the the rest of the train's cargo was not immediately available.
  
  BNSF investigators assigned to the crash did not have an explanation for what went wrong, said company spokeswoman Lena Kent.
  
  A railroad enthusiast at the scene said he watched the derailment occur.

Hi All,

Heard about BNSF's recent problems. It must be borne in mind, that even in good weather, the Cajon Pass tracks are treacherous and very unforgiving for Engineman or crew member errors. Usually it is excessive speed. Once there was a brake failure, once there was a fire. Cajon has an interesting track record with "accidents". However, I will venture a guess that if you calculate accidents/ number of trains / per year, you will come up with a rather low figure. I will even venture a guess that this figure will be lower than the number of accidents per year for airlines. However, one must admit, that when an accident occurs on Cajon Pass, it really is an outstanding, notable, and an accident of significance. As I stated earlier, Cajon Pass is rather unforgiving for errors.

As an aside, I am quick to also note that the worst incident I ever experienced while driving occured on Cajon Pass, Interstate Ten Freeway, coming home from Las Vegas. A driving rain storm, driving winds and visibility rather bad. I dropped down to about 30 mph, pulled over to the right lane, there are four to six, depending on the area of Cajon Pass, and had the windshield wipers and defoggers on high. Saw all sorts of horrors, but kept off to the right and slowly made it down the Pass. I did see some really bad accidents. Some people simply refuse to adjust to the road conditions, and pay the price. I would imagine that you could extend that to train travel on Cajon as well.

living on long island, where a hugh frieght consists of 5 cars, youse guys really know how to hurt a guy.. Cajon pass is three solid days away, but it is on my list...Cajon,T'Pi , and where else????? Tnx Ed

Hi EdM,

Where do I start ??? We have horseshoe curves, Tehatchipi Pass, we have mountains to climb, Beaumont Hill. etc. etc. I would not be surprised if the AAA gave you directions to these Hot Spots and more. And if you want to see freight yard action, don't forget Barstow, CA. Used to be Santa Fe's largest freight yard. And how about Colton, CA, used to be Southern Pacific's huge freight yard, now Union Pacific. When # 3985 came to town, it had to use the huge Wye at Colton to turn around. What a sight that was. Have you ever seen # 3985 completely bathed in its own steam ??? All other west coasters and points in between jump in here anytime you like.

Ed, sounds like you're driving, take 80 west to Nebraska and Wyoming... scenery's not spectacular across the plains, but the traffic on Union Pacific parallels the interstate in many places, and for about 400 miles is never more than a few miles away. Then you have a choice, either follow 80 into Nevada and along the passes past Reno, or head south to Los Angeles at Salt Lake City and I-15. I'd suggest the northern route, it's still amazing to see how the Central Pacific was built through the mountains there now going on 150 years ago. Come home from Los Angeles up Cajon Pass, through Barstow on 15 to 40, and follow the old Santa Fe across Arizona and New Mexico. As Pennsy suggests, the west coast guys will have an additional list of favorites.

I happen to live 5 minutes away from Cajon Pass. One thing you have to watch out for is that a lot of times lately BNSF Railroad Police will follow trains up the pass. Just be nice, show them you are taking pics and mean no harm, and they'll be cool about it.

Hi All,

Looks like you don't have to really search for a hot spot sometimes. Often a hot spot finds you.

Riding the five speed Schwinn alongside State St. in Pomona, CA, I heard a loud bang. Kept riding and where the old Southern Pacific tracks diverged from the Union Pacific tracks, there was a UP freight on the tracks heading south, the old UP tracks. The loud bang was a load of piping, about a yard inside diameter, and about the length of the flat cars. Seems that whoever loaded that flat car didn't tighten the load as tight as it should be, and the piping broke free and landed on the tracks nearby, fouling both main lines. What a mess. Lots of yelling and shouting and the Metrolink RR police showed up and just stared at it. The tracks that were fouled were also used by Metrolink, and are part of the lawsuit that Metrolink has with UP concerning UP's lack of giving priority to the Metrolink Commuter trains, instead of their UP freights. This caused the passengers to arrive late, normally. Now, they wouldn't arrive at all and would have to be bused around the tracks in question. Watched the activity for a while and then left after the hook arrived to put the pipes back on the car and secure them adequately.

Yup, sometimes the hot spot finds you.