Chris Parker had never photographed on BNSF's Needles Subdivision so I proposed the day after Thanksgiving Day out on Friday and back on Saturday. He agreed and since his truck needed to be serviced, his company gave him a rental car to use and it was decided that he would pick me up at 6:00 AM on Friday morning.
11/23/2007 I was ready to go and Chris picked me up on time and we made our way north on California Highway 57 to Interstate 210 to Interstate 15, taking that to Kenwood Road then driving old Highway 66 through Blu Cut and just below Cajon, spotted our first train.
BNSF 4509 East came through the pre-dawn light at Cajon; we would see it a few more times later on. We stopped at the McDonald's at the Highway 138 exit.
Our train continued to climb the grade on Cajon Pass and back on Interstate 15, I had the camera ready.
What is left of the tunnels on Cajon as the third track construction progresses. We drove north to Barstow and stopped at the Western America Railroad Museum.
Santa Fe FP45 95, ex. Santa Fe 5945 1970 nee Santa Fe 105, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1967.
United States Marine Corps 44 ton switcher 268236 built by General Electric in 1941.
Union Pacific SD40-2 9950, nee Missouri Pacific 3320, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1980.
The Barstow station and Casa del Desierto Harvey House built in 1911 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and replaced an earlier one built in 1885 that burned in 1908. It was designed by renowned Fred Harvey Company architect Mary Colter in a synthesis of Spanish Renaissance and Classical Revival architecture styles. The historic structure is an elegant presence in the Mojave Desert beside the intermittent Mojave River. Santa Fe then closed the station in 1973 and the City of Barstow obtained the station in 1990's.
The Historic Harvey House operates as a professional office building, exhibit space and has two large ballrooms used for social events. Other public institutions located here are the Western America Railroad Museum on the east side and the Barstow Route 66 "Mother Road" Museum on the north side. It also currently functions as an Amtrak stop on the Southwest Chief.
Santa Fe caboose 999728 built by International Car in 1978 and Union Pacific caboose 25599, built by International Car in 1964.
A last view of the Western America Railroad Museum, after which we filled the car with petrol and proceeded to Daggett, but there were no trains. We continued east and came upon on a train stopped at a red signal.
BNSF 743 East just to the east of Coolwater. We had just returned to the car when another eastbound BNSF roared by so we started our chase and rejoined Interstate 40, taking that to Hector Road and went towards the tracks, beating it by a few minutes.
BNSF 5024 East came through Hector and we drove back to National Trails Highway and started east when we spotted another westbound BNSF with a Canadian National locomotive in its consist, so chased it west on Interstate 40 to the first Newberry Springs exit and went north back to the tracks.
BNSF 5294 West with Canadian National C44-9W 2600. From here we returned down Interstate 40 to Hector Road and took National Trails Highway east to Pisgah and onto Lavic, where we drove the dirt road to get down to the track. I walked over to the tracks and here came our next train.
BNSF 5472 West at Lavic.
BNSF 1107 East.
BNSF 5519 West.
BNSF 4509 East, the same train from Cajon Pass. We then made our way to Ash Hill.
East of Ash Hill, we caught BNSF 4509 East for the last time today. We saw a westbound climbing from Siberia and went back to the cut just east of Ash Hill to set up.
But first, BNSF 668 East came through.
Next was BNSF 7603 West. We then returned to Siberia to wait for our next train.
BNSF 1118 West passed through on its way to Ash Hill and points west. The two of us continued east but did not get too far past East Siberia when we spotted our next train approaching up the grade.
BNSF 5430 West climbed the grade towards East Siberia. Back in the car, we almost reached Bagdad when we spotted our next westbound train.
BNSF 7633 West climbed out of Bagdad. We then drove into that ghost town.
BNSF 7623 West with CSX 4773 in the front motive power consist and two more sets of DPU's, one mid-train and one on the rear. After this train, we proceeded east and drove through Amboy and into Cadiz, where we found a green westbound signal.
BNSF 4366 West with a DPU on the rear. We drove back out to National Trails Highway, or old Route 66, and continued east, climbing over the divide and near Essex, spotted our next westbound train, so turned around and managed to drive into Danby and waited.
BNSF 7722 West came through Danby at track speed. We drove back out to the highway then passed through Essex and turned onto the road to Goffs, continuing to follow the track. At the Interstate 40 bridge, another westbound came through and we turned around to get ahead of him.
This westbound at Fenner, BNSF 7556 West.
Nearing Goffs, we caught BNSF 4151 West just west of there. From here we drove into Needles and stopped at Carl's Jr. for a late lunch which we took with us as we made our way to the Colorado River bridge then exited Interstate 40 at Park Moabi and drove to below the bridge. About twenty minutes later, I spotted a westbound coming from the Arizona side of the Colorado River.
BNSF 4661 West entered California as it crossed the Colorado River, then we waited for our next train.
The Colorado River bridge. We waited over an hour and as we were losing the sunlight, decided to return to Needles.
Back in Needles, we caught BNSF 4515 East with Kansas City Southern 4503 in its consist.
The Needles station area before we went to the Best Western Colorado River Inn for the night and walked over to the Wagon Wheel for a excellent dinner where I had a 14 ounce steak, which hit the spot after a fantastic day of picture- taking along the BNSF Needles Subdivision. Back in the room, I showed Chris some DVD's before we called it a night.
11/24/2007We arose just before sunrise and packed, checked out and filled the car before driving west out of Needles on Intestate 40. Just after we crossed the tracks near Java, we spotted our first train.
BNSF 7702 East with CSX 2725 and DPU's on the rear. We continued west, taking US 95 north to the road to Goffs where we turned left.
At Homer, we caught BNSF 4442 east then we went to Goffs.
On the way there, another eastbound BNSF went by across the valley, after which we stopped at the highway bridge just north of Essex.
BNSF 5071 East with CSX 5333 in the consist. We returned to Cadiz where we raced a train to the grade crossing there and won!
BNSF 7707 East then continued west to Amboy.
As we neared Amboy, we stopped for a picture of Amboy Crater.
At the grade crossing, we caught BNSF 1073 East then resumed our westward drive to Bagdad.
BNSF 4034 East ran through Bagdad.
At the grade crossing east of Ludlow, we photographed BNSF 7609 East and I took Chris to a unique spot I knew west of there.
An eastbound BNSF freight approaching Ludlow. We stopped in the town for some snacks before we going to Pisgah on the old highway.
Pisgah Crater.
BNSF 7553 East at East Pisgah.
Also here was BNSF 5485 East. With that, we drove west to Barstow and saw no more trains before travelling on the old highway towards Victorville.
At the cement plant at Oro Grande, a large surprise. On the left is Bangor and Aroostook GP38 362, ex. Bangor and Aroostook 91, exx. Conrail 7663, exxx. Penn Central 7663, nee Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Line 2003 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1967. On the right is Bangor and Aroostook GP38 360, nee Bangor and Aroostook 88, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1967.
We stopped at an In-and-Out Burger for lunch before I took Chris up the Summit Valley back into Cajon Pass. We drove Highway 138 then took the road to a hill where some of Chris' railfan friends were having a gathering and we joined them for a few minutes.
The gathering.
BNSF 7633 East climbed towards Summit.
BNSF 4353 East with DPU's on the rear climbed towards Summit next. We had a westbound Union Pacific freight coming out of Hiland so I suggested to Chris we go down to Canyon, so we drove back to Highway 138 and found a westbound Union Pacific train in the siding there.
Union Pacific 5360 East arrived into Canyon.
Union Pacific 5360's DPU arrived mid-train and once he had cleared, it was just a few minutes before the westbound Union Pacific began to move out of the siding.
Union Pacific 5342 West climbed the grade out of Canyon and passed the Mormon Rocks. Chris and I then drove home the same way we came out, but with a stop in Diamond Bar for petrol before he dropped me off at home, ending a fantastic weekend of train photography on the BNSF Needles Subdivision.
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