My friends Bruce Fenton, Jeff Hartmann and I decided to ride our bicycles to Cajon Pass and met at my house in Santa Ana at 4:00 AM and took off riding up Santa Clara Avenue to Tustin Avenue, which we took to Lincoln Avenue in Orange, turned left onto Santa Ana Canyon Road to where it ended at Gypsum Canyon Road. From here we had to ride on the shoulder of California Highway 91 east, getting on and off at Weir Canyon Road then continued to Green River Drive, where we exited the freeway into Corona, getting on West 6th Street before reaching Magnolia Avenue and rode that to Riverside.
Magnolia turned into Market Street and we turned right onto University Avenue then at the Union Pacific station, we turned left onto Vine Street and found the rear of an eastbound Union Pacific train. We followed this street to Riverside Junction where we found the the rest of the train.
Union Pacific DD35A 72, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1965 and retired in 1981. It was sold to Bargains Galore in Vancouver, Washington on May 3, 1982 and scrapped in Tacoma. The second locomotive was a DD35B of unknown number and there were three SD24Bs rounding out the consist.
Continuing our bicycle journey, we pedalled along East La Cadena Drive, crossed California Highway 91 and rode South La Cadena Drive down the hill to cross the Santa Ana River before going under the Santa Fe tracks and riding to South 7th Street, which we took to West K Street and stopped at Colton Tower. Our wait was not long as we heard a horn coming from the west.
Union Pacific DD40AX's 6906 and 6936. 6906 was built by Electro-Motive Division in 1969, retired in June 1984 and scrapped. 6936, on the other hand, was built in 1971 and is the only surviving operational DD40AX, being owned by Railroading Heritage of Midwest America.
The three of us rode back to La Cadena Drive, went under the Southern Pacific main line and Interstate 10, where we were now on North La Cadena Drive, taking that to Mount Vernon Avenue and the Santa Fe station in San Bernardino. We went to the right of the station and parked the bicycles just in time for our next train.
Santa Fe SD45-2 5704 in Bicentennial paint, was on the point of the Super C, the fastest freight train in America at the time. Built by Electro-Motive Division in 1973 and later became BNSF 6484, it was retired after four decades then returned to its bicentennial livery by Mid-America Car and donated to the Orange Empire Railway Museum, also known as the Railway Museum of Southern California in 2022.
While the variety of trains seen was excellent, this turned out to be the hottest day of the year. Back on the bicycles to Mount Vernon Avenue, we crossed Santa Fe's A Yard and went by the west end of their San Bernardino Shops then started the climb to Cajon Boulevard and paralleled the tracks all the way to Devore. We plodded along with Bruce and I riding side-by-side and Jeff bringing up the rear and did not look back as it was really extremely hot. We turned onto Devore Road going up the hill, crossed Interstate 215 then stopped in the shade of the old petrol station. However, Jeff was not there and we looked back down Cajon Boulevard and after about ten minutes, saw someone riding up the road. As Jeff made his way towards us, a westbound Union Pacific freight with a U50C on the point went down the grade through Devore.
After Jeff rested, we continued up through Devore on Devore Road, which turned into Kenwood Avenue then we started to descend swiftly, cycling under Interstate 15 and knew we had to make the ninety degree turn at the bottom onto Upper Cajon Boulevard. We were flying and with our brakes working, we managed that turn and we were now in Cajon Pass. Riding upgrade, we went through Blu Cut, crossed the San Andreas Fault and soon turned onto Swarthout Canyon Road, which took us to our destination of the Cajon Campground. Here we would wait for Jeff's father John to pick us up and met a gentleman who gave us soft drinks and cookies as the Santa Fe trains passed us. All too soon, John arrived and we loaded our bicycles into the car and were off for home.
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