Western Railroad Discussion > Current Favorite Railfan Locations in California

Where is your favorite location for watching trains in California among the major locations (Shasta Route, Feather River Canyon, Donner Pass, Cuesta Pass, Tehachapi, Cajon Pass and desert areas including Barstow and why?

Kent in Carmel Valley

BNSF Cajon and Needles subdivisions. Why? its simple, not only tons of endless traffic and parades, but speed, and lots of it, mainly on the east slope of Cajon and most the Needles sub is full speed, I love it. I just got home from spending two weeks down there last night, it was one hell of a trip, had a total blast down there.

Calwa crossing on BNSF Bakersfield Sub is a good one. Just south of Fresno at the North Ave exit and then east. I park under the overpass every Friday and watch trains. Most Fridays I see from 10 to 14 trains on both the BNSF and the UP plus Amtrak in about 3 to 4 hours.

SS

Cajon Pass, only an hour away.

Needles Sub, go 4 wheeling and shooting and trainwatching.

Tehachapi - fun to visit or was, unfortunately the volume of trains compared to the first two locations, is disappointing.

Fullerton, less than 15 minutes from home. Lots and lots of trains.

Used to drill at the old Navy Reserve Center in Pomona, again lots and lots of trains between the UP and SP in those days. (We had a guest instructor in Modern Cargo Operations from Cal Maritime down one time and he just went buggy about all the trains and all the container variations. Damn there was his lecture right across the street.) Haven't gone watching in Pomona in a long time. Not sure where I would go now. Possibly the bridge at the new Metrolink station. (But I can't say if that is off-limits to non-paying passengers.)

Black Butte, mainly the Weed area south to Dunsmuir.

DynamicBrake Wrote:
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> Where is your favorite location for watching
> trains in California among the major locations
> (Shasta Route, Feather River Canyon, Donner Pass,
> Cuesta Pass, Tehachapi, Cajon Pass and desert
> areas including Barstow and why?
>
> Kent in Carmel Valley

Kent,

For sheer number of trains: Colton Crossing or Cajon Pass.

For Mountain scenery: Donner Pass or Sacramento River Canyon.

For lots of water: Surf Line or Coast Line.

For lots of passenger movements: Mission Tower LA, Santa Clara station CalTrain, Martinez station.

For rugged scenery: Feather River Canyon, Tecachapi Pass or Carrizo Gorge.

And on and on and on. :)

J.

Donner is my favorite by far. There are many ways to get a great photo out there.

Never been here but if I ever did it would be the Gateway Sub.

Places I have been that I really liked. (The Shasta Route)

I'm into the Needles Sub from Barstow to just beyond Needles always something to see.

The best place for traffic, variety, and
SP trains just pounding thru the diamonds
was old Redondo Tower in LA.

Too bad they made a mess of the whole area now.


Best place near home...Cuesta

Other places I've liked over the years...
Colton Crossing
The diamonds at Stockton

My favorite spot is Caliente, on the Tehachapi line. The big sweeping curve and the frequency of trains is what draws me.

Most aesthetically pleasing location:

Grass Lake Summit, Hwy 97, Siskiyou County CA, UP Black Butte Sub MP 368. Snow covered lake in the winter-spring, lake and marshes in the summer-fall. Good frequency of trains, including Amtrak 11/14. Elevation 5,000 feet with clean air. Good forest service campgrounds nearby and a CalTrans rest area across the highway. And few foamers to block your photos.

Oh, did I mention Mt. Shasta in the background?

I like the new part of the Riverside Passenger station. Lots of BNSF and UP and Passenger. Great viewing location.

frcanyonsub Wrote:
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> Most aesthetically pleasing location:
>
> Grass Lake Summit, Hwy 97, Siskiyou County CA, UP
> Black Butte Sub MP 368. Snow covered lake in the
> winter-spring, lake and marshes in the
> summer-fall. Good frequency of trains, including
> Amtrak 11/14. Elevation 5,000 feet with clean air.
> Good forest service campgrounds nearby and a
> CalTrans rest area across the highway. And few
> foamers to block your photos.
>
> Oh, did I mention Mt. Shasta in the background?


No crud!
I spent the night at that rest area last Sept.
7 trains during the night!!!

Although I haven't lived in the state of California very long, 3 years at the end of this month, I have had the opportunity to visit and enjoy some of the great railroad locations that I had interest in visiting long before I moved here. I decided that some visuals were appropriate.

Tehachapi may not have the volume of trains that Cajon has, but relatively busy, twisted, single track mountain railroading is impressive in my book.

I've also managed to visit the Feather River Canyon a couple of times and it has fantastic scenery and the single track appeal as well. I've found that it is a difficult place to photograph given the access to some locations, and trains are hit and miss.

I'd like to spend more time on Donner Pass later this summer. I've managed a few trips up there in the past and the scenery helps to make up for the lack of trains running over the mountain.

The Needles sub is interesting and I plan on visiting it again, hopefully sans the destroyed tire that stalled my trip there this spring. Someday I'll visit Cajon, the Yuma Sub, Valley Sub and other locations on the hit list.

Regards,
Sean

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Grass Lake - with water !
Shooting from the tail end of the wye (r-o-w) and a sunny day with puffy white clouds, somebody mentioned something about a mountain ... It's just a grand day.



TCS - t-town holler

My favorites are Cajon, less than 30 min from home; Fullerton, great time watching trains with my railfan friends; and the Needles Sub., love the desert landscape.

Ken

That's easy. Campo. Surrounded by fellow railfans who understand history, running trains, saving history, restoring depots, locomotive, cars, being with my extended family. Not just to "view" trains but to "live" trains - it's Campo for me.

shannon Wrote:
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> Calwa crossing on BNSF Bakersfield Sub is a good
> one.

Bleechhh....

I agree Calwa has a lot of action, but with all the big rigs trying to maneuver around you, and the endless stream of cars constantly blasting by, it's just not near the top of my list of places to railfan. Not very "user friendly", and certainly not a great photo spot. I suppose if you sit in the car with the windows rolled up, and find someplace to park that isn't in the way of the big rigs it might be okay.

Personally, I'd say Fullerton is much gooder. Nice, relaxing, quiet place with free wireless, good restaurants next door, lots of BNSF and passenger trains, and it's accessible by train. Plus if you have an internet connection you can fire up ATCS and monitor all the trains in the area.

My favorite is probably Cajon, because of the scenery and lots of action and all the places to explore.

Colton crossing is okay, but isn't a good place for photos, and is more hardcore (as opposed to relaxing). I much prefer Pepper Ave., overlooking the Colton Yard area.

I'm not a big Tehachapi fan, mainly because it's so far out of the way of everything, and I always feel like I'm trespassing. Though I'm looking forward to visiting the Caliente area at some point.

Barstow is okay, and I kinda like the Amtrak station/RR museum on the north side of the tracks. Lots of action, though usually not a good photo location. Once I get my 4WD I'll be spending a lot of time between there and Needles.

Bakersfield Yard is kinda fun when I'm in town. You can park right near the BNSF office and watch the yard action. There's usually something going on whenever I'm there.

Like frcanyonsub, I'll go for Grass Lake and vicinity. Nothing beats that mountain in the background. The attached picture is from the first time I passed through there, showing my then mode of transportation.

- Kit

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