Western Railroad Discussion > Cajon? Tehachapi? Same Day?

OK, I've booked tickets for my LA area railfan trip next month. I'll have two full days to railfan the area. One day is going to be an early San Diego trip and then afternoon/evening at Fullerton/Riverside I think...

Planning to rent a car for the other day... I'm thinking Cajon, Tehachapi, something like that... I've never been to either place... any recommendations on one over the other? Would it be possible to do both? How long of a drive (time) is it from downtown LA to either?

If there's any good online railfan guides to either, feel free to point me there...

Aaron
http://www.hockley.net/trains

It can be done. You should advertise the dates you are comming, because there maybe a few of us Angelinos that could show you around and how to do it.
-Charles

From Downtown probably 2 hours to Tehachapi, 90 minutes to Cajon, Tehachapi to Cajon is about 2 hours. So a day trip is pretty feasible. I would probably head for Tehachapi first for less rush hour traffic delays.

yes it can be done, follow the link below to follow our railfan bonanza on April 27, 2002.

superdave, southland warrior and karldotcom joined me for a day of train chasing in the Mojave Desert. tho we did not go to the loop, we added Barstow and Victorville, and finished with San Berdoo, Redlands Branch and the formerly stranded locomotives in Riverside after visiting Cajon.

http://members.trainorders.com/anaheim-al/barstow.htm

As an easterner who did the Tehachapi and Cajon routine for many years, let me give you my agenda when I visited those two sites.

First of all, don't try to do both in one day, you will never get any photos if you do. I always scheduled at least one day at each location and maybe carry it over to two. When I visited that area, I always stayed at the Red Lion Inn on Vineyard Ave. in Ontario, CA. My only reason for doing that was that my business for my company was in that area when I traveled there. Besides, I liked the Red Lion Inn's. Unfortunately, they no longer exist being bought out by another hotel/motel chain about five years ago. Anyway, my schedule was as follows.

On a Saturday morning, I would leave my Motel at about 4AM. Yes, 4AM and start my drive to Tehachapi for the day. I would take I10 to I15 toward Las Vegas up to Rt 138 WEST and then head up through Palmdale on Rt138 and pick up Rt14 up to Mojave. I would arrive in Mojave at about 6AM and stop at the McDonalds for breakfast. Then proceed up Rt14 which becomes Rt58 on up past Tehachapi and exit at Keene. From there you are pretty mich on your own as you will see the railroad all the way up. I usually hit the "loop" at about 7AM and set up for whatever came through. As you can see, from Ontario, CA it is about a 3 hour drive and that is early in the morning and stoping for breakfast.

For Cajon, I would go there on a Sunday and due to the fact that Cajon is much closer to Ontario than Tehachapi, I would leave my motel about 6AM, grab an egg McMuffin and head to the I10 and then the I15 toward Las Vegas. Once you get past San Berdoo, you can take most of the exits off of I15 to take pics. One of the best vantage points is to go up I15 to the Rt 138 and go EAST. Take that about 3 miles up the mountain and there is a vista off on the left with a beautiful view.

Now, since my last visit to Cajon, a lot of things have changed. There are now security police at the Cajon summit so be careful. Also, since the recent fires there, there may be restrictions so you will have to play that by ear. The most important thing to remember at either Tehachapi or Cajon is, BE SAFE & RESPECT THE RAILROAD PROPERTY. Things are a lot different from when I was last out there about 5 years ago. Have a good trip and I hope I have been of some help. Take care.

Jim

I would recommend choosing one or the other, not both...unless you are a real fan of long-distance high speed driving. The loop is about 2 hours north of L A..then it is 125 miles (2 good hours) from there to Cajon. Going the other way Cajon is about 90 min from Downtown (northeast) and then 2 hours to the Loop.
Even with the recent burns you can get to almost all of the cajon area.
The cajon railfan guide is located at www.cajonpass.too.it
As was said above the key to a good day at either location is to be out at the crack'o'dawn. My own choice on this one would be Cajon..Start at Devore and include stops at Blue Cut, Cajon/Cleghorn, Mormon Rocks and either hill 582 if your rental car will take the dirt roads...or the Summit area. Then follow the BNSF line out onto the desert at hesperia and Victorville before coming back to L A ...That will be a full day, and you should see 50 or more trains on the move. Plus freeways make the ride home relatively short and fast.
Have fun and report back to the group

Sounds like fun!
Ive done it and it can been done. Start as early as you can. Thats a given. Bust a move for Tehachapi to start your day. Hang at the loop till noon. Lots of angles and trains to explore. It tends to go dead for a while some days so you can chase one to Mojave. Lunch at the In-n-Out burger in Lancaster is recomended. Rested and ready cruise down 138 and there you will be in the middle of Cajon. Commence exploring and a guide is invaluable there since its so big and can be confusing. BTW all the road warrior time you just spent was during the worst hours of hard light for the day. It will be cooing off and you can get some great shots at Cajon. Wish I could go with you I haven't been there in four years.
Paul in Hillsboro

My two cents is to hit Tehachipi early because the local weather usually pushes whatever fog, smog or just plain flying dirt into the area around noon or so. The area around Bakersfield gets the crud earliest but Cable gets it the thickest due to the narrow canyon.
Sounds like you are not on West Coast time which makes the early starts easier. In-n-Out has geat burgers but the fries are disappointing, shakes should be good. Happy hunting.

I haven't seen it mentioned so hopefully I'm not repeating anyone.

Remember that Cajon is now a crispy critter, so depending on what your looking for it may not be the place to go. If you just want to visit to say you've been there, then certainly go. If your looking for those classic Cajon pictures, many of them are currently unavailable. :(

Brett

You didn't say which days of the week you'll be doing this trip. There is a lot of rail replacement going on in the Tehachapi area during the week and it sure would be sad for you to drive up there for a maintenance window!

Even if they are running, you will likely see more trains in the Cajon area than you will at Tehachapi.

Another option to consider would be to rent the car when you get back to LA the first evening, and spend that night in Tehachapi, driving up after the rush hour dies down in the LA Basin. Stay at the Travelodge at Summit in Tehachapi itself. Now, the next morning, you are already there! Even if there is a maintenance window, there will be early morning traffic. Then head south to Cajon to finish up the day.

It will be hot, especially at Cajon, so be prepared for desert heat (lots of water, sunscreen, etc.) There is a nice Tehachapi online guide, but I don't have the URL handy right now. Search the web on Tehachapi and it is sure to pop up.

ahockley wrote:
I'm thinking
> Cajon, Tehachapi, something like that... I've never been to
> either place... any recommendations on one over the other?
> Would it be possible to do both? How long of a drive (time) is
> it from downtown LA to either?

Hi Aaron,Doing both is possible,the LA traffic may be a problem on weekdays but weekends should be better.ideally you should stay at the north edge of the city the night before,make a big circle starting with either the loop on hwy5 clockwise or cajon counterclockwise.Rent the best fullsize car you can get,the road from cajon to palmdale is winding and lot of fun with a good ride,the rest of the way is highspeed freeway so a compact would be a pain.If you think you may never get back to the area then do both for sure,you'll regret it if you don't.both areas have their unique atmosphere,cajon is very busy,just off a main freeway,lots of trucks and travelers(maybe some junkies from the nearby city parked down by the river?),a relatively short hard straight climb up a wide deep canyon,big electric lines on the hills,scrub brush covered,a couple nice rock formations,a Mcdonalds at the junction to the loop,summit on a big barren hillside looks like an israeli outpost surronded by barbwire and floodlights(not sure what they are afraid of the only scary things I've seen up thre are the rent-a cops).but there are lots of trains and a few good out of the way spots to watch them.Tehachapi is more laidback,small winding country road,not many people,friendly locals,a very long winding climb up complex terrain,lots of tunnels,beautiful pine studded hills,cattle ranches,the loop its self very inviting,open access,never seen a rr cop there nor any reason for one to be there.(has a ranch in the center),very scenic.not as many trains but the slow flange squealing climb makes them more appealing than the cajon trains that just go by and go by and go by. with little fuss.
So try to do both but if you can't I'd vote for the loop because it's so unique( the only other one I've seen at williams loop on the WP is not nearly as appealing)....dave

additional thoughts from al perspective...

i'd agree with all the posts except for the In-n-Out fries comment, i like them, i like'em a lot. but, there are not as good as they were in the old days, much like everything else, eh ??

a day for each would be the preferred agenda, but it can be done.

french fry al

I generally take 395 from Cajon to 58 and 58 to Mojave or vice versa instead of 138 to 14.Unless there is a problem at Kramer Junction it's generally faster and you parallel the BNSF tracks. 138/14 no tracks, unless you take Sierra Highway (old road from Palmdale) which is signalized most of the way..

So if you only have one day and want to see both go for it.

Both areas could use a day, but you go with the time you have.

Cajon has some views now that you didn't have before that are now available.

Good Luck.

Tehachapi in the early morning (a stay at the Motel 666 in Mojave or up the mountain in Teh.) since traffic is pretty decent over the hill early then tends to flatten out til afternoon.
Across 58 through Kramer Jct. to Hodge Rd. dropping you right down onto the Cajon sub. along old Route 66 to follow back to Victorville and down into the crispy, crunchy, "anything blackened upon request" . .(oops, that was Redlands, sorry) Cajon Pass.


TCSmith

I've been to both in one day many times since the early 1980's and it can be done. My suggestion would be Cajon in the morning until about 11am then use the "high noon" light to head for Tehachapi via Kramer Jct. (Hwy 395 north, the Hwy 58 west). In August Cajon is usually haze and smog free until about 11am, then the seabreeze starts to push the crap air up into "the Pass". That problem isn't as bad in Tehachapi (except during the winter between storms) because the heat tends to bust the inversion layer and there is little or no marine air influence to increase the haze.

AM

For maps of the Tehachapi Pass area, go to the Kern Junction Railroad Photo Gallery website at: http://www.trainweb.org/KernJunction/index.htm

My vote for is for Tehachapi, for the simple reason that in the summer, it will probably be a bit cooler than Cajon.

Aaron, I lived there for 35 years and prefer Tehachapi. For the life of me I Can't remember the exit to take off 58 for access, where you can drive up the road that overlooks the entire loop from above. Can one of you guys give Aaron that exit? I just took it for granted.

Keene.


TCS

Thanks for everyone's input. After reading through the various messages, and considering the recent Cajon fires, I may just do Tehachapi... any good way to find out about work windows, etc? Just ask on here a few days ahead?

Also... I hate snakes... many in the area?

Aaron
http://www.hockley.net/trains

Yes, there are snakes. At Tehachapi and Cajon. (Well maybe not at Cajon anymore.) But I've never seen them. Mrs. Big John really annoyed a rattler at Cajon several years back. He enjoys telling about it more than she does. Hmmmh.

Use reasonable care and you won't need to worry about them. Watch were you walk, don't wander therough the brush, wathc were you put hands and feet, wear a bell and carry OC spray. Ooops. Sorry, that's for bears.

Surprisingly enough, Pacific Daylight Time is the same in SoCal as it is in Washington.

I'd suggest Tehachapi, it's apt to be a little cooler. Not much. Cajon really looks pretty grim right now.