Western Railroad Discussion > Trip Planning -

Hi All,

First off, I apologize if I am asking too many questions. :P

With that said, I would like to maximize my freight train viewing experiences, so I'm wondering if all of you fine folks might be able to give me some advice on where I should go depending on the day.

My primary reason for being in Bakersfield is for a course, but there's no way I can go to SoCal without getting some train viewing action in. So where would you suggest I go while there. Here's the times I will have free:
Saturday Jan 12 (all day)
Sunday Jan 13 (all day)
Monday Jan 14 (after 1:45pm)
Tuesday Jan 15 (after 1:45pm)
Wednesday Jan 16 (after 1:45pm - driving back to LA to catch my flight the next day)

I would like to see as many freight trains as possible, so if anyone could point out some really great places I would appreciate it. I do have a route planned that will take me to Bakersfield to Tehachapi on either Saturday or Sunday....unless there's somewhere else I should be...

I have been to California before, but it was San Fran to Roseville and LA to San Bernadino....but never to Bakersfield.

Thanks all (less than one month now!!)

Try this: TIOGA PASS is running North on the Coast Route LA to Oakland Saturday, Jan 12 and returning South on Coast Starlight Sunday, Jan 13. You would see the LA area (part) and see the Bay area Sunday on the way South. Or just go one way. See WWW.RideMyTrain.com for more info.

Brad

v1perfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My primary reason for being in Bakersfield is for
> a course, but there's no way I can go to SoCal
> without getting some train viewing action in. So
> where would you suggest I go while there. Here's
> the times I will have free:
> Saturday Jan 12 (all day)
> Sunday Jan 13 (all day)
> Monday Jan 14 (after 1:45pm)
> Tuesday Jan 15 (after 1:45pm)
> Wednesday Jan 16 (after 1:45pm - driving back to
> LA to catch my flight the next day)
> Thanks all (less than one month now!!)

Saturday- use the full day to go somewhere far, go to Barstow (Daggett gets you BNSF and UP LA&SL) and on to the BNSF Needles Sub, especially around Ludlow/Ash Hill/Klondike.
Sunday- go to Cajon Pass, BNSF and UP.
Monday- do Tehachapi- only 3+ hours of daylight.
Tuesday- do more Tehachapi.
Wednesday- do more Tehachapi while you have light, or take I-5 to Newhall and Soledad Canyon for some Metrolink, no freight unless ZLCLT is late.
Thursday- if there's time, do some L.A. Harbor before your flight, not too far from airport.

mapboy

v1perfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> My primary reason for being in Bakersfield is for
> a course, but there's no way I can go to SoCal
> without getting some train viewing action in. So
> where would you suggest I go while there. Here's
> the times I will have free:
> Saturday Jan 12 (all day)
> Sunday Jan 13 (all day)
> Monday Jan 14 (after 1:45pm)
> Tuesday Jan 15 (after 1:45pm)
> Wednesday Jan 16 (after 1:45pm - driving back to
> LA to catch my flight the next day)
>

I'd generally say just stay around Tehachapi. It's early January, so rail traffic will likely be VERY slow, and maintenance will probably be out in force. Daylight hours are short, so travelling too far will cut into your time trackside. I'd spend the weekend in the Tehachapis where you'll hopefully be able to see all you want to see and get many of the photos you want to get. Realistically, on your weekdays, you'll only have about 3 hours of light, max. So driving beyond Tehachapi would eat up nearly all of your available time. Also, keep in mind that Mondays are notoriously atrocious days for traffic levels on Tehachapi. There are usually long maintenance windows that day. But, the MofW may clear up early enough that there will be a little backlog of trains to move at about the time you're able to be trackside. Tuesdays on Tehachapi aren't too much better than Mondays, generally speaking.

On Wed., depending on your schedule, just stay in the Tehachapis until dark and then head out to LA, or book it to Barstow and try and catch some BNSF action around there or Daggett, just east of town.

In summary, make the best with your whole weekend there, and hope for the best on the weekdays.

Tom

Take the Tioga Pass!

One of my favorite "train chasing" roads is the old Highway 466, the Edison highway, that parallels the mainline out of Bakersfield. Stop by the BNSF or UP yard and take in a little of the action. The BNSF yard is busier - you can get a good view from the Oak St., overpass or from the end of F street, where you can park right next to the right of way. Then when it looks like a train is getting ready to depart, hurry out the Edison Highway past the traffic lights at Fairfax Road and Oswell st., and wait for the train to show up. from there, you can pace it al the way to Bena. At Ilmon, couple of miles east of Bena, the tracks separate from the road. From there, you can either continue for several miles on the old highway to a connection with the freeway and easily beat the train to Bealville (a left turn a couple of miles after you get on the freeway). Or, a couple of miles east of Ilmon, there';s a left turn onto a winding road that leads to Caliente. This is one of my favorite driving roads, and it's pretty easy to beat the train to Tunnel 2 at the west end of Bealville.

While in Bakersfield, I highly recommend having dinner at one or more of the excellent Basque restaurants in town. The oldest among them are The Wool Growers on 19th Street and Noriega's and the Pyrenees on Sumner, all a few blocks form the SP depot at Sumner and Baker. My personal favorite is Benji's, about half a mile west of Highway 99 on the Rosedale highway (Highway 58). It's more French than the others and relatively new. But they are all VERY good.

And for breakfast or lunch, try the 24th St. cafe, just east of Chester St. on 24th. Their weekend breakfast specials are unusual and outstanding -- a proscuitto and brie omelette, or a portobello and parmesan scramble, for example.

D F W

Excellent. Thank you all for the awesome information. Sounds like I have a bit of travelling to do when I'm there, so I'll make the best of it.

Thanks again!

Brian.

As a native Easterner who's made a dozen SoCal trips for max numbers of trains I always go to Cajon, the old Palmdale cut-off and the new triple track BNSF/UP joint tracks. I usually am looking for max train count when making a 3,000+ mile trip so the traffic density over Cajon trumps most other sites. I do go to Tehachapi Loop maybe one day if I have three days just to catch the loop and history, but 75-100 trains a day trumps history in my book. May as well make the 5 hour flight each way really worthwhile.