Western Railroad Discussion > Some from Ash Hill, May 20 2017

I wanted to check some potential viewing locations on the east side of the tracks on Ash Hill.

These three pics were just north of the upper converge/diverge location. I'm standing on the old ROW looking to the south.

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The location I went to sort of sucked and I didn't stay for long. But I did catch an eastbound intermodal and a snow capped Big Bear Mt.

I only stayed at this location for a short time and decided to move. And wouldnt you know it. A late Southwest Chief came by and I was out of position. Man, what a lost opportunity. The passengers were treated to seeing a rail fan in the middle of nowhere waving at them.

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I got to my second destination, which was the "cut". This time I was on the east side. I caught a westbound intermodal go by. And with that, the really high sun angles meant I couldnt capture much there. So i started heading back.

And along the way, I caught an eastbound intermodal with "Ash Hill, Hill" in the background.

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So while I was walking back, a westbound manifest came by. The sun angles were really bad so I wont bother to show you the engines. But here are a couple pictures of some of the cars. That hopper reminds me of an n-gauge car that was made several years ago. And the other is a military vehicle Ive never seen before.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/17 21:17 by syscom3.

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So for the middle of the day, with the sun angles being bad, I took a hike around "Ash Hill, hill" to check out a report that there was an abandoned vehicle up in the hills. Sure enough, it was there. driven up there and torched sometime between 1994 and 2005.

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And while I was passing time on Ash Hill, I discovered an abandoned camp sight just off of Rte66 (maybe 50 meters east?). This probably dates back to the years when the route was known as the "National Trails Highway". Prior to the middle '20's.

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Later in the day, I relaxed by the "cut" and watched lots of intermodals pass by. But one manifest came by. And it had a "smoker" up front. This manifest moved painfully slow up the grade and at one point, I thought it was going to stall short of the summit. Plenty of black then gray smoke. Lots of it. So what engine problem causes this? Bad injectors? Blown rings?

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On the way home, heading up Ash Hill, I spied an unusual object about 50 meters to the west of Rte66. I stopped and investigated.

I classify this as one of the strange objects I tend to find in the desert. Its a marker of some type. Not near any of the old trails that criss cross the hill. Just there in the desert. Another mystery that needs an explanation.

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Where is Ash Hill?
What freeway exit?
Thanks

engrbob Wrote:
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> Where is Ash Hill?
> What freeway exit?
> Thanks

Its SE of Ludlow, California on Rte 66. You can get to Ludlow by taking I-40 east from Barstow.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/17 04:58 by syscom3.

Here is the summit wye track at Ash Hill ,CA in the Mojave Desert on the former ATSF Needles District.
It is located approx halfway between Barstow, CA and Needles, CA

This is a google maps link :
http://bit.ly/2qlyI9g

Acme Mapper topo map link is here:
http://bit.ly/2qV4tIZ

---Daniel



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/17 22:09 by daniel3197.

Very NICE desert shots. The desert has the hot look, maybe it's starting to heat up out there.

Larry

Always interesting finding signs of lost civilizations.

Be careful about leaving your backpack on the ground, something might crawl in and surprise you. Maybe take a tarp along, or a folding tripod/chair.

syscom3 Wrote:
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> On the way home, heading up Ash Hill, I spied an
> unusual object about 50 meters to the west of
> Rte66. I stopped and investigated.
>
> I classify this as one of the strange objects I
> tend to find in the desert. Its a marker of some
> type. Not near any of the old trails that criss
> cross the hill. Just there in the desert. Another
> mystery that needs an explanation.

That is a highway marker, and probably does date from
some time in the 1920s. I Googled "Route 66" "old
concrete marker" and found this among the hits:

http://www.route66news.com/2009/04/28/quite-a-find/

Please click on the thumbnail of the engineering plan
for the Missouri highway marker -- a dead ringer for
what you saw and photographed! No longer a complete
mystery. I am not sure what the large "C" embossed
on one side means, but when you said that that concrete
object was only c, 150 feet from Route 66, I knew it
had to have something to do with the old road there.

And thank you very much for all the great photos!

I would hardly call either photo of the SW Chief
"a missed opportunity" --especially not your first
one. That one is a greats photo! And that poor
engineer with that malfunctioning locomotive that
made all that black smoke -- I am glad he made it!
That much smoke is just what many people just love
to see steam locomotives make! My, my!

My favorites are the ones of the trains in the mid-
distance, with no other signs of man other than that
train. Beautiful and evocative.

I really appreciate your including close-ups of those
two freight cars. Most railfans don't photograph
individual freight cars.

I was fascinated by that AEX "Grace Division Fluid
Cracking Catalysts" covered hopped car. That catalyst
must be a solid for it to be shipped in a covered hopper.
I have never seen or even heard of railroad cars just
for fluid cracking catalysts. That is a very rare catch!
(W.R. Grace is a large American company that makes specialty
chemicals.)

I really like the one you took of Ash Hill on your hike
to see that torched vehicle. Just the desert, in all its
sere and stark beauty -- nothing else. Nice!

NICE work, sir!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/17 01:32 by Margaret_SP_fan.

Ritzville Wrote:
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> Very NICE desert shots. The desert has the hot
> look, maybe it's starting to heat up out there.
>
> Larry

It was in the low 90's with no humidity and a gentle breeze. Quite nice actually.

And to answer another question the smoke is most generally caused by stuck injectors.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Great post! I'd actually say your first location, based on Photo 2, looks like a great spot for westbounds!

-Tom