Western Railroad Discussion > Gettin' high in Barstow...

This past weekend was somewhat dodgy with the clouds in SoCal, so we decided to go up to Barstow and check out a new perspective for us. This happened to be the mountain that lies dead center in BNSF's Barstow Yard, giving us a great vantage point of Barstow Yard operations. The vistas were incredible and the view with the Harvey House was particularly worth the trip up to the top of the mountain. I hope that you enjoy the photos. Video will be on my Youtube channel in the next few weeks.

Cheers,

Zach
RailfanJunction on YouTube.com

Photo 1: A domestic UP westbound intermodal races through the east side of Barstow Yard past the Harvey House and vintage truss bridge that spans the railroad. This train will completely bypass the crew change point as it is a foreign train on the BNSF and will soon be approaching the climb to Cajon Pass.

Photo 2: A view of the main Barstow Yard including an eastbound intermodal about to pull into the crew change area. To the left is the classification bowl that had multiple trim jobs working it at any one time. Some of the trim jobs included old GP60B units that clearly had been repurposed to yard duty.

Photo 3: This is a view of the east throat of the yard near Yucca St. An eastbound manifest train is accelerating out of the yard past a stored port train that likely is being held until space is available at the berth along with a Georgetown dump train that will leave westbound shortly thereafter.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/18 18:45 by z-trains.

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Photo 4: UP's MWCNP races past the Harvey House in the background as it approaches Daggett and its home rails for its run up the old LA&SL.

Photo 5: A UP grain train likely headed to Fontana, CA to the grain facility there passes through the east end of Barstow Yard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/18 21:07 by z-trains.

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Great shots!

Very Very Nice!!

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

Thanks for some good shots . I was not aware the yard had a hump till I saw the photo.

Nice photo coverage. I've been over the bridge and to the Harvey House but missed seeing most of the rest of the facility.
Brian Stevens

I went up there once when my son was living in Barstow. It is a great view in all directions. I live in Illinois and really enjoyed going out to visit him. Unfortunately he got transferred to Orlando so I don't get out there now.

Bruce Stikkers
St. Joseph, IL

Nice photo's!



Allen

Great shots.

Great shots...what is the Georgetown Dump train?TIA..Steve

Posted from Android

the_expediter Wrote:
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> Great shots...what is the Georgetown Dump
> train?TIA..Steve
>
> Posted from Android

https://georgetownrail.com/Material-Handling/DumpTrain

This describes it far better than I could. And thanks to all for the compliments!

Cheers,

Zach
RailfanJunction on YouTube

Sweet pics!

PQM

I enjoyed your pictures form your high vantage point. A place I would like to visit if I make it out that way.

Taken on 4/26/1986

Same location as #1 and #2


Jay

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I worked as an Assistant Trainmaster in the High Tower at Barstow in the mid 80's. Great place to work, fun yard to run. Kept you on your toes with the speed of trains and how things could change rapidly with a variation or two from the "plan". Thanks for the pictures. Was out there about 4 years ago.

Jim Wilson

Very nice. That hill is known as "B Hill".

They used to call that B Hill. I guess because it had the letter B on it made with white rocks. Great shots.

zchcsse Wrote:
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> Very nice. That hill is known as "B Hill".


That's what we thought but didn't want to claim that in the post. There is a USGS marker up there that states that it is "B" hill but this just seemed way too simple to be true.

Cheers,

Paul

In the late 70s we used to drive to the hilltop on the road that went straight up the hill--very steep! It was quite a challenge in my 1970 Ford Maverick and we usually spun the wheels before reaching the top. No worries, we would just back off farther and take another run at full speed until we made it to the top. The problem was, the stopping area at the top was pretty small, and there were several times that, skidding on the gravel, we almost went over the far edge. Ah youth!

You can't still drive to the top can you? From what I recall, it seems like that road has been gone for a long time now.

It is called B Hill because the Barstow High School sophomores used to go up once a year and white-wash the B to make it brighter.

Here are a few of the photos that I took of the west yard in Barstow two years ago. I was in a helicopter at the time. But I also have some great shots from B Hill including a pano of the east yard that includes the 1st Street Bridge, the Harvey House, and much more. I also have an aerial I took back in the 80s or 90s when it was still a Santa Fe facility. Not as good as my pics today however.

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