Western Railroad Discussion > Consolation for a Heritage Unit

Word came through the grapevine yesterday that UP 1995 was leading a westbound intermodal train down the Cima subdivision towards Los Angeles. Unfortunately the unit came in poor light with a lackluster consist, and considering that I needed material for a future project involving the Needles Subdivision, the decision was made to ditch any attempt to get it mid-morning and head east towards Troy and Lavic. That decision was worthwhile considering the 1995 came through in poor light, and my father and I managed to get some memorable shots along the Needles subdivision.

-There were quite a few monster 3-mile-long international stack trains but this one did not fit that bill. Just east of Troy, California, BNSF 8329 and company charges up the grade towards Pisgah with a short string of 40 foot containers.
-A few miles up the line, a manifest follows closely behind. There was a large fleet of eastbound traffic that left Barstow mid-morning, but most of it came in poor light.
-In Ludlow two hours later, a westbound manifest curves through town as it begins the climb up to Pisgah.

-Zach

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-As clouds build in the background, a westbound repo train behind a Tier IV GEVO charges upgrade. While the clouds built up heavily around Kelso and south towards 29 palms, the area between Ash Hill and Ludlow was mostly clear.
-Another Tier IV heads up a westbound domestic intermodal through the reverse curves west of Ludlow.
-While SD70ACe leaders are by no means uncommon out here anymore, it's still a treat to catch them leading on the Needles Subdivision. BNSF 8534 leads another port train westward through Ludlow.

-Zach



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/19 14:01 by z-trains.

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-A wider view of the same ACe-lead train.
-At Lavic, California, another westbound charges through the sag with more fair weather clouds building in the background. This would be the last westbound for about an hour so we headed down to Ash Hill for the next set of trains.
-A monster 4x2x2, 3 mile long stack train slowly grinds upgrade through the cut at East Ash Hill. By the time we packed up and were back on National Trails Highway, the end of this train still was coming around the junction at Klondike, 2 miles away from where this photo was taken.

-Zach

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-Thank God for ATCS! The program informed us that a hotshot was taking Track 2 up from West Siberia up to Ash Hill to run around a ballast train that had been coming around on Track 1 behind the previous westbound we caught. With a bit of placement and some good lighting we finally managed to get a shot of a westbound on the wrong main at Klondike.
-A wider view of the same train
-The same train passes by a stopped eastbound intermodal train at the west end of Ludlow, with a dilapidated structure facing the old Route 66 standing silently in the foreground.

-Zach

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-A few minutes later, the ballast train that that hotshot had run around heads westward through the curves at Ludlow.
-And just at sunset, another westbound heads up towards the grade crossing at Lavic. Sunset was two minutes later so this guy came at the absolute last second.

Thanks for looking!

​-Zach

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Wow, very nice series! Thanks for sharing...

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

Fantastic series! Really like shots #5, #8 and #10.

Really outstanding bunch! Never heard of Troy? Where was/is it?
JB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/19 13:33 by 3rdswitch.

Great stuff..!!  Thanks for posting.

Great shots!

z-trains Wrote:
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> -Thank God for ATCS! The program informed us that
> -Zach

Hi Zach,
Nice Series!  How close are your photos to Goffs?  Reason I ask, is we are are getting ready to install a site at Goffs, CA.  I would imagine they still use the 896/937 Channels out there?

Christina

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/19 15:56 by RailFanAZ.

I think named for Troy Dry Lake. Not too far east of Newberry. I believe, too, that it is an old name that was used by the RR a long time ago, passed from usage, and then was resurrected when the need arose, kinda like was the case with Verdemont.

3rdswitch Wrote:
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> Really outstanding bunch! Never heard of Troy?
> Where was/is it?
> JB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/19 16:54 by eljay.

Great series of pics!!  So love that area......in the cooler months.  

Outstanding series with many different angles. Well-deserved IOTD!!

BB

Really great series of shots. Hope I can visit this area sometime.

Kim Heusel

Congratulations on the IOTD, really NICE series!

Larry

Really a nice bunch of photos---I like the angles you chose.
Brian Stevens