Western Railroad Discussion > Palm Springs/Palm Desert Trip Questions

Hello, I'll be in Palm Desert, CA near Palm Springs this weekend. Are there any nearby railfanning sites you would recommend hitting other than the Palm Springs Amtrak station? Never seen the Yuma Sub before, but it looks pretty flat and straight-forward. Thanks!

Can't think of any spots the territory is pretty bleak.

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Not much of anything right around PS/PD although the Amtrak station can be okay for eastbounds with mountains and wind turbines for a backdrop. (You can get an okay shot of a westbound, but there's a road overpass nearby on that side.) West of Palm Springs, along Highway 111 as it angles toward the Interstate there are similar views of the railroad and a side road (Whitewater Road?) crosses the tracks here. 

Much better railfanning can be experienced a ways to the west in San Timoteo Canyon, between Redlands and Banning. The line has grades and curves, passes through citrus orchards, and is closely paralled by a good road. About the only negative is there is a landfill in the vicinity so a lot of garbage trucks use San Timoteo Canyon Road.

If you want to get the full desert effect, go east of Indio and follow the line along the eastern shore of the Salton Sea, also on Highway 111. The line curves around above the shore and the scenery is interesting (if you like the desert). There is a good-sized deck girder bridge just east of Ferrum. The only problem is that it's about a 30-mile drive from Palm Springs to get to the beginning of that area.

If your time or ability to travel is limited, the Amtrak station could be okay to hang out for awhile. It's really just an elaborate waiting shelter, but at least you could sit in the shade. I haven't been there in a few years, but I recall the city maintenance people kept it in good shape .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/21 00:18 by wpamtk.

A unique feature that stretches from the Palm Springs/Garnet station to Indio is the Tamerisk tree blow sand barrier.
Almost any overpass can get you up high enough to shoot, but I don't know which ones have pedestrian walkways.
There is something odd about taking a zoomed in image with the train surrounded by green, when the wide angle reality is stark desert.

railstiesballast Wrote:
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> A unique feature that stretches from the Palm
> Springs/Garnet station to Indio is the Tamerisk
> tree blow sand barrier.

They are quite the obstacle.

> Almost any overpass can get you up high enough to
> shoot, but I don't know which ones have pedestrian
> walkways.

Finding parking nearby is going to be a headache, and also dealing with fences over the ROW. I found a spot or two near Thousand Palms where I park below the overpass and walk up, but it's good for chasing, not for staying around for trains.

> There is something odd about taking a zoomed in
> image with the train surrounded by green, when the
> wide angle reality is stark desert.

There definitely are possibilities.

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
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> Can't think of any spots the territory is pretty
> bleak.

With sun going north due to summer, and the steep mountains surrounding Mt. San Jacinto, there are spots railroad west of Amtrak Palm Springs station that aren't so bleak.

eastpenn23 Wrote:
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> Hello, I'll be in Palm Desert, CA near Palm
> Springs this weekend. Are there any nearby
> railfanning sites you would recommend hitting
> other than the Palm Springs Amtrak station? Never
> seen the Yuma Sub before, but it looks pretty flat
> and straight-forward. Thanks!

Wpamtk has some good advice above, if you are willing to drive around instead of staying in one spot.

Don't know what you are willing to do, whether to wait for several trains at a location, or chase all day (which is what I do), but I posted a report from Indio earlier this year, as manned helper set usually start/finish work there, and occasionally, there's a local there, too.

30+ mile drive to the Salton Sea area is nothing if you are in the middle of chasing down a train, as you'll be busy trying to catch up with trains running track speed (65+ mph for intermodal). However, it helps if you know the spots ahead of time which means you need to spend a day scouting locations to be used later. Not a bad way to spend the day and "stumble onto" trains in the process. Next day, you'll have a good idea on where to go for photos/videos.