Western Railroad Discussion > Back to basics

Although it was mostly cloudy and still too early in the season for Sullivan’s Curve, I set sail anyway for my “happy place” on Cajon Pass last Sunday morning.  The sun hadn’t been up long and was starting to poke through the clouds when the MWCNP (West Colton to North Platte) behind UP 7615 approached my viewfinder, as seen below from different focal lengths. Other than being your basic Sullivan's Curve shot, not much else to say other than “thanks for looking.”

OYW
 

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Too bad the power wasn't flipped, but nice ones none-the-less.
—Mac

Perfect lighting!
RB

Lumber loads out of West Colton, heading for North Platte??!  Where do those loads originate??

Great pair. Good luck all three clean.
JB

Good stuff, tahnks for posting.  Here's a question for you:  How many manifests use the Santa Fe from Silverwood west, and how many use the UP down the Palmdale Cutoff from Silverwood west?  It seems to me that they would us the Cutoff for easier acess to West Colton Yard.  TIA for any answers.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

That's nice but where are the pictures of the graffiti special:}

That second shot is stellar with the snow on the mountains and clean UP units up front.

Nathan

coach Wrote:
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> Lumber loads out of West Colton, heading for North
> Platte??!  Where do those loads originate??

Most likely Oregon. You may have heard about all that snow on Donner...

Nice shots!
—Michael

oyw Wrote:
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> Although it was mostly cloudy and still too early
> in the season for Sullivan’s Curve, I set sail
> anyway for my “happy place” on Cajon Pass last
> Sunday morning.

Happy place indeed! Thanks for taking me to this location in 2014. You're not boasting but I'm sure you deciphered the cloud movements to time these great shots. :-)
 

ntharalson Wrote:
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> Good stuff, tahnks for posting.  Here's a
> question for you:  How many manifests use the
> Santa Fe from Silverwood west, and how many use
> the UP down the Palmdale Cutoff from Silverwood
> west?  It seems to me that they would us the
> Cutoff for easier acess to West Colton Yard.  TIA
> for any answers.  
>
> Nick Tharalson,
> Marion, IA

The pattern I've noticed is that most UP trains to/from Yermo (LA&SL trains) tend to stay on the BNSF as long as possible, so they access to/from West Colton Yard at the Colton connector, or go to/from Los Angeles Sub via Riverside. A guess for this pattern is because BNSF is double/triple tracked, while UP is single-track with sidings.

I recall seeing numerous MWCNP/MWCRO-ish trains and their counterparts do that, and I recorded a UP triple-meet at Sullivans Curve years ago with the MNPWC-ish train running on the BNSF.

Seems Palmdale Cutoff has its own congestion to deal with most of the time, so UP & BNSF dispatchers (they share an office in San Bernardino for this area) coordianate the trains, and they seem to do a good job. Occasionally UP trains go BNSF at Keenbrook (between Colton and Silverwood, near Devore), but the ones I've seen have always been eastbounds.

Looks like you've got the new camera + lens combo dialed in!
GK

Great shots!

Very nice..!!