Western Railroad Discussion > Southern California Trip - Part 2 - Tehachapi

Second part of my trip was to spend a little time on the approaches to Tehachapi, and to try to get to the hill above Warren, which I have always wanted to do.   I was hoping for a whole fleet of westbounds for the photo angle I wanted at Warren, but I seemed to hit Mojave just as a a parade of eastbounds started.   And it was scheduled to snow in Tehachapi that night, so I wanted to get through to Bakersfield by dinnertime so I could backtrack the next day and shoot trains at Sandcut.

1)  First eastbound showed up around 2pm as a I was coming into Mojave - seen here descending the long grade from Warren into Mojave.
2)  Another eastbound was right behind - seen here at Arroyo Avenue crossing in Mojave. 
3)  My first train after reaching the Warren overlook was another UP eastbound.
 

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4)  Here are the DPUs on the UP EB - looking somewhat like a westbound!
5)  That was followed a few minutes later by an EB BNSF intermodal.
6)  Same train framed by some Joshua Trees.
 

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7)  Meanwhile, I could see that a westbound had left Mojave, but would he get to the curve at Warren before the BNSF intermodal cut him off?  No!    So here's the best shot I could manage of the first westbound as he met the BNSF eastbound. 
8)  Finally about 2 1/2 hours later a UP westbound showed up at about 520pm.  By this time the temperature was really starting to drop, and I could see storm clouds moving in,  Did not want to get caught by the snow!
9)  Heading to Bakersfield - caught this EB BNSF intermodal at Monolith.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/24 17:31 by dwatry.

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10)  On the way down the mountain caught this eastbound near Tunnel 2.
11)  And here's the promised storm rolling in. 
12)  Next morning I decided to hang out for awhile at Sandcut.  UP was doing some fancy dispatching to move trains around each other between Edison and Bena.  Here comes an eastbound BNSF intermodal as the first train of my day, climbing up out of the Central Valley. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/24 17:50 by dwatry.

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13)  The EB BNSF waited at Bena for this UP WB intermodal to come along, and he slowly made his way past Sandcut and on into the Valley. 
14)  I liked this location so much I shot this train multiple times!
15)  And here he is again - looks like 8568 in the lead has a new paint job. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/24 21:49 by dwatry.

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16)  The prior UP westbound threaded around this eastbound, which finally got the green to head east.  Here he is approaching Sandcut.
17)  Same train - caught him again at Tunnel 2. 
18)  ....and again at Bealville.
 

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19)  Made a quick trip up by the Loop for the obligatory shot at Marcel. 
20)  On the way back down, caught another BNSF EB at Caliente.
21)  And here he is again climbing between Tunnels 1 and 2. 
 

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22)  And last train of the day (besides all the ones I would see from CA-99) was this UP EB at Ilmon.  Glad to see water in the creek!

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Fantastic job, thank you for your time and effort!

Very enjoyable series!!

Larry

ASs good as it gets Duncaan!  I esspecially liked the elevation shots.  Something different.

Awesome shots, Duncan, sure is some wide open country!
You weren't on your bike, were you...LOL...?

Bob
nerrp.com

Great series!

I really like your series, especially the photos at Sandcut.

Nathan

Great shots! I LOVE that second to last photo! That's computer-desktop wallpaper material! Lol

Tom Loftus
Omaha, NE

Bob - no, not on my bike, unfortunately! LOL! Same CRV you saw in Massachusetts.

Posted from iPhone

Excellent variety, and good to see the greenery on Tehachapi.
GK

Fantastic series! On shot #19, you got the rear DP in the background:}

Thanks for the pics...