Western Railroad Discussion > Hiking towards Allard...

On my most recent trip there last week, I took my first steps into the larger world of the hidden Tehachapi. After parking my car near the big tree on the bluff (railroad west) of Caliente Road at Bealville, I hiked back towards the Allard Horseshoe. Staying on the UP side of the fence most of the way, I decided to set up overlooking a big curve near MP 339.7, after hearing on the scanner that several trains would soon be upon me. After catching 2 southbounds, I hiked down to the smaller bluff adjacent to the dwarf signal at MP 339.7, and photographed 3 northbounds with the hill I had just been on in the background. I had wanted to hike further west toward Allard, but upon hearing on the scanner that there probably wouldn't be any more trains for about 2-3 hours, I decided to head back. I probably only hiked 1/4-1/2 mile from the car, but I was really blown away by the wealth of possibilites between Bealville and Tunnel 2. Thanks to everyone (both on and off Trainorders) that gave me advice on the area.

First shot below is a southbound manifest, with a colorful consist of BNSF H2, BN Green, H1, and Montana Rail Link schemes.

Rich

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Two BNSF Dash 9's help with dynamic braking on a northbound manifest coming out of the Allard horseshoe, approaching Tunnel 2. Taken at maximum zoom on my camera (about 210mm).

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A southbound manifest with BNSF 5444, CN 5706, and ATSF Warbonnet 649. (The nice thing about large resolution pictures is you can zoom in with Photoshop and make out the engine numbers later).

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A BNSF northbound piggyback train with '4 of the same' Dash 9's led by 4993. (At least one was a warbonnet).

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The highlight in the consist of the previous train...

(All pictures taken 3/29/04).

Rich

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Those are some really good pictures, Rich! We'll expect a Tehachapi Railfan Guide in the next few weeks <G>.

John

Thanks for sharing these great photos.

Don Bowen
Exeter, CA

Hiking can be a good thing. Nice pictures.

You must have had on the green filter; I can't remember the hills being this green (tongue in cheek). I was just in the area and I know the hills are that green. These are great pics. I can smell the sweet grass.

Lane.

I'm gonna have to agree, nice shots Passadena and I need to get up there ASAP before it starts turning burnt yellow in the next few weeks! Also hiking's good exercise and it's amazing what kind of photo shots you can find when you do that!

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. It's funny, the shades of green that I captured on that 2 day trip depended on the time of day. These 5 were all taken in the mid-morning, and the backlit shots seemed to produce the darkest greens. However, in some late afternoon shots of southbounds in perfect light at Tunnel 2 from the same day, the grass appears lighter and washed out with flat light. I guess contrast is a good thing.

I had quite a vantage point from where I took the first picture (appears just next to the antenna or solar panel in the center of the third picture). If I had more water and some food, I wouldn't have minded sitting there for hours taking in everything. (To paraphrase the movie 'Field of Dreams' - Is this heaven? No, it's Tehachapi in the spring!)

Rich

Great pics, Richard. All that green reminds me of the early '60's when Pacific Railroad Society ran the annual "Wildflower Specials" round trip from LA to Bakersfield. Your dad probably remembers those. Sellouts they were..24 cars and sometimes, I think, including an SP dome-lounge car, (no extra charge for riding in the dome car, either..it was for everyone's enjoyment), and those classic SP triple unit diner-coffee shop cars. All pulled by 10 F7A and B engines. Right behind the power, a baggage car with doors open to enjoy the sights and sounds of those F units doing their thing. I remember at Union Station with that many cars and engines, the head end was up by Terminal Tower. Kind of hard to imagine such a train on Tehachapi. Even back then it was a busy section of railroad but the SP took care of us, complete with photo stops. Between Mojave and Lancaster on the return trip I remember some great desert sunsets. All for around 20.00 or so. Thanks to PRS and SP for this and many other GREAT excursions during those years!!

espeejimmy