Western Railroad Discussion > railfaning foreigner

My name is Tadashi and have been railfaning
in the States for 23 years taking pictures of
steam. A friend of mine is coming from Japan
on a late "summer" vacation from November 16 to 23.
He is interested in taking pictures of mainline
diesels.

He wants to know (1) if security is tight around
Tehachepi and Cajon (e.g., can he drive a rental car to
trackside of these places), and (2) if there is/are special
trains running around that time.

Since I don't know anything about diesels any
helpful advice you can give would be much appreciated.

Tadashi Hachimandai

Tadashi, Access to Tehachapi and Cajon is easy with a rental car. I suggest you do a search (down at the bottom of the page) and search for "Cajon" and "Tehachapi" on the Western Forum over the last 90 days. You'll find a lot of information about both locations.

I don't know anything about special trains that are planned. Perhaps someone else knows.

--Mark Johnson

A key for railfanning Cajon is to buy an Adventure Pass from the U.S. Forest Service. These inexpensive permits ($5, if I recall correctly) are available at stores in the pass and grant access to the forest roads that lead to many classic Cajon photo locations.

OK, it doesn't match the beauty of those famous locations, but it has a very high frequency of trains and they are a lot closer. Amtrak and Metrolink stop there and sometimes even a freight will catch a red.

Plus good places to eat. Buy a cup of coffee and rest in the shade while waiting for trains. It's what I call really civilized railfanning.

I'm glad to see you're helping him with his American rail adventure. I hope he has a great time.

Last time I was in Fullerton (2 weeks ago) I thought about you, brassjournal. It's been a while since we had lunch.

pb1