BNSF Celebrates the 125th Anniversary of Railroad Service Over Cajon Pass

125th Anniversary of Cajon Pass Celebration Event Poster
Creative Commons 2010, Joe Perry/ChasingSteel.com. Some rights reserved. (CC-BY-NC-ND)

Rail service through the Cajon Pass is turning 125 years old on November 9, 2010 and the BNSF Railway and the San Bernardino History & RR Museum are throwing a party to commemorate this historic occasion on Saturday, November 13, 2010, and you’re invited!

To get in the spirit of the event, I created the poster above as a salute to all of the men and women who persevered and conquered the pass by rail and to those who operate the trains and maintain the line today. I get a lot of enjoyment out of watching the trains struggle up and down the pass and try to visit it regularly.

This event should prove to be a great one because there will be locomotives on display and a bus tour of  BNSF’s San Bernardino Intermodal Facility, two things you normally don’t get to do everyday. Of course there will be the standard fair of food and music, balloons and face painting for the kids, and plenty of rail-centric information and vendors available.

I plan on attending and I encourage you to as well.  Help celebrate the past and the future of America, San Bernardino, and the BNSF railway in style.

Santa Fe’s California Limited at the summit of Cajon Pass.
Image from Bandini, Helen Elliot (1908). History of California. Project Gutenberg etext number 7778.

An Idea Fueled With Passion Comes to Fruition in Stunning Fashion

Ah, rail-related daydreams, if you will, are part of the railfanning process I suspect. For me it was winning the lottery and buying the Loop Ranch, at the heart of the famed Tehachapi Loop near Keene, California, and opening a bed-and-breakfast for railfans from all over the world to enjoy. To date, that dream has not been realized. Perhaps it might, someday, if I play the lottery. (NOTE TO SELF: Buy a lottery ticket.)

How many times have we all passed a house, predominately in a rural community, and seen some railcar or two on the property perhaps serving as tool shed or a clubhouse? How about a caboose spending it’s final days as someone’s story waiting to be told? I think most railfans have dreamt, at one time or another, about acquiring a cool piece of rolling stock and doing something special with it. 

Photo used by permission. Copyright Tom Lambrecht/Bill ChristopherBack in February of 2010, I made a blog post about just such an effort. However, rather than a boxcar, a reefer, or even a caboose, a couple acquired a locomotive, restored it and then successfully converted it into a beautiful and amazing lodge! (You don’t see too many of those across the country!)

The couple, Jamie and Tom Lambrecht, have a shared passion for locomotives, which helps tremendously, I imagine, when you come home and tell your spouse, “I want to make a lodge out of a locomotive.”

The amazing story of the GN 441’s rebirth with fascinating details and photos every step of the wayWhen I recently revisited the GN441.com website, I was excited to see that there were several posts detailing the story of how the GN 441 came to be.

As I began to read the posts I became immersed in the challenges and struggles of realizing one’s rail restoration dream. The posts are extremely detailed and provide plenty of useful and interesting information.

Along with the superb written account there are many great photographs taken during each step of the way that afford the reader an inside look at locomotive construction in general and the various elements of the restoration process. I particularly enjoyed the section that show the shipment of the GN 441 from RELCO Locomotives, Inc. in Albia, Iowa, where the GN 441 was renovated, to Essex, Montana. There are some great photos showing the GN 441, in consist, at many cool locations along the way. I bet that was some trip in and of itself! (Talk about Chasing Steel!)

The story doesn’t end when the locomotive is restored and placed in it’s final location at the Izaak Walton Inn in Glacier National Park. Rather, that’s when Jamie steps-in and takes over the project to create an amazing interior that even the Great Northern would be proud of.

I encourage everyone to check out their story and once you read the posts, I think, that you too will appreciate all of the attention-to-detail and historical accuracy, where possible, that the Lambrechts paid to the entire undertaking.

I take my hat off to the Lambrechts and proclaim a “Job well done!” I am grateful that they had the vision, the fortitude to see it realized, and the resources to make it happen. Thanks to Jamie and Tom, there is a fine “warrior of the rails” for all to enjoy in a majestic place with a killer view of the tracks for a long time to come.

Martha's Sunset

Martha B. Ramirez

It is with a heavy heart that I write this entry regarding my beloved mother-in-law, Martha Ramirez. At 9:45 PM on Friday, October 8, 2010, Martha succumbed to the various ailments that had gripped her body but not her spirit.

Born in January 1924, Martha lived her 86+ years in love and warmth. She was always full of grace and tenderness for those around her.

She was born in the central valley of California and raised in Santa Paula, California but eventually settled, married, and raised a large family in Los Angeles, California.

Perhaps a lesson for us all, some of Martha’s favorite acivities were the simplest things in life - sitting on the porch and watching the sunset, going out to eat with her family, and long drives.

Martha has been a part of my life since 1993 and a daily part for the last ten years. One of my seldom mentioned favorite remembrances I will always have of Martha is how she would greet me when I came home from work. Tired and beat down by long hours at the office and tired from my commute, once I got home I would walk down the hall to change my clothes.  In the process I would pass Martha’s bedroom and I would see her there reading the bible or watching Rachel Ray on TV and I would say “Hi, Martha.”  Even though she was frail and struggling with a body that she was outliving, she would respond in the sweetest and most cheerful voice that I heard that day, “Hi JOE!” It made my day. I admired her spirit in trying times.

When I first learned that the prognoisis for Martha was not positive, I got home from the hosptial and passed by her bedroom - now empty except for her spirit which greeted me again. I walked out front to contemplate the heaviness of the news we had learned as the sun began to set. As I took in the sunset in the spot that Martha would often do, I thought “Martha, this sunset is for you.” I grabbed my camera and captured the moment in hopes of one day showing it to her again. I never got that chance. So here is your eternal sunset Martha that you and I shall forever share.

(Even though Martha has a large family, most of them live modestly and have very little means. If you are in a position to and are so inclined, you can contribute to help cover Martha’s expenses by donating any amount through the PayPal account linked to the donate button below. Her family and friends thank you very much for your generosity.)