Cajon Pass in HDR - Crossing Over Cajon Style

While seeking the sunrise shots at I wrote about it the post entitled Sleepless Summit Sojourn Seeking Sunrise (I couldn’t resist!) in Cajon Pass I caught a couple of westbounds. Those opportunities offered a backlit train and shimmering rails - a long time favorite shot of mine. 

Here is a series of photos of one westbound BNSF stack train that is crossing over at the summit crossovers from track #3 to track #2. Typically, because of the different grades on each track, trains use reverse running over a good portion of the run over the Cajon Subdivision. (Reverse running is akin to driving on the wrong side of the road - like those crazy Brits do!)

Crossing Over 1 - BNSF 5095 West rounds a curve at Summit, on BNSF’s Cajon Subdivision. It will crossover from the track #3 to track #2 at the bottom crossover.
[9/12/2010 - Cajon Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe Perry

Crossing Over 2 - BNSF 5095 West crosses over from the track #3 to track #2 at Summit on BNSF’s Cajon Subdivision.
[9/12/2010 - Cajon Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe Perry

Crossing Over 3 - BNSF 5095 West crosses over from the track #3 to track #2 at Summit on BNSF’s Cajon Subdivision.
[9/12/2010 - Cajon Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe Perry

Cajon Pass in HDR - Sleepless Summit Sojourn Seeking Sunrise

Back on Spetember 12, 2010, I had trouble sleeping. I laid in bed unable to get back to sleep. As I replayed a scene from Apocalyspe Now, the one where Captain Willard is laying on the bed and just staring at the ceiling fan, yeah that one. Round and round and round the blades go…

I decided to make use of my restlessness and gathered my gear together. I was going to try and catch a couple of sunrise shots. As I got dressed and packed up, I thought, “Where should I go?” After checking out the sunrise times and azimuth, I decided that the railroad summit of Cajon Pass could offer the scenery and opportunity that I sought. I made the requisite soda (I am a huge Diet Pepsi fan!) and breakfast run, I jumped on the freeway bound for Cajon Pass.

After all was said and done, the trip was fun and fruitful. Here are some of the better shots from the trip:

Cajon Summit Predawn
[9/12/2010 - Cajon Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe Perry

Cajon Summit Sunrise 1
[9/12/2010 - Cajon Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe PerryCajon Summit Sunrise 2
[9/12/2010 - Cajon Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe PerryCajon Summit Sunrise 3
[9/12/2010 - Cajon Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe PerryCajon Summit Sunrise 4
[9/12/2010 - Cajon Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe Perry

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.