Cajon Pass Chase Map

I have always had a huge interest in maps for as far back as I can remember. In all of my pursuits over the years, maps were either a necessary tool to accomplish the task at hand or an adjunct to augment the experience. As a child I had a massive aeronautical chart of Los Angeles hanging on my wall and I would study it for hours. Through that exercise I garnered an appreciation for distance and topography, as well as infrastructure and the historical aspects of the places listed before me. Soon maps became part of me and I would seek out and go to map stores like some kids would go to record stores or arcades…

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UP 844, a Mountain, a Mob, and Me

As I described in in my previous post, “”UP” for a Chase? 844 Comes to California,” Union Pacific’s famous steam engine, the UP No. 844, is in California and garnering quite the attention in the process. On Saturday, November 19, 2011, the UP 844 lead the Centennial Tour train eastbound from West Colton, California to Yermo, California. The route the train was scheduled to take was over BNSF rails up and over the scenic and challenging Cajon Pass. It was the making of a perfect photo opportunity and I headed out early Saturday morning, almost dutifully, to get in position…

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"UP" for a Chase? 844 Comes to California

Today marks the beginning of the “return-trip” for Union Pacific’s “Living Legend,” No. 844, after participating in what Union Pacific dubbed the Centennial Tour to help New Mexico and Arizona celebrate their one-hundred years of statehood. Union Pacific’s No. 844 is the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific, delivered in 1944, and will travel more than 2,900 miles from its base in Cheyenne, Wyoming during the 32-day, nine-state tour that will honor the rich railroad heritage of the scenic Southwest…

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Union Pacific Leads the Way

Last night I settled in to my usual haunt, the easy chair in the front room, and perched upon my lap was my trusty Apple MacBook Pro. I had plans to research and craft a blog post that was long overdue. You see, the Union Pacific Railroad is embarking on a grand tour of the Southwest with one of their treasured and glorious steam engines replete with appropriate carriages of old in tow. The purpose of the event is best left described by a few passages from their press release…

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Convergence at Crookton

After leaving the Canyon Diablo bridge we meandered west along Interstate 40 towards Williams, Arizona. By this point it was late afternoon and the lighting was getting good. I was hoping to shot at a location we discovered during our last trip to this area in 2006. It is a cool spot near Williams that affords a semblance of solitude and the railroad track alignment offers some great curves to accentuate the struggle trains face climbing the Arizona Divide. We dubbed this area “Scary Bear Road” because the area was remote and certainly seemed like bear country to us. (We have “friendly names” for many of our railfanning locations to help differentiate them and make them easier to remember…)

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I Finally Met the Devil

The date was August 11, 2010. I awoke earlier than Deb, as is the usual case because she likes to stargaze into the wee morning hours. I was feeling a bit anxious. I knew the day’s activities could be challenging based on all that I read and heard. I let her sleep in as I made preparations for us to leave the Meteor Crater RV Park where we had stayed the night. We were there to witness the Perseid meteor shower and since we were in northern Arizona we concluded that there was no more appropriate place to see the meteor shower than at Meteor Crater, Arizona, some forty miles east of Flagstaff…

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The Memorial Day Weekend Mega Tour - Part 5

It felt good to rest. So much so that I rested the entire next day, Sunday, as well. I took that time to reflect on the trials of the Cima Subdivision experience and the triumphs from the Needles Subdivision. I still did not have my fill of chasing steel yet so I sat down with my iPad and made plans for Monday, Memorial Day…

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The Memorial Day Weekend Mega Tour - Part 4

You have to admit that I gave the Cima Subdivision a good effort. I just wasn’t having any luck. Sometimes the railfan gods just don’t smile upon you. That’s what a backup plan is for. Mine was to head south into Amboy and my home away from home, BNSF’s Needles Subdivision…

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The Memorial Day Weekend Mega Tour - Part 3

(Continued from: The Memorial Day Weekend Mega Tour - Part 2) After stopping in at the Kelso Depot Visitor’s Center of the Mojave National Preserve and talking with the ranger, I had to devise a new plan. I wouldn’t be able to follow the Cima Subdivision’s trackage, nor camp along the route, as I had hoped to do…

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The Memorial Day Weekend Mega Tour - Part 2

(Continued from: The Memorial Day Weekend Mega Tour - Part 1) With the high traffic level I encountered at Daggett in short order, I drove north on the Daggett-Yermo Road towards Yermo hoping that the Cima Subdivision provided ample traffic and photo opportunities. I had already seen two eastbound Union Pacific trains return to home rails and head off towards Yermo and I was in pursuit…

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