The Memorial Day Weekend Mega Tour - Part 1

I didn’t plan to do what I did. I mean, I did have plans to spend two or three days of the Memorial Day weekend out trackside, camping in my rig and taking in the serenity of the Mojave National Preserve and, of course, trains, but it didn’t work out that way. It turned into “the mega tour.”

I had spent most of the week prior getting everything in order for the trip. I had the truck serviced and a part replaced that had broken on my last trip to Cajon Pass. The truck and camper both got a bath and I sanitized the fresh water tank and throughly cleaned the inside of the camper. Hell, I even used Carpet Fresh.

Finally, the rig was set so I sat down to finalize the route and get a rough idea of what I wanted to see and where I wanted to go. The rough plan was to go chase Union Pacific’s Cima Subdivision from north the area of Afton Canyon to the Nevada border.

I have not spent much time along the Cima Subdivision, in part because it is not the most accessible of subdivisions to chase. A good portion of the route is far from paved roads and runs right through the middle of the Mojave National Preserve. Now that I have a truck capable of making the trek on unpaved and unimproved roads, I felt up to the challenge. This was going to be the trip to really see the Cima Subdivision. My anticipation grew all week as I counted the days until Saturday.

Being a three-day weekend coupled with my route requiring me to take Interstate 15 towards Las Vegas, Nevada, I knew better than to try and leave on Friday night. For the uninitiated, the road to Vegas most weekends, let alone on a three-day weekend, is miserable - certainly no way to start a relaxing trip. Consequently I opted to leave before sunrise Saturday morning.

After far too few hours of sleep it was time for me to depart. I bid my family farwell and set off on an 85 mile detour because I forgot a key element of my navigation/tracking device at my office in downtown LA. Not what I wanted to do but necessary to let folks at home know my position as I made the solo trip.

Having retrieved the missing element I headed east, bound for my first stop which was Daggett, California. Daggett is the jumping off point for the Union Pacific Railroad which uses the BNSF tracks to ascend Cajon Pass and reach its home rails again at Daggett en route to Las Vegas.

I arrived later than I had hope as the sun had already risen but a quick look at the signals showed that the BNSF dispatcher had cleared the route for an eastbound UP train through the interlocking complex at Daggett. It arrived on the scene promptly thereafter and was a doublestack train:

Returning to Home Rails - UP 7416 (GE C45ACCTE), UP 5188 (EMD SD70M), UP 4500 (EMD SD70M) are on the point of this eastbound intermodal consist as it returns to home rails at Daggett, CA after making the run over Cajon Pass on BNSF trackage. [5/29/2010 - Los Angeles Subdivision]

Moments later, an eastbound BNSF stack train came into view and held short of the signal. A wait of a few more minutes provided the answer to the reason why. The dispatcher had apparently planned to run another, higher priority train to run around the BNSF train:

Powered to Go - (Above and below) BNSF 1036 (GE DASH9-44CW), leads 7 more units - BNSF 5469 (GE DASH9-44CW), BNSF 5138 (GE DASH9-44CW), BNSF 4804 (GE DASH9-44CW), BNSF 4742 (GE DASH9-44CW), BNSF 4778 (GE DASH9-44CW), KCS 4009 (EMD SD70ACe), and BNSF 4655 (GE DASH9-44CW), as they overtake another eastbound intermodal at Daggett, CA. [5/29/2010 - Needles Subdivision] 

BNSF was putting on quite a show, as always, but this trip was all about the Cima Subdivision. I packed up my gear as I quelled my desire to head east. I put the truck in drive and turned right on Daggett-Yermo Road bound for Yermo and adventures unknown…

A Day Chasing Steam - The Santa Fe 3751 Heads South with San Diego Steam Special II - Part 3

(Continued from:
A Day Chasing Steam - The Santa Fe 3751 Heads South with San Diego Steam Special II - Part 2)

Our savior, so to speak, declared that he was certain the San Diego Steam Special II would be stopping at “Poinsettia” for servicing which will take about an hour. He also said that the Santa Fe 3751 would be performing a series of run-bys at that location as well!

“Really?” I exclaimed as I gave Dan a raised-brow glance. “Let’s see where Poinsettia is,” I said as I pointed the man towards my truck.

I pulled out two books - one was the PSV’s Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America and the other was Delorme’s California Atlas & Gazetter. We walked inside the Del Taco and proceeded to discover where the station called Ponsietta was located compared to where we were.

It turns out that it was about 10 miles south of our present location in Oceanside. The man gathered his family, hurried them outside, packed them in his car and headed south towards Poinsettia.

Dan, meanwhile, had purchased us some food and we soon followed the man and his family south.

I discussed our options with Dan as we negotiated the heavy traffic on the freeway. We both agreed that it would be in our best interest to forego the notion of going to Ponsietta to shoot the run-by and servicing. We reasoned that there would be plenty of people already there waiting and the shots would be littered with people.

Rather, we opted to use the time consumed by the servicing and run-by to locate a nice position in front of train or south of Poinsettia. As we sped south we listened carefully to my radio receiver tuned to the frequency for the railroad channel used in that area. Our new found expectation was validated as the signal strength of the transmissions from Santa Fe 3751 as the engineer called out signal indications became stronger and stronger. We were back in the chase!

Eventually the traffic waned at, you guessed it, Poinsettia Drive. Clearly we made a good decision by continuing further south now that we were once again ahead of the train.

Totally unfamiliar with the territory that we found ourselves navigating through, we exited the freeway at Leucadia Boulevard, two exits further south than Poinsettia, for no other reason than it afforded us more time to find a photogenic location to make our final shot from.

We traveled south on Vulcan Drive and followed the right-of-way. We approached any area where the track entered a sweeping curve that looked promising. For better or worse, we decided to make our last stand here. It turned out to be the Coaster Encinitas Station.

One aspect of chasing in unknown territory is that you could be just a mile from the most perfect spot ever and not even know it. That could be true today as well. I opted to make the best of the location we had found and parked the truck. We gathered our gear and made our way onto the closet platform.

Dan reconnoitered a few other possible locations by walking around a bit. Eventually we stayed where we were. Once in position, video cameras securely mounted to a track side sign post and still camera slung around my neck, we waited.

And we waited.

While we waited some more, we chatted with a few of the other spectators that had also stopped at the Encinitas Station to see the 3751 blow by. The folks were friendly and we all shared information as it became known. All totaled we waited about two hours for the train to arrive.

During this time we were fortunate enough to have several standard trains pass through or make a stop at the station. With each passing train I took several shots to keep an eye on the changing light conditions and get a sense of the location’s track speed.

Here are two shots that I took while we waited:

A Coaster train makes it’s scheduled stop at the Encinitas, CA station while we ait for the 3751 to show up. 

Having been issued a slow order while passing the San Diego Steam Special II at Poinsettia an Amtrak Surfliner gathers speed as she blows through the Coaster Station in Encinitas, CA.

After each train passed I reviewed that shots, (I love digital!), and altered the settings accordingly. I decided that I was pleased with the location and had great lighting when we initially arrived. No, two hours had passed and the lighting had shifted to the other side of the tracks. Being a fan of shadows, I thought it would complement the whiteness of the steam and smoke so we stayed where we were.

Eventually, the radio crackled with the sound of the conductor of the 3751 calling out “Highball 3751!” This meant she was on the move again. About 10 minutes after that we heard the distant rumbling and then a distinct steam whistle sound. “Here she comes!” I shouted.

As the noise became louder, the folks gathered along the platform with us began to cheer. Odd, I thought initially, but now I see how appropriate that was because we each had a story to tell about our own private chase and it became clear that it all was not to be in vane.

The crowd of “fans” that dotted the platform with all of their camera gear and tripods attracted a lot of others who knew nothing that was about to happen. Mostly they were locals who appeared to be living that “carefree existence” typical of the southern California beach scene.

Soon the relative calm of this station, with it’s great view of the ocean and comfort of a cooling on-shore breeze would be tossed askew with the majestic sound of man’s ability to harness the wild. Steam pure and simple.

As she rounded the bend, I took careful aimed and waited as long as I dared. I pressed the shutter:

The Santa Fe 3751 leads the southbound San Diego Steam Special II into a curve in Encinitas, CA on May 1, 2010

I am pleased with the result. I like the blur which contrasts with the sharpness of the rear of the locomotive and accentuates the length nicely. Also the steam and smoke created a shadow as well.

Here is the video of the train’s passing:

In a mere fraction of a fraction of the time it took to arrive, the train was gone - and so was our chase. Dan needed to get home and we had been fortunate enough to get another chance to capture this awesome scene thanks to an unknown man at a Del Taco, so we took our little victories and headed home.

The end.

Update on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 10:04PM by Joe Perry

Here is a photo of Dan (right) and I taken by Siobhan & Stacy at their Amtrak “tweetup” at the National Train Day event in Los Angeles on May 8, 2010.

A Day Chasing Steam - The Santa Fe 3751 Heads South with San Diego Steam Special II - Part 2

(Continued from:
A Day Chasing Steam - The Santa Fe 3751 Heads South with San Diego Steam Special II - Part 1)

The face of history, the face of progress - the Santa Fe 3751 waits at Fullerton, CA for passengers to board the San Diego Steam Special II on May 1, 2010

As I pulled away from the Fullerton Amtrak station parking lot, I began to estimate an approximate meeting location for both Dan and I and the 3751.  Ultimately we decided to meet at the Junipero Serra Road in San Juan Capistrano, mostly because it was the closet point at which our paths converged. However, it turned out to be rather fortuitous for us with respect the 3751 as well.

After meeting up with Dan we both needed a break to stretch our legs and devise a strategy for the upcoming day’s chase.  After a quick soda break we hopped into my rig and located a street that paralleled the railroad tracks and right-of-way. We began to search in earnest for a decent location with ample scenic elements to complement the 3751 as she rolled by at speed.

We did see a great location that was set back from the road a good piece and afforded that “woodsy” appeal that is rare in the coastal region. It appeared to be accessible from a bike path that transversed the location. We looked for a decent and “approved” parking location but none was to be had.

The lack of parking, combined with my concern about the amount of time it would take for us to get back to the truck and then head off after the 3751 again, convinced me to not try to get “that” shot.

Instead I used my trusty Tom-Tom GPS to gain an appreciation for other opportunities. Just then I saw it! I quickly remembered that this was also a location I identified as a “possible” location during my initial route planning activities with Google Maps from my desk. It was a road which turned out to be a driveway for an assisted living center which bordered the right-of-way.

I found a parking spot and we realized that we were not alone. Soon we were joined by at least three other “chasers” who also parked and scampered up the slight embankment on which Dan and I had taken up as our photographic position.

One of the gentlemen commented “You looking for the train?”.  We affirmed his question with a healthy response to which he replied that he had “heard it pass my house in Santa Ana and I just had to come out and see it! So I raced after it. Why wasn’t there anything in media about this?”

I thought, good question.  I had known about the run since last year but I have my finger on the pulse of all things rail-related. Was there not conventional media coverage? “I saw an article in the LA Times,” I retorted.

“Yeah, I saw that but nothing in the local paper, I mean” was his reply.

Just then I heard another guy shout at us, “You guys gonna shoot? You can stand anywhere in front of the sign but not where you are now because you will be in my shot.” I looked behind me and noticed a thin man perched on the side of the slope leading to the creek that the tracks crossed right where we were.

I asked him for clarification about which area comprised his shot and he gave me two areas to stay out of.  As I was considering my remaining options I heard someone yell “Here she comes!”

“No way!” I shouted.  I hadn’t found “my shot!” I took the thin man’s viewing angle into account, after all he was there first, and ducked in behind a tree sure to be out of his shot.

I pointed my camera down range towards the hustling steam engine and quickly discovered that my options were going to be limited given my location and my angle to the rails. I was essentially left with a long glass head-on shot from a distance so that the train would not entirely fill my frame.

I quickly composed a composition and thought to myself, “This guy is moving!”.

Moving he was.  It was a dead straightway and he was probably doing track speed. In no time at all he was gone and left nothing but the vacuum of the train, the sound of motion, and the sheer excitement of having just witnessed the event!

I had fired off three shots in short order. Here is the best of the three:

The Santa Fe 3751 leads the southbound San Diego Steam Special II through San Juan Capistrano, CA on May 1, 2010

It was far from ideal but that is the way it goes.  This is especially true if you are shooting in unfamiliar territory. Had I scouted out the route or if I was more familiar with the area I might have had time to set-up for and attain a killer shot. I had no one to blame except myself.

Not nearly as fast as the 3751 scooted off to the south, Dan and I rushed back to the truck. Parked in a fashion to afford a quick get away, I fired up the truck and then we were off chasing her again.

We were filled with excitement as we turned the corner and accelerated up the on-ramp to the southbound Interstate 5 freeway. Much to our chagrin, we were greeted with some heavy traffic. It turns out the “tarball” of fellow chasers and the general commuting public has almost brought our vital thoroughfare to a crawl.

Bummer! I made my best efforts to get ahead of the traffic by bobbing and weaving - probably pissing some folks off in the process, sorry - to no avail. I pulled out the crystal ball of traffic flow, Google Maps on my iPhone and it showed no relief in sight. The one saving grace of seeing the red “clogged” representation on the Google Maps display was that it offered  a realistic approximation of the head end of the San Diego Steam Special II as she flew, unimpeded, southbound towards San Diego.

After much discussion and effort our on part to make progress, it quickly became apparent that there was no way we were going to keep up with her, let alone get in front of her for some shots.

So finally at Oceanside, CA, we opted to see if the Pacific Coast Highway, US 1, would be our saviour. Once again our hopes were dashed as we faced even more traffic and stop lights. I decided to cry “Uncle.” The chase was over. We had a good time and a good run but the railfan gods were just not on our side. And besides, I was hungry!

We passed a Del Taco restaurant and I convinced Dan to stop and get some grub. After we parked we took a moment to console each other on the loss and brag about the little victories we had along the way. Our level of excitement started to wane as our appetites grew.

Just then we were approached by a man accompanying his family. He inquisitively asked “You guys chasing the train?”

“Actually,” I replied in a losing tone, “we were chasing her but not anymore. The traffic is just horrible.”

“Not so fast,” he gleefully added. “There’s still a chance to catch up with her.”

(Continued in part 3…)