This is an Osprey sea-eagle at home in NY. This picture has no functional purpose being on this page and is provided purely for decorative purposes.
Meanwhile, back to the story... Fresh from a sleepless night at the non-air-conditioned Bel-Air in Mojave, I attack the Warren curve to find a flat baretable
Ahh,that's more like it. Real trains, Brucie
Spinning electricity
A BNSF freight passes the Mojave airport, the retirement home for old airliners
A long wait sees shadows encroach on my shot at Clear Creek
A following BNSF stacker threads down through Allard to Tunnel 2. Note the height that is eaten up by the Allard horseshoe at right. This is quite the grade.
Same train, better picture
And lastly running through Caliente
Next morning, it's Warren time again
U2 trees
Give us this day our daily morning baretable
Whoops
Yummystacks
Descending through the heat haze
Some colour in the desert
Long trains looking short
Strange bird at Mojave - the new Saab 9-3? :)
Makes mental note to reset camera after taking trains. 1/60th handheld with approx 900mm isn't a surefire recipe for sharp pictures
A short UP train threads its way down the Clear Creek ravine
Finally, the shot that was requested
Bumming a ride
Aces High- a pair of UPs head out of Tunnel 3 with a long train comprising one tie wagon. Overpowered methinks.
Departing Bealville
Caliente Narrows
Shooting at tunnel 2 in the company of Bob ('Tehachap' of Trainorders)
The new bridge near Bena. I thought this section between Bena and Illmon had been double tracked by now. The roadbed looks formed.
High flying fugitive tumbleweed finally caught
Sandcut Evening
A UP train heads past the neat old SP cantilever signal mast
A different take on Warren the next morning, but alas no downhills in the hours I was there
...So we'll just cheat and snap these pushers instead.
Big Bird
Another take on Tunnel 2
S bend between Bena and Illmon. Maybe this was the better angle...
Meeting His Excellency the Lost SdnLdr Hopley
Intermodal test shot
Bobbing for oil near Edison next morning on the way back from Taft
We climb a steep hill and wait. And wait. And wait. S bend between Bena and Illmon. All that work and the other angle was probably better...
Ex-LMS Dash 8 pusher at Bealville
The final morning at Tehachapi sees this uphill dropping down temporarily at Sandcut
Crappier version of the above
Bursting from one of the Tehachapi creek tunnels
UP pigs at Cable
A return to Warren, this time knowing there are a couple of trains on their way
And again. UP galore
Rounding the loop
A last run up to the loop sees this UP train heading down through Woodford
Final fling at the backside of the loop
And then it's off to points east
Pumpkin head
It was about here I discovered that my 85mm lens was completely buggered...
Grain moving about the yard in large steel vessels
Shunters. I mean Switchers
Autoracks
Barstow Sunset. I surely do like this one.
I spent a couple of hours on Cajon Pass on the way back from my very first visit to Tehachapi in 1988. I don't think I even got the slides developed. But now with an almost open mind, I'm prepared to give Cajon another go. We find a nice spot and wait. Bah, all the trains are on the wrong track
Or going the wrong way
GP60M on a downhill
UP pushers on a BNSF train
View from the summit in the company of a couple of Brits
Helpers on the above train
The immediately following train on the third track
The George Bush Senior loco. The George W Bush loco will have his name spelt wrong
After the departure of Brent, I umm and ahh for a while about heading back to Tehachapi. During this time nothing much happens. After 40 minutes I start up the car and decide to head off. About four seconds later, a headlight appears in the distance and it ends up on the right track, thus saving me about a hundred dollars in gas money.
And then one more uphill before boredom sets in again and I head to LAX for a date with three Margaritas. Sorry. I just can't get into Cajon...