Western Railroad Discussion > Less Than a Day in Tehachapi

Last month, SCUfoamer had informed me of his plans to do a weekend railfanning trip to Southern California. Original plan was to focus his activities around Cajon Pass, but the aftermath of the Blue Cut Fire basically changed his plans, and he decided to stay around Tehachapi:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4116654

Kudos for him being a responsible foamer by asking about Cajon Pass access ahead of time. Either way, my work schedule said I could only join him on his last day of the trip, on Sunday.

On the last Saturday of September, I immediately headed out to the Central Valley after finishing work, so I can hop on the last Amtrak San Joaquin from the boonies in Modesto to Bakersfield. I actually had time to catch the previous Amtrak San Joaquin (running late), but I stuck with my plans, and used the extra time to catch some UP freight trains north of Stockton before driving to Modesto Amtrak Station. He met up with me later that night at Bakersfield in his trail-rated Jeep Rubicon. Cool.

- Jeep Rubicon, SCUfoamer, and northbound BNSF Z train near Edison, Sunday morning.
- Southbound BNSF manifest at Mojave.
- Video of two southbounds, Sunday morning.

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We got started Sunday morning just after sunrise, knowing from our previous experiences to catch the "morning parade." We saw a northbound UP manifest sneak into Bakersfield as we were heading out, then ran into two BNSF northbound intermodals between Edison and Bena. I was expecting more "westbounds" (northbounds) but it seems there were no more.

So SCUfoamer kept driving toward Mojave, and I listened for EOTD (End Of Train Device, or "FRED") on my scanner to see if we could catch any more trains. Sure enough, as we neared Woodford, we heard some "chirps."

Because I was still looking for more northbounds, I was surprised to see a southbound heading toward what used to be Marcel. Great! We got ahead of the BNSF manifest and got it coming out of Tunnel 17, first clip in the first video in the previous post. Same train is shown, shot #2, at Mojave. H-VAWBAR? H-PASBAR?

SCUfoamer was thinking of going to Warren to take advantage of the great morning light for the BNSF manifest, but whatever slim chance we had was "ruined" by a UP manifest running ahead of the BNSF, what looked like MFRWC (Fresno to West Colton), second clip in the first video, and it blocked the crossing we needed to take to go to Warren.

- MFRWC at Mojave. Note the transformer load in the background at Mojave Yard.
- Jeep Rubicon and BNSF autorack waiting at Sanborn.
- Video of MWCRV chase later in the day.
 

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It seemed the "morning parade" was over, so we headed to Keene Cafe for a relaxing breakfast while keeping an eye for anymore trains that escaped our attention. From radio conversations, we knew another work window was going to be in effect, so SCUfoamer made a lazy drive + scouting trip toward Mojave after breakfast, hoping to catch the beginning of the afternoon parade when the flood gates would open up.

On our way to Mojave, we spotted a northbound UP manifest with a GE Tier 4 leader, parked near Summit, mostly likely a section of the MWCRV (second video posted in this thread). So DS 54 was already "stacking" trains while the work window was in effect.

We spotted another train stopped, way in the distance, on BNSF's Mojave Sub, so SCUfoamer gave the Jeep Rubicon more exercise by going offroad toward Sanborn. Sometimes, railheads love to chat with foamers, but the conductor of this train (BNSF autorack) closed the window as we neared. Oh well!

We returned to Mojave to get nourishments for the Rubicon (gasoline) and us (ice tea and vitamin water) then SCUfoamer overheard on my scanner DS 54 giving a signal to a train. A northbound BNSF intermodal showed up in Mojave at that moment (and the reason the autorack was parked at Sanborn) but my theory was that the signal was for the MWCRV at Summit, so we immediately headed that way to begin the chase.

Locations covered in the video are the following: S curve between Rowen and Woodford, entering Tunnel 3, Caliente Creek between Bena and Ilmon, and Sandcut.

Due to switch problems in Bakersfield, DS 54 was running a single-track railroad between there and Sandcut, so northbound trains were being stacked up behind the MWCRV, while the southbound trains were being paraded to Sancut. There was plenty of daylight left, but both SCUfoamer and I had to head home, so we ended our foaming day, and he dropped me off in the boonies in Modesto later that night so I can pick up my car.

- Blue & Yellow Geep on the BNSF autorack at Sanborn.
- MWCRV stopped at Sandcut, with the Jeep Rubicon.

Hopefully, SCUfoamer has more shots to post from the day's actions.

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Thanks, Charlie, for the really nice pix and videos!  Almost felt as
though I was there.  So good to see those interesting manifests --
never know what they will have in their train.  And also nice to see a
BNSF "orange-bonnet"  (I don't like the "swoosh".)  And the pacing
clip was great!  As I said, added together, a couple of really enjoyable
videos.