We had hoped to recreate the classic shot of a train approaching with another headlight in the distance, but in the instance, we werent too successful with the second train appearing just after the first one passed.
BNSF 7328 East leads the M-BARBEL (Barstow, CA - Belen, NM) at Walapai
S-LHTCLO (Los Angeles Harbor - Clovis, NM) charges upgrade with BNSF 5153 East
Route 66 - "The Mother Road" parallels the Transcon for many locations in the desert southwest, and this area is no exception. Peppered with faux - Burma Shave signs pitching driving safety and the occasional roadside attraction is commonplace on this stretch of roadway. A quick pull-off of Route 66 west of Hackberry led to a good advantage point of the dip and swale of the former Santa Fe.
A hot H-KCKBAR-9 (Kansas City - Barstow, CA) manifest hustles to try to stay ahead of a fleet of Z trains
Z-LACWSP (Los Angeles, CA - Willow Springs, IL) crosses Truxton Wash on a iconic Santa Fe bridge at Hackberry
A set of rocks with an elevated view at the west end of Crozier Canyon is our next location where we have a good view of the Truxton Wash, which the main follows the drainage most of the way from Hackberry up to the top of the grade at Yampai. Crozier Canyon at just a few miles long is probably one of the most difficult to access due to private property issues as well as just physical road access. There are times of year that travel in the canyon is just not recommended. It has been said that if a railfan could spend a week in the canyon, there would be very few duplicated shots. Given how much rain had fallen over the past few days, we decided to make the west end of the Canyon as our location to set up. The canyon would have to wait for another time.
The last time we were at the Canyon, we witnessed the impressive updrafts which would result in a severe thunderstorm that opened up right over us. This year, only rain greeted us.
Z-KCKSBD (Kansas City - San Bernardino, CA) rolls out of Crozier Canyon
Kingman Canyon is located just southwest of the City of Kingman, the main transitions between the newer part of Kingman to the old part of town through Slaughterhouse Canyon. A line separation comes back together albeit briefly in old town before dropping down into Kingman Canyon. This defile allows access to the Sacramento Valley and Wash which the railroad uses to make it down to the crossing of the Colorado River at Topock. The canyon is just a few miles long, but has a significant grade separation. Also laid in the canyon is a surface road called the Old Trails road as well as Route 66. A little off-road driving and rock climbing led to some great locations. Hiding behind a rockface to stay out of the wind and rain, we were able to see two trains in the matter of about an hour.
Z-WSPSBD (Willow Springs, IL - San Bernardino, CA) has dynamics in check as it heads downgrade through Kingman Canyon
A 186 car monster H-BARGAL (Barstow, Ca - Galesburg, IL) crawls upgrade through Kingman Canyon
Our goal for the afternoon was to try and get out from under the rain and try to capture some storm light. After a quick drive we were back on the Needles sub, working our way west towards Bolo Hill. The rain didnt let up as we had hoped, it only increased and looked like it was going to stay the course for the afternoon. This didnt deter our tenacity. We moved up to Saltus on the west side of Bolo Hill and set up for what would prove to be an interesting couple of hours.
We managed to leapfrog train Z-WSPSBD that we saw in Kingman Canyon and catch it again here at Saltus during a rain squall - and going away with the Cadiz local approaching.
The Cadiz local provides same day out and back service from Barstow, CA to the interchange with the Arizona and California at Cadiz, CA. Out of any train on the Needles sub, this train is usually the one with the most unique power, usually stabled by a large set of 4-axle power. On this day, the local slowed to work the tank car spur at Saltus with a blue and yellow Santa Fe GP60 for lead power. I wondered what the conductor was thinking about these guys with cameras in the pouring rain in the middle of the Mojave.
Dressed for the winter elements in the Mojave, the brakeman and the conductor go about their duties in a land that usually sports triple digit temperatures for most of the year. After the work was completed, the local notches out up Bolo Hill - maybe a little for our benefit.
Last light found us at Newberry Springs watching the distant building of a thunderstorm over Barstow while we waited for the first of the westbound fleet that we first shot at Crozier Canyon to arrive. The storm light photos we were hoping for never materialized, but some decent going away and low light prevailed.
Rolling into the storm at Sunset
Yet another day closes on the Mojave - the next day would be spent partially on the Needles sub, and then a switch over to the former SP.
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