Day 10 - Mojave to Needles

This leg of our journey took us from Mojave to Needles - a long drive that took all day in really warm desert heat.
We followed Hwy 58 from Mojave to Barstow, Route 66 to Daggett and joined I40 at Newberry Springs, stopping off at Barstow and Daggett.
The next leg took us to Ludlow where we stopped for lunch. It was pretty warm, with the temp getting up to 27 degrees C. The desert heat is dry and combine that with the cars aircon, it's a sure fire way to get dehydrated real quick.
We stuck with I40 as far as Fenner (Goffs Road interchange) - another hot long leg - and drove along Goffs road until we got to the town of Goffs - one house, barely standing, but habited. The action here was full on, and thanks to Dave Simpson's driving skills, I managed to get the most amazing pacing shot - over 10 kms in total, with the train starting off from stationary and slowly building up to 57 mph - with 160 well cars with containers on - the longest we've seen so far.
We then moved further along Goffs Road to Ibiz, where by now we could see west bound freights coming up the valley from Needles and east bounds approaching the crest of the hill from East Goffs. Dragging the guys away was a real mission, because as soon as one train would pass, you could see another crawling its way up the hill. It had us all wondering where all this stuff was going.

The scenery along I40 is nothing short of stunning. For those that like looking at barren landscapes and random mountain ranges poking up out of the desert, you never get tired of looking at the view. One highlight for me, although I did well to hide and contain my enthusiasm, was seeing the Pisgah crater and the surrounding lava beds. Because I was driving, I couldn't take photos, so the Amboy Crater will have to suffice when we get near that in a few days time.

The locals reckon the snakes and scorpions will start appearing in about 4 weeks - we're not letting down our guard just in case.

One night in Needles, tomorrow we're off to Kingman AZ, which in USA driving terms is "just down the road".

The view from Ibiz.

Pacing a BNSF ES44C4

The 'B' Team at Goffs

"Down" train at Ibiz

"Up" train meets "Down" train at Ibiz

Tail end helpers at Ibiz

Day 9 - A 16 mile drive

Today was to be a back-up day in case nothing happened at Tehachapi yesterday. As it turned out, today is Monday and Monday is window day - where the Union Pacific & BNSF cease operations so they can carry out track maintenance.

Between 7:30 am and 4:30 pm we saw 3 trains and didn't drive any further than Monolith, 16 miles away - and that's all I'll say about that.

Thankfully I bumped into a UP signal maintainer early on and he was quite happy to power up his laptop and show me a graphical interface of the rail network and where all the trains were - it was looking pretty sad. Armed with that information we decided to head back to the motel and just chill.

By 5:30 pm it was all on again but the light was fading fast. Last night at Mojave. Wonderful place.

Day 8 - Tehachapi exploration

Being based out of Mojave, it's only a 20 minute drive to Tehachapi and the accommodation is a lot cheaper. Apart from that, you can hear the trains rumbling past in the middle of the night and the sunrises are spectacular.

Today was full on and very busy - I took over 250 photos and filmed 15 trains from Caliente, Bealville, Tunnel 2 and Tehachapi Loop. There were a lot more than 15 trains though, and it was a case of being in the right place at the right time.

The weather was fine and warm and I got my third layer of sunburn.

Not much more to say other than we are burning through a lot of fuel with all this hill climbing. Can't wait to get back onto flat land.

Piccies below:

Day 7 - Fresno to Mojave

Day 7 involved us relocating from Fresno to Mojave via Bakersfield and Tehachapi Loop. What a drive. After checking out from our less than morally ideal hotel in Fresno, we shot down to the Fresno Amtrak to catch some action.

This time the two vehicles stuck together like glue and the invariably excellent good luck I have when finding trains was running rampant again, this time rubbing off on the others.

We explored Fresno a bit more, following the lines and generally heading in a southerly direction. The sudden appearance of a security company vehicle had us thinking that someone in a loco cab didn't take too kindly to us using our cameras on a public road. We were being watched, but that's as far as it got.

The long drive to Bakersfield was broken up with stop at Tulare for lunch. Bakersfield was a non event, but the 20 minute break from driving gave us the necessary rest needed for the final leg to Mojave, via Tehachapi Loop. All the hype about this place is warranted. We accessed this area via Caliente and Bealville, the first stop being at tunnel 1.

For the first time in my life, I had to scan the ground ahead looking out for rattlesnakes before walking it. No snakes seen. Despite not seeing any rail activity at all from Bakersfield to the loop, by the time we got there it was all on. Despite what many have said, there were just as many Union Pacific as there was BNSF. Excellent.

The day ended with a bit of shopping in Tehachapi K Mart and the final drive to Mojave. Days Inn is a very good Motel.

A most excellent day had by all. Clear skies, a slight breeze and more sunburn. We're now on the edge of the Mojave Desert and temperatures are a lot warmer. The hotel is located across the road from the main line and the noise of the trains passing through has got everyone fizzing - loving it !

Day 6 - Auburn to Fresno

All I can say about today was "Wow !!"

Going to Lodi was a waste of time - nothing happened. Stockton diamonds produced a lot of rail action from both UP and BNSF although the light suited UP traffic only.

After spending a couple of hours there we headed off for Fresno, my team taking Santa Fe Highway all the way from Escalon to Merced. Some intense BNSF action was to be found and the guys were pretty pleased with what they saw - and then Greg pipes up "Isn't that a B-52 ?"
I start to immediately scan the skies, and there it was - on the ground right in front of us. We had stumbled across the USAF Castle AFB Museum - wicked - which was just closing up for the day - oh no.

The guys did some sweet talking and one of the ladies stayed behind and let us roam around for an hour - excellent. By the time we got to Fresno it was dark and time for food and bed.

Brilliant day.

Day 5 - Donner Pass

Day 5 was spent covering as much ground as possible from Auburn to Verdi. Auburn is north east of Sacramento and Verdi is 10 miles west of Reno Nevada. This entire area is referred to as Donner Pass.

Both teams had different tactics with both vehicles clocking up some serious miles and both parties were moderately successful when it came to hunting the iron horses. The entire line is double tracked but it was soon evident that only one was being used - the reason became clear when a high railer turned up on the track that wasn't being used.

Donner Pass is a big area and train chasing can involve a lot of driving - albeit at 65 mph along I80. My tactic was to drive all the way to Verdi, stopping when we saw something. At about the half way mark at Soda Springs the lights started flashing and bells clanging as soon as we got there - rather amusing as the vehicle automatically locks the doors as soon as you take off, so when I stopped at the barrier arms and everyone tried to get out in a hurry, they were all locked in...some colourful language was heard.

The climb to the summit of Donner Pass is ridiculous - at over 7240 feet, it's well above the snow line and there was plenty to be found. Soda Springs was blanketed and made a great backdrop for multiple shots. It was an odd thing driving along Donner Pass Road and going past all these chair lifts that started near the road.

I was so busy filming I forgot to take photos, other than scenic shots.

Places visited were Colfax, Alta (awesome lunch from the Deli), Soda Springs and Truckee. Eight video clips and the photos below. Tomorrow we relocate to Fresno.

Lake Donner from the top of the pass. Amazing that just over to the right is the Union Pacific main line - at 7056 feet. Standing at Soda Springs, it's plainly obvious the steep grade the trains have to climb to get to the top of the pass.

This is rugged country.

Day 4 - Drive to Auburn

This was going to be the day to figure out if all the planned driving times and places to go to were going to work out. We departed late and got in right on time - I was very pleased.

This part of the trip covered the journey from South San Francisco to Auburn, via many places. The Hertz Neverlost GPS had us guessing as to what it wanted us to do, but once we clicked, I didn't make any more wrong turns and it proved to be a very useful driving aid.

We were split up between two vehicles and as it turned out, ended up going to different places. I stuck strictly to my plan and only made one detour when the old fellas expressed their concern that we wouldn't get to Sacramento in time. Not a problem.

First stop was Emeryville which is just around the corner from Oakland. This Amtrak stop sees Amtrak, Amtrak California and Union Pacific freight trains. Today was a bonus for my team. As soon as we turned up we realised the California Zephyr was in and was getting ready to depart. But before that happened a BNSF freight turned up and stopped. The Zephyr then departed, followed by the arrival and departure of an Amtrak Cal. commuter. Mr. BNSF departed and then another commuter passed through - all this within about 40 minutes. Not a bad effort.

After this my team then went to Pinole where we caught up with the other team who had to replace their vehicle owing to the GPS not working. Three commuters passed through and the light was not good. Next stop was the Cal-State Railroad museum, with each team once again going their own way. We went via Suisan City and Dixon where we saw about 3 trains - one stationery and two moving. Traffic volumes through this area is not high and to see two freights was a real bonus.

Onwards to the museum where two hours was spent marvelling at the old stuff. I stuck with my plan and we ventured past Roseville Yard on both sides - plenty of photo opportunities - plenty of "No Stopping" signs. We stopped on Atlantic Street in Enwood, part of greater Roseville where we witnessed the departure of a UP freight with 3 locos on the head end and another 3 locos about 3/4 of the way back, all hauling 95 freight cars - a mixture of box cars, tanks and covered hoppers. This was followed by a short switching job.

"Lets see if we can chase the freight". This tied in with my plans to go to Newcastle before going to Auburn and just as we got there, we realised that the freight was waiting at a crossover. The GPS took us directly to the tunnel mouth and we were rewarded with an Amtrak commuter followed by the freight.

Hotel - food - shower - bed. It was a big day.