The Pacific Railroad Society sponsored a round trip from Los Angeles to Barstow with equipment from the tri-weekly Sunset Limited laying over at the Los Angeles coach yard.
The route guide cover. It would be another opportunity to ride through Santa Ana Canyon. My friend Bruce Jacobs accompanied me for this adventure and the two of us drove to Los Angeles Union Station to catch the train at its origin. We joined many other eager passengers at the gates and when they turned us loose, we dashed to the train which was pulled by two F40PH's.
Our route.
The track chart. With everyone ready and aboard, the train set off from MP 139.2 and we ran out to Mission Tower, MP 140.0 then turned south along the Los Angeles River. We passed the Amtrak coach yards and the Redondo Junction roundhouse before slowing for the tight turn to take us across the Los Angeles River, after which we picked up speed crossing Union Pacific's Harbor Line prior to running along the south side of Hobart Yard at MP 145. We ducked under Interstate 710 then went by the Lever Brothers Soap Plant in Commerce before bridging Interstate 5 and minutes later after passing warehouses, travelled by the Northrop Ford Assembly plant, MP 150.8 and the Pico Rivera Yard a tenth of a mile later. After passing between the homes, we crossed the San Gabriel River, MP 152, and turned south through Santa Fe Springs at MP 152.2 then made our way through La Mirada at MP 157.7 before entering Orange County and through the north end of Buena Park to Fullerton, MP 165.0 where we stopped to let more passengers board.
With a nearly full train, we proceeded east past the junction to San Diego through Placentia at MP 43 to Atwood at MP 40.6, where the Fourth District joined from Orange, then continued through Santa Ana Canyon, which still fairly undeveloped. We ran through Esperanza at MP 36.4 around the horseshoe curve and out between the orange groves, passed Featherly Park and the Green River Golf Course before crossing high above the Santa Ana River with a mobile home park below. We entered Riverside County and ducked under California Highway 91 Freeway then went through Prado Dam at MP 29.2, with the dam of the same name across the freeway, then ducked under the freeway again to go through Corona at MP 24.1 and the former station diving underneath the highyway once more passing by Porphyry at MP 22.8.
Continuing the journey, the special travelled through the gap in the hills and followed the small Riverside Water Company canal into Arlington at MP 16.4 then proceeded into Casa Blanca at MP 14.0 before cutting between the hills and going by Riverside National Cemetery. We then cruised through Riverside Junction at MP 9.2 before passing Santa Fe's Riverside station, ducked under California Highway 60 then ran to Highgrove at MP 6.7, where the San Jacinto Branch diverted before crossing Interstate 215 and down the hill to the Santa Ana River. We came into West Colton before crossing the Southern Pacific at Colton Crossing at MP 2.9, ducked under Interstate 10, passed Union Pacific's Colton station and we reached "B" Yard in San Bernardino, which we went through to reach "A" Yard and rolled by the ivy-covered San Bernardino station, MP 81.3.
As we turned north I was off to the lounge car while we paralleled Interstate 215 before skirting Cajon Boulevard through Ono, MP 76.5 and Verdemont, MP 73.0 up the grade of Cajon Pass. Southern Pacific's Palmdale cutoff was approaching and ran beside it through Devore at MP 71.0 then we crossed Cajon Creek and went under Interstate 15 and were now in Cajon Pass with the wide, but dry, Cajon Creek to the east. We made our way through Keenbrook, MP 69.4 and the confines of Blu Cut, MP 65.3, crossing the San Andreas Fault then rounded the curve at Cozy Dell, MP 64.0, and crossed Cajon Creek before reaching Cajon Siding at MP 62.8. The Desert Scout crossed Cajon Creek again and went up Sullivan's Curve at MP 63.8 before crossing Highway 138 at MP 61.5 and the creek again then passed below the Mormon Rocks before turning to the east at Davis Ranch.
We plunged under Interstate 15 and went by Alray, MP 59.7, before crossing the bridge over Route 66 then travelling through the Alray Tunnels at MP 59.3 and making our way towards Summit along the south-facing slope. We turned right before rounding the sweeping curve through the deep cut of the 1972 line re-location which lowered Cajon Summit by 50 feet. We crossed over at Summit, MP 55.9, to pass a heavy westbound Union Pacific coal train waiting to use the easier grade of the north track then entered the Summit Valley and crossed back over at Lugo, MP 50.1 before passing Hesperia Airport. We ran down grade through Hesperia, MP 55.1, where the Lucerne Valley Branch took off then passed through Thorn and under the over crossing to make us return to right-hand running.
The Desert Scout then went by the Mojave Regional Park before travelling through the Upper Mojave Narrows and into Victorville at MP 36.7 before going underneath Interstate 15 and past the huge Southwest Portland Cement plant, MP 35.3 and crossing the Mojave River at the Lower Mojave Narrows. We ran through Oro Grande at MP 31.5 with another large cement plant before going through Helendale at MP 21.1 with Silver Lake across the Mojave River, followed by Point of Rocks and Hodge, MP 13.6 prior to zipping through Lenwood at MP 6.7 and on into the huge Barstow Yard. We entered via the Receiving Yard and passed the engine facility, ran around the balloon track before returning to the main line, where we reversed into the Barstow depot for a two-hour layover, here at MP 746.4.
The return trip was fast as we ran down the South Track over Cajon Pass and went the short way at San Bernardino. All in all, it was an excellent excursion and a lot of fun. A special thanks to the Pacific Railroad Society for another fantastic trip.
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