Scorched Earth - [Blue Cut Fire Series] - A pair of SD70Ace's on loan from the Powder River Division in Montana coast lite down the 2% grade at the crossing of Davis Road in the Cajon Pass after a trip up to Hesperia on helper duty. While 70Ace's are not at all rare sights on Union Pacific trains through the Cajon Pass, they were exceedingly rare on BNSF drags until about six months ago when single units started showing up in long distance stack train consists coming in and out of the Los Angeles Basin. Lately, the frequency of BNSF SD70Ace sightings has increased with whole groups showing up on consists headed into the Port of Los Angeles and Hobart Yard in Vernon California. Needles to say, for BNSF railfans the prevalence of EMD power has been quite an exciting change from the usual Dash-9's, GEVO's and IV GE models. Additionally, the result of the Blue Cut Fire that started on August 16, 2016, and burned through the Cajon Pass until it was fully contained on August 23, 2016, is evident in the photo, where the head high coastal chaparral has been burned to the ground in most spots which makes the foreground and the surrounding hills sides look as if they have been subjected to a nuclear bomb attack.
