It was a busy afternoon on BNSF Railway's Cajon Subdivision on December 15, 2018. Adding to the dispatcher's balancing act that day was the 2018 BNSF Railway California Division Christmas Train. On the second of two trips from San Bernardino to the Summit of Cajon Pass, the passenger special was held on the Main 2 (the center of three mainlines) near Devore, at the lower end of Cajon Pass. It wasn't long before BNSF ES44DC 7397, leading train Q-SBDCHI7-15, rounded the curve in front of our train, and it was crossing over to Main 1 from Main 2. As this Chicago-bound intermodal train, just ten miles out of San Bernardino (where it originated), got closer, its speed also got slower until, at last, it came to a stop - still blocking Main 2. So there we sat, two trains unable to continue forward, while the Q-train's crew worked on the problem. After five minutes (which seemed a bit longer, of course), the Q-train started moving again, and before long the Christmas train was able to continue its westward journey - until stopped again by congestion about ten miles from the station. We eventually rolled into San Bernardino to unload our passengers about an hour behind schedule. (The orange and black engines, combined with a lot of Schneider National containers, make this scene look more like Halloween rather than Christmas!)
