Despite how remote Afton Canyon looks, don't let the photos fool you. This shot is only about 6 miles as the crow flies from the nearest I-15 exit. Believe it or not, on a holiday weekend anyways,... (more)

I rolled the dice that the notoriously slow Cima Sub might pick up with backlogged trains the day after Thanksgiving. My gamble didn't pay off; only saw four trains in seven hours. But on the brig... (more)

On a warm Labor Day afternoon, the solitude of Afton Canyon is temporarily disrupted by the passing of the MNPWC, seen here at 3rd crossing of the Mojave River.

A westbound manifest paints the scene with light, as it rolls through Afton Canyon along Union Pacific's Cima Subdivision. The bridges in the foreground are one set of three different spans that ... (more)

A Union Pacific stack train follows the Mojave River, as it rolls through the colorful confines of Afton Canyon.

UP 844 glides over the Mojave River. Location scouting the day before paid off as 844 lines up exactly as I had envisioned, putting on an impressive exhaust that weaves into and out of the girders... (more)

Crossing the Mojave River in Afton Canyon on the way East.

Known more for it's lack of water than abundance, it would be a surprise to many to hear that the worst problem a railroad can face in the desert is too much water. Widespread heavy rains during t... (more)

90 highway minutes removed from the glitz of Las Vegas, Afton Canyon would seem to be an entire world away from Sin City. Yet at night, the Vegas lights fill the air, making their presence felt fa... (more)

Union Pacific's Los Angeles to Denver z-train begins its trek through Afton Canyon, shortly after beginning its journey over the Cima Subdivision.

A hot Z train is on approach to Afton Canyon, tootling its horn in warning to an off-road expedition that traversed the Mojave Road on this Memorial Day Weekend in 2009.

UP 5267 leads 7000' worth of stacks through Afton Canyon. This normally long stack train is just short enough for its DPUs to be seen coming around the corner in the background.

In early morning light, an eastbound Union Pacific stack train follows the winding course of the Mojave River, as it rolls through Afton Canyon.

UP 8410 leads the MNPWC 22 out of Afton Cyn on UP's Cima sub near Afton, with UP 1989 the D&RGW heritage unit is running second back.