At 6:00 am, the sun has not yet risen and BNSF Railway’s San Bernardino B Yard is shrouded in a thick fog. At this early hour, the railway’s annual California Division Christmas Train is being prepped for the days two runs from the San Bernardino passenger station to the Summit of Cajon Pass and back. BNSF ES44C4 4228 is on the train’s west end, and ES44C4 7025 is on the east end — each locomotive will lead for half of each trip. In a few hours this train will head to the station and load hundreds of disadvantaged families for a fun-filled trip (thanks to volunteers entertainers) up one of the BNSF’s busiest sections of the whole railroad, and all the dedicated BNSF employees who operate the line over Cajon Pass (dispatchers, maintenance-of-way crews, signal maintainers, mechanics and even the railway's police officers will work hard to ensure that this train encounters no problems en route. These workers don’t even get to see the happy faces of the kids as they get off the train at the end of the run. Photographed on railroad property with permission and full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
