Situated 400 rail miles from Southern Pacific's MP 0.0 in San Francisco sits Oban, CA. Worlds away from the urban metropolis and seaside wharfs of San Francisco, Oban sits on the floor of the Mojave Desert, smack in between two of Southern California's most demanding mountain passes. Trains regardless of direction find themselves going back to work upon reaching lonely MP 400. For the westbound ZLCBRB-08, which has drawn UP 2001-CSXT 5489-UP 9629, the down hill run from Hiland (at the top of Cajon Pass) is at an end and now the gradual march to Mojave and the formidable Tehachapi grade begins.
