Santa Fe 505 East climbs the steep western slope of Ash Hill as it roars through the Mojave Desert past Ludlow. From this vantage point, we can see that the desert is definitely not flat, but has ... (more)

Four UP SD45s roll an empty Kaiser Steel coal train eastward at Martinez on Cajon Pass. The train of high-sided coal hoppers is headed back to the loadout in Utah for another load. The tall and ab... (more)

Four big 20-cylinder EMDs hold back a westbound manifest as they hustle over the big fill just "railroad" west of tunnel 2. In the distance, we can see the right of way cut into the hill... (more)

As an eastbound Santa Fe manifest drops out of the defile that forms the eastern gateway to the pass, the northwestern sky is filled with the orange light of the setting sun. The manifest is passi... (more)

Milwaukee Road 3030 West passes the big substation at East Portal as it heads toward the long bore that tunnels under the Bitterroots. No. 3030 was later renumbered to 160.

In Jun 1972, a pair of GE U23Bs idles in front of WP's depot at Keddie, CA. The two U-boats are covered with a patina of chalky road dust, picked up between here and points north on the nearby Hig... (more)

Little Joe E70 is lead helper for Milwaukee Road westbound hot-shot 171 West at Stetson, ID. The road freight that originated in Chicago will soon arrive in Avery, where it will change crews. Also... (more)

Santa Fe 5347 West creeps through the ATSF-UP interchange to get to UP's Stockton Yard from Santa Fe's Mormon Yard. Because of catastrophic flood damage to SP's Tehachapi line on March 1, 1983, Sa... (more)

Santa Fe red and silver FP45 No. 98 leads a long pig train up the steep grade at Woodford, CA. The morning fog hasn't yet burned off, and the 98 looked like phantom apparition when it appeared fro... (more)

Just after sunrise, WP 3519 bears down on the west portal of Chilcoot Tunnel with an eastbound UP manifest. The train is leaving the snow-covered Sierra Nevada Range, visible in the distance, and ... (more)

SP 8487 East roars out of the Caliente Creek Narrows on a hot afternoon in August 1974. The steep hills surrounding the dug-in right of way are golden brown, but the trees flanking the Caliente Cr... (more)

Early in the morning, Rio Grande 3090 East, a 144 train, climbs the grade at Chicken Hollow, UT. Note how green and strewn with wildflowers the surrounding landscape is. The rains have been good t... (more)

Four SD9Es team up with an SD40 to lift a heavy SP manifest as it approaches the west switch of Marcel. Cut into the train is a four-unit helper.

Santa Fe 5997 East, a pig train out of northern California, grinds slowly past a herd of sheep as shepherds work to maintain control of their flock as the big, noisy machines roar past. Forage is ... (more)

With misty clouds draping the mountains and a light rain falling, a westbound Santa Fe pig meets an eastbound manifest at Blue Cut. We're standing right on top of the infamous San Andreas Fault.