A Roundhouse No More... UP 8094 leads the northbound ODOWP-10 into San Luis Obispo on a warm, fall afternoon as the head end passes the remains of the once bustling roundhouse here. Origin... (more)

A Wye No More... Struggling upgrade toward the famous Gold Tree horseshoe curve while crossing over the 1894-built, 930-foot long Stenner Creek Trestle at the southern base of Cuesta Pass,... (more)

Lugging the empty Oil Cans up onto the southern end of Cuesta Pass, UP 8094 and two fellow GE's have their work cut out for them as they slow to a crawl while crossing the original 1894-built Sten... (more)

Breaking away from their train in front of the ex-Southern Pacific depot, the road power for the coast line's iconic "Oil Cans" leads the fresh helper power based out of here off their t... (more)

Having completed the full 180-degree turn that is the Gold Tree Horseshoe Curve, AMTK 193 and 510 slug the northbound Coast Starlight upgrade into Chorro on a hot afternoon on the Central Coast.

Bringing up the markers of today's northbound Coast Starlight, the private passenger cars "Silver Lariat" and "Silver Solarium" of CB&Q heritage show the stark contrast between the tracks they're ... (more)

The Coast Starlight descends the Cuesta Grade outside of San Luis Obispo. PPE on.

Some 14 years after receiving its Olympic paint scheme, UP 2001 leads an El Paso, Texas bound autorack train out of San Luis Obispo and toward the coast line.

The Coast Starlight twists and turns the meandering down grades of the Santa Lucia range.

Empty autos are still rolling down the Cuesta Grade. I was briefly home in San Luis Obispo and able to catch a train rolling down the mini horse curve on route to a crew change in SLO.

With the first half of its journey complete, Amtrak 1790 prepares to depart San Luis Obispo for points south with the veteran AMTK 505 on the point followed by the private cars "Pacific Trail" and... (more)

The afternoon sun glistens off the southbound No.14, the coast Starlight, as it travels through the ranch lands on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo.

Lumber on the Central Coast

A Southern Pacific eastbound, with Cotton Belt SD40T-2 8325 on the front, sits in San Luis Obispo, California, awaiting a fresh crew. This train, heading... (more)

Slugging it Out on Cuesta Grade

There are several tunnels on Southern Pacific’s Cuesta Grade, just north of San Luis Obispo, California – and it has been decades since they’ve ... (more)

Smoking in SLO

Amtrak's Transcontinental Steam Excursion puts on a show as it departs San Luis Obispo, California, on the morning of April 27, 1977. This excursion, led by fo... (more)