BTB Blog

One General Electric locomotive as well as two EMD built engines pull hard to get a double stack container train around several S-curves and up the more than 2% grade. They are at a point known as Cisco on the UP Donner Pass line. I climbed steep,  rocky slopes as well in order to get to this location. High above I80 (exit 165), enjoying a marvelous view of the line up to the crest, I waited for the notorious, daily Amtrak train and almost…

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The Coast Starlight is another Amtrak train that treats its patrons with amazing scenery along its route. The train travels between Los Angeles and Seattle along the Pacific coastline. It is kind of Route 101 on rails. I rode this train from Burbank up to Berkeley (Amtrak station: Emeryville) on my way from the Mojave desert to the Sierras. It takes about 12 hours for the 455 miles (732 km) and the service offered on board makes sure everyone gets the most out of…

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Amtrak train #6, the eastbound “California Zephyr”, just left Truckee, CA and rolls down the the eastern slope of the Donner Pass line towards Reno, NV. This train from Emeryville (Berkeley/San Francisco) to Chicago features on of the most scenic routes in the US that can be travelled by train. I crossed the Sierra Nevada on the Zephyr the day before and spottet an old steel  bridge as a good location for this picture. “Go-away” shots are not so opportune for…

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Railroaders tend to name every location of a line in order to insure proper recognition by crews and therefore support reliable operation. The specific point of Caliente lives up to its name on this Friday in August 2016. At plus 90° Fahrenheit (+32 °C) a set of UP engines lugged the train in tow around a horseshoe curve and, by doing so, turned the direction of travel the opposite way for several miles. This is another trick the engineers of the line across…

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A US train watching trip is not complete without a visit to the famous Tehachapi Loop. Placed in the hills between Bakersfield and its namesake town it is always amazing to see the trains circle around in order to gain altidude for conquering Tehachapi Pass. This BNSF intermodal train just completed a 360° turn and will show up on the track visible on the very bottom once it has negotiated another half circle. Beside of the twists and turns this is one of…

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When Herb Sullivan took pictures of steam powered Santa Fe trains at Cajon Pass in California, a lot of things where different- except for the scenery. His terrific photos featuring the distinctive rock formation gave the particular curve its name. I spent the morning hanging out in the area after hiking in on the Pacific Crest Trail, leaving the car behind on a trail head near the I15 exit. Several trains came through in both directions and this one made it into…

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We’re back in the desert and after almost a whole week I finally got a hold of a train powered by other than BNSF engines. I did so at the flyover structure in Victorville, CA. In general, by going over and above the westward trains change to the left side of the line in order to utilize the steeper grade downhill on Cajon pass several miles to the west. In return, trains going uphill use the lower grade track which takes them on the left hand side for…

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to break a little bit with the ongoing “BNSF in the desert” theme, this photo of today features a picture I took some weeks ago while staying in New Orleans, LA. This lovely and beautiful city not only offers the French Quarter, cemeteries and swamps but also is home to one of the oldest, continually operated street car lines. Car 961 travels back to the barn after a long day hauling tourists and locals on the famous green line.

I know, it might get a little bit boring, at lest for the non-trainenthusiasts. Here is another picture of contemporary railroading in the Mojave desert. A solid set of orange and green, six-axle GEs haul a westbound container train out of Crozier Canyon. This location along “historic route 66”  can be found pretty much right in the middle between Seligman, AZ and Kingman, AZ.The area provides a lot of opportunities for rail-fanning, if one does not mind the heat and bumpy backroads.

getting up early mostly gets rewarded- at least when you’re a rail-fan. This interesting trio at the point of a heavy BNSF coal train is only part of the story. Besides a Norfolk Southern and a CSX locomotive, both houndreds of miles away from home, the big part of the hopper cars still is in BN green. In addition the train had some DPU units in front of the last third as well as pushers. I did this shot of the nice consist…

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