Pure luck to be in the right place at the right time to catch two moving trains near the summit of Cajon pass.

Santa Fe 5256 East, a long pig train with a caboose on the rear, roars uphill toward Crookton, AZ and beyond. At right-center of the photo, one can see black smoke from another, hotter pig train o... (more)

On July 8, 1986, a Santa Fe freight climbs the Arizona Divide west of Flagstaff, Arizona. Leading the westbound train is a former Amtrak EMD SDP40F, No. 5256, designated a SDF40-2 by the Santa Fe ... (more)

Led by a former Amtrak SDP40F converted to a SDF40-2, the daily transfer between the Santa Fe's Corwith Yard and the IHB's Blue Island Yard after a classic Chicago snowstorm. Tom Golden photo.

5256 is only a few months from her purchase from Amtrak and conversion to freight service as an SDF40-2. She still looks fresh as she glides past a brand-new station sign at Edwards, CA.

A Santa Fe freight climbs the Arizona Divide west of Flagstaff, Arizona, on July 8, 1986. Leading the westbound train is a former Amtrak SDP40F, now labeled as a SDF40-2 by the Santa Fe after bein... (more)

An eastbound Santa Fe freight climbs between Seligman and Crookton on the South Track as a hotshot pig train overtakes it on the North Track.

Former Amtrak SDP40F #640, rebuilt to SD40F-2 specs as ATSF 5256, leads a train at Amarillo, TX in this 1994 view.

An ex-Amtrak SDP40F, designated SDF40 by Santa Fe, leads a westbound at Knightsen