Winding through the S-curve at Mormon Rocks in Cajon Pass, BNSF Intermodal Stacks train S-ALTLBT1-21 makes it way from Alliance, Texas, to the Port of Long Beach’s Pier T. They typical quartet of General Electric engines (in this case, ES44DC 7849, Dash 9-44CW 5116, ES44DC 7244 and ES44C4 8114) is powering this train, fighting gravity as the train descends the 2.2% grade over its last formidable obstacle before arriving alongside the Pacific Ocean in a couple of hours. Just a few hours earlier, snow was still falling in the Pass, but by the time this train passed, at 11:36 am, most of the snow in the lower elevations had retreated to just the shadows, even with a 34ºF (1ºC) temperature. (Cajon Pass, California – January 25, 2021)
