A Breathtaking Evening. Following a morning filled with sunshine and an afternoon that saw a torrential downpour, those of us photographing the day's BNSF riprap work train as it dumped at milepost 207 on the famed Surfline had begun to realize all hope was lost when it came to anymore sunlight. You can imagine our reaction, however, as the afternoon storm system carried out to sea and bursts of sunlight began to break through the clouds. This in turn lead to the sky completely opening up to the sun for just under an hour, which in return, lead to a couple hundred shutter clicks rattling off from the ground and air as we hurried to shoot the train before its crew change was complete and it started home for San Bernardino. Today's train is one of two that was part of the efforts to save a portion of this highly used freight and passenger line from eroding into the ocean. Officially closed to all passenger service on September 16, crews worked steadily each day to build up protection for a small section of this iconic line between San Clemente and County Line that was beginning to show significant deterioration. The severity of the situation was emphasized even more after houses located atop bluffs right above the affected section of the tracks also began showing considerable cracks as the hillsides began to sag toward the railroad tracks and beach. Operating as the W SBDSBD1 24B, the train seen here was made up of 38 specially built side-dump cars filled with boulders, rocks and dirt from a quarry in Pedernal, New Mexico. Blasted out of the earth immediately prior to being loaded onto this train, the heavy payload had traveled more than 1,500 miles by rail in 48 hours prior to being dumped into the Pacific Ocean.
