The early morning sun greets Amtrak's westbound Southwest Chief as it sails across the floor of the Antelope Valley just shy of entering Lancaster, CA. This is the second of three detours of the S... (more)

Racing Friday morning commuters on paralleling Sierra Highway Amtrak's eastbound Southwest Chief climbs Vincent Grade leaving the Antelope Valley. The Southwest Chief has been detoured by way of M... (more)

Not your typical Amtrak detour! Devoid of regularly scheduled passenger traffic since the start of Amtrak in 1971 the rails over Tehachapi Pass have hosted several Amtrak detours over the years, m... (more)

Surrounded by the colorful walls of the Mojave Desert's 'Grand Canyon' Union Pacific's hotshot 'Denver Z' streaks through southern California's Afton Canyon led by Missouri Pacific painted heritag... (more)

Having conquered the daunting Tehachapi range a trio of (then) new General Electric ET45AHs are running point on a train of Pacific Northwest lumber which is now on the 1.3% down grade run to Rosa... (more)

Searchlights below sea level! With their numbers ever dwindling all across the country, in favor of the new LED tri-lights, a handful of venerable old Union Switch and Signal searchlights can stil... (more)

Climbing out of the Antelope Valley a westbound manifest works up Ansel Hill, the 1.3% climb out of the High Desert to Ansel foreshadows the major climb to come for the Roseville bound train upon ... (more)

Surrounded by emerald green hills brought to life by Winter rains a monster Roseville to West Colton manifest crawls its way up the western slope of southern California's Tehachapi Pass. Highlight... (more)

Pool is cool! With recently delivered C45AH 8152 on the point an eastbound Z train hustles up main track #3 and into Cajon Summit, trailing the lead motor are a pair of CSX GEs, lending their hors... (more)

A glow in the early morning sun a 5-pack of new Union Pacific ET45AHs fill the cool mountain air with the sound of dynamic brakes, backed up by squealing wheel flanges as a train of 'empty Eugene'... (more)

Carefully dropping down into the San Luis Valley an eastbound Union Pacific auto train highlights the serpentine curves on the approach to Stenner Creek, trading distance for elevation in the Coas... (more)

As the coastal marine layer begins to retreat back towards the Pacific Ocean the morning sun warms the rolling golden hills along California's scenic central coast. Within this picturesque setting... (more)

Crossing over to main track 1 from main track 2 a westbound manifest begins its journey down the western slope of Sherman Hill having topped the summit a few miles back at Dale, WY. Union Switch &... (more)

There are few dull moments on Union Pacific's historic 'Overland Route' across southern Wyoming. Case in point finds a westbound Union Pacific manifest approaching the Union Switch & Signal search... (more)

With a pair of CSX road motors on the point a wind-turbine blade train departs Denver eastbound on Union Pacific's Limon Subdivision, better known amongst locals as the 'KP'. Each massive blade sp... (more)