Distributed Power shoves hard on the rear of a southbound "Q," as the train ascends the first grade out of Bakersfield.

Signal 3238 is in silhouette form as sunlight slips through a cloudy afternoon sky.

A Barber 125 Ton truck supports the articulation of a double stack well car.

Signal problems have brought BNSF 5293 to a crawl as the train flags through Bena late in the afternoon. The crew's eyes are intently focused on the track ahead.

With Venus prominent in a luminous twilight sky, the bark of four locomotives rolls across the desert, displacing the tranquility momentarily. The resonance peaks as the train passes under the ag... (more)

BNSF 5130 climbs around the Tehachapi Loop, passing the "relief station" of a track gang whom were replacing rail on the main line.

UP 8409 races through Sandcut late in the afternoon.

The Willow Springs, IL to North Bay, CA Z1 exits Tunnel 14 as it moves down hill on a warm May day.

BNSF 5130 has reached the end of the "hard pull" as the grade will gradually lessen from Cable Crossover to the crest at Summit.

Afternoon light glints off a century old US&S relay cabinet.

BNSF 5055 tops over at Sandcut on a hazy afternoon.

BNSF 4480 eases downgrade at Marcel with about 1,000 automobiles in tow. The train is about one mile away from traversing the world famous Tehachapi Loop.

A Union Pacific stack train pulls up the moderate grade into Ilmon. In two miles, the grade will stiffen to 2.5% for the climb to Caliente.

BNSF 4739 drops down the last few miles into Mojave.

A southbound Union Pacific manifest creeps upgrade through Marcel.