L.A. to Phoenix to L.A.

G'day all,
                From Tehachapi, Bob dropped me off at Lancaster, the last stop for the Metro line out of LA. Once a busy railroad town, it's now home to a large correctional facility and huge wind farms in the surrounding area. The tip into LA was through some nice landscape and interesting track work. On arriving in LA it was a 4hr wait to board the Texas Eagle to Maricopa, where Vinny and Diana, another 2 generous you-tubers , picked me up and after some early morning railfanning , headed back to Phoenix. Vinny has a N scale layout which is modelled on his local area, and he has built many buildings and structures representing  the business's that the local trains switch in and out of. After a fun day of operating on Vinny's "Peavine" Sub layout, we all headed up to the nice town of Flagstaff, for a days rail fanning and to drop me off for my next train , the Southwest Chief, back to LA.  A big thank you to Vinny and Diana for showing me around and Vinny for letting me stay and for the Peavine Sub OP's session!

It was then back on the train for my trip back into L.A and a run down the famous Cajon Pass!

Hooroo for now!
                            Gregg.

Tehachapi Loop and Pass.

G'day all,
                After Sacramento, it was on the train to Bakersfield, where I was picked by another you-tube friend and Tehachapi local, Bob (Longshadow Model trees) and taken back to my hotel in the small town with the name of the famous railway spiral! Bob has lived in Tehachapi for many years and knows the track from Rowen , all the way up the pass , round the loop and to Summit , like the back of his hand! The scenery is amazing and how the line snakes it's way up the pass is a testament to the surveyors and construction crews of the day. It is interesting to note , that many of the Chinese workers who forged the railroad over Donner Pass, came down to California and built the Tehachapi Pass as well, with equal success! Bob spent four days showing me all the known spots and some not so , but the curse of the track closure followed me again, so trains were a bit slow during the day, but we still managed to get quite a few trains on the loop and at the famous horseshoe curve at Caliente. It was fantastic to see BNSF and UP trains crawl around the loop in person and to finally be there was a  highlight of the trip.

Bob also showed me around the restored Tehachapi depot and museum, which features a large collection of signals from the old SP line on the Pass, from a former rail worker who recently passed away. I  was then treated to lunch with Bob and his wife Sylvia, at the very popular german Bakery next door to the old depot. Bob and I had a great time and had lots of laughs and I can't thank him enough for his generous hospitality!! Cheers mate!

After reluctantly leaving Tehachapi, it was back on the train for a 4hr ride into L.A.

Hooroo for now.

Cheers Gregg.

Over the Sierra's to Sacramento.

G'day all,
                 After departing Truckee on the California Zephyr, we climb up the East side of Donner Pass and through the "Big Hole", the tunnel that replaced the older route over the Summit and through all the famous snow sheds. Emerging on the West Coast, but still a long way up and the trip down to Colfax is an amazing ride, and eventually ending up in California's capitol, Sacramento.
Home of the Central Pacific railroad, and the starting point for the west coast assault on the Sierra's
and the the Trans-continental railroad. Old Town is on the river and still has many original buildings that were there back in the 1860's. It's also home to the famous California State Railroad museum, a must see of course! The museum is world class and has a fantastic display of the history of the trans continental story, and is home to the only surviving Southern Pacific "Cab Forward" steam locomotive. Designed by the "SP", the cab forward was the answer to train crews being asphyxiated while in the long tunnels and snow sheds on Donner Pass by smoke in the cab, and placed them at the front of the boiler and smoke stack,and was a huge success and they were used throughout the SP system right up to the end of steam traction.

I was also shown around the local rail fanning hotspots by Matt, a local and fellow model railroader .
Now while I have had many very generous people give up their time to show me their town and railroad sites, Matt made a huge effort due to not being all that well at the moment, so a big thanks to you sir and get well soon!

After two big train days in Sacramento , it was on the train again to Bakersfield, where I was picked up buy yet another you-tuber, Bob, and taken through to the famous rail fanning town of Tehachapi, but thats in the next blog!

Hooroo for now.
Cheers Gregg.