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What happend to hill 582

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Posted by chad s thomas on Saturday, March 28, 2020 8:16 PM

NorthWest

As of November, 2019 nothing had changed. The trees, etc are all still there.

We didn't try to get up there on account of the snow, however.

I don't think anything has changed.

 

 

Thanks, good to know it's still there. 

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Posted by NorthWest on Saturday, March 28, 2020 7:36 PM

As of November, 2019 nothing had changed. The trees, etc are all still there.

We didn't try to get up there on account of the snow, however.

I don't think anything has changed.

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Posted by Backshop on Saturday, March 28, 2020 4:57 PM

tree68

 

 
Backshop
People need to give some info when they reference these obscure locations.

 

Which was the point of my post.  

Had a fellow on another forum who likes to post videos (a lot of them) of his favorite railroad.  I finally shamed him into saying where they were taken.  None were secret locations - in fact, they are always shot at a very public spot.

One of his spots is a crossing on Pumphouse Road.  

 

I see what you did there... :)

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Posted by chad s thomas on Saturday, March 28, 2020 4:26 PM

Brian, they didn't doze it for the triple tracking I was there about 7 years ago and it was about the same as it was when you were there.

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Posted by chad s thomas on Saturday, March 28, 2020 4:18 PM

Hill 582 is not in Vietnam and the only battle I am aware of is the battle between trains and gravity Smile, Wink & Grin that plays out many times a day.

Hill 582 is in 'the bowl' area of Cajon pass west of the summit. The hill is still there but it appears to be changed back to it's natural state. Back in the 90s it was turned into a railfan oasis. There were many shade trees that were not native to the area, several memorial plaques, a couple of benches, a fire pit, a bird feeder and even a trash can all on a spot that was terraced on one side and had a dirt road through the top with space for many cars to park. It was named for the signal at milepost 58.2 (from Barstow) on the north track. That signal was replaced by one a little bit to the west when they triple tracked the area. The hill is between the steeper original track (3%) just to the south and used mostly by downhill westbound trains, and the north track (now paraleled by a 3rd track) just north of the hill. A few dozen yards further to the north is the Union Pacific's former Southern Pacific Palmdale cutoff. 

That makes 4 mainline tracks all within a stones throw, And in my opinion the 'hands down' all time greatest railfan location on the left coast Bow. It is a spot I spent countless hour at for well over a decade.

Carl, it wasn't trespassing, that area is USFS land except for the BNSF right of way and the road crossings are public roads.

 

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Posted by SD70Dude on Saturday, March 28, 2020 3:50 PM

On the other hand, if you google "hill 582" you will get a bunch of good results related to railfanning.

It even has its own business listing on Google Maps!

Greetings from Alberta

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Saturday, March 28, 2020 3:37 PM

Backshop
Well, I guess Tree and I are just a couple of ignorants.

Sorry, no offense intended.  Looking back, it reads more snooty than I meant (I plead sleep deprivation).  I was just surprised that I knew what it meant, not that anyone else didn't. 

You're right, some other reference should have been included with the Original Post, because it is kind of cryptic as it is.

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, March 28, 2020 2:23 PM

Hi Sam!

Actually, the way I learned it was all hills, especially hills that were objectives, were referred to by their heights on the topographical maps the military uses, goes back a long ways.

I was never in 'Nam but I heard they had some big ones.

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Posted by samfp1943 on Saturday, March 28, 2020 2:09 PM

Flintlock76

"Hill 582."  Sounds like a great title for a war movie!

 

Flintlock 76Smile, Wink & Grin Would have to be filmed in Southern Viet Nam...Hills there were generally designated by their altitude !Mischief 

   Mischief In the North they were mostly at 600' or higher... Khe Sahn for example the hills were mostly 800' +.  Sigh  

Smile, Wink & GrinHill 327 near Da Nang was famous for the BIG PX ; near the airbase ! Sigh

 Geeked  OK! I'm just a little OFF TOPIC! Oops - Sign

 

 

 


 

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, March 28, 2020 2:06 PM

Backshop
People need to give some info when they reference these obscure locations.

Which was the point of my post.  

Had a fellow on another forum who likes to post videos (a lot of them) of his favorite railroad.  I finally shamed him into saying where they were taken.  None were secret locations - in fact, they are always shot at a very public spot.

One of his spots is a crossing on Pumphouse Road.  

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Saturday, March 28, 2020 11:30 AM

rdamon
. . . I have been out of the area for several years. I know they rerouted CA-138 not sure if that took away any of the access roads.

See the top of this subpage - has a map and update: 

https://www.trainmaster.ch/XC-02-2.htm 

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Backshop on Saturday, March 28, 2020 11:24 AM

Well, I guess Tree and I are just a couple of ignorants.

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, March 28, 2020 11:09 AM

"Trains has publushed a map of the area"

Trains did? I thought everybody working there was sober.Laugh

Sorry, Carl, I just could not resist.

Johnny

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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, March 28, 2020 10:15 AM

Hill 582 is (at least was) a real thing, a solitary elevated area, named after its location (58.2 miles out of LA..."582" on a nearby signal).  I didnt think that the hill was bulldozed because of the added track (which I thought went on the lower route...perhaps that eliminated the access road to it).  Chad also took Pat and me to the hill years ago.  Trains on the steeper track went practically underneath you, and the view of the trains went well up the grade toward Summit.  Trains has publushed a map of the area, and the hill is most assuredly indicated on the map.

Technically, users were trespassing there, either in getting to it (I couldn't get back there without Chad) or on the land itself, but it was a case where the railroad turned a benevolent blind eye to it.  It was kept clean by railfans who visited it, and there were makeshift monuments to railfans of the recent past.

Carl

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Posted by rdamon on Saturday, March 28, 2020 9:44 AM

I am sure the hill is still there .. not sure if it being taken care of.

PDN's link is the best site.
https://www.trainmaster.ch/XC-02.htm

I have been out of the area for several years. I know they rerouted CA-138 not sure if that took away any of the access roads.

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Saturday, March 28, 2020 9:32 AM

Never been there, don't follow Cajon Pass closely other than Richard Steinheimer's great photo article in a 1970's Trains and K.P. Harrier's posts on it, but even from here in eastern PA I knew that's what Chad meant. 

EDIT: Looks like it's still there - see:

https://www.trainmaster.ch/XC-02.htm 

Google "Hill 582 Cajon Pass" and you'll get many results.

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, March 28, 2020 9:27 AM

"Hill 582."  Sounds like a great title for a war movie!

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Posted by Convicted One on Saturday, March 28, 2020 9:15 AM

Backshop
I hadn't either so I just googled and it appears to be a trail to a hill that gives good views of Cajon Pass.  People need to give some info when they reference these obscure locations.

I lived in Southern CA for 11 years and have even spent a few nights in the motel where I-15 and hwy 138 intersect, and I had never  heard of  Hill 582 either.  I suspect Chad is on a fishing expedition.

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Posted by blhanel on Saturday, March 28, 2020 9:07 AM

I knew what he was referring to- met him there back in 2005 for a few hours of railfanning Cajon.

Chad, I bet they had to bulldoze at least a part of it for that fourth main.

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Posted by Backshop on Saturday, March 28, 2020 8:09 AM

tree68

Never heard of it.

 

I hadn't either so I just googled and it appears to be a trail to a hill that gives good views of Cajon Pass.  People need to give some info when they reference these obscure locations.

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, March 28, 2020 8:09 AM

tree68
Never heard of it.

Searching it on Google Earth - looks to be a train watching spot in San Bernardino County California.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, March 28, 2020 7:28 AM

Never heard of it.

LarryWhistling
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Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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What happend to hill 582
Posted by chad s thomas on Saturday, March 28, 2020 1:46 AM

I was doing a 'fly around' on google maps and it looks like 582 has been abandoned. Anybody got the scoop?

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