An interesting day on Cajon

[chad thomas]

I went up to Cajon this saturday. Right out the gate I saw something I've never seen before, an eastbound that was sitting at Morman rocks (#1 track) when I arrived backed down to Cajon and then proceded (forward) up the #2 track. For those that don't know, #1 is the 2.2% normaly uphill (eastbound) track and #2 is the 3.0% normaly downhill (westbound) track. The reverse movement was guided down the hill by someone in a rr vehicle. This was a slow movement and trains started pileing up in both directions. It was busy for many hours after that. There were many trains running on the wrong main and at times there were traffic jams around Silverwood / Summit. This wrong main running and all that traffic made for some unusual photos. I even caught a 3-way meet.

One thing I thought was odd was the lack of other people. I expected ther to be a railfan on every hill but I only saw a few people. Is the fear of cops/security/homeland stupidity keeping people away?

[dldance]

Were there clearance or maintenance issues on #1 that you could see?

dd

[chad thomas]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dldance

Were there clearance or maintenance issues on #1 that you could see?

dd

When I first saw the train I was just arriving and went to the Cheveron to stock up on food/water/beer. at that point the only thing I thought was odd was where it stopped (rear under 138 overpass). I went down below sullivans curve and parked. It wasn't till then that I turned the scanner on. I didn't hear anything to even hint at what was going on. Just the guy in the pickup flagging the train back down to below Cajon.

It's not unusual to see a train or two take the wrong main. They sometimes run hotshots up the down track to pass a slower uphill train on the normal uphill track. They also will run Heavy trains down the uphill track when there is no opposing traffic. But it was strange to see almost half the trains running wrong main, and there seemed to be no reason for doing that.

[spbed]

I was at your spot in the Cajon Pass on the afternoon of the 3rd & for the few hours I was there I did come across another railfan but myself. If you look at my website you will see all the pix I took from your spot.

http://vgalleries.com/members/railfan1/The+Trainfan.vrg

Originally posted by chad thomas

Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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