Cajon Pass Rails

Cajon Pass Rails
Railroad Photography
in the Cajon Pass

Facts | History | Locations

Current Photography

To start, here are some photos organized by date. Each link has an associated list of locations for that day. A database-driven searchable collection of images is in the works.

Times on this site are generally given in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) which is sometimes called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Zulu Time. The Cajon Pass is 8 hours West of (earlier than) UTC during Standard Time and 7 hours West of UTC during Daylight Savings Time (Summer Time).

Information about the various shooting locations mentioned below may be found here.

  • 2008
    • 2008-07-13: A lot of changes in a short time. Grading and major earth movement is complete and Ames Construction has mostly departed. Movment has begun on the new track between Summit and Walker (MP 60.2X just West of Alray). The Baldy Mesa Road is open to traffic again.
    • 2008-05-18: Very few trains on a very hot (100F) Sunday. Mostly views of construction at Swarthout Canyon Grade Crossing, Cajon Station, and Summit. [Nikon D3]
    • 2008-05-10: Christian Eaton hiked back to the area of the tunnels and sent me a photo showing where they used to be. Here is that photo from his collection, used by his kind permission.
    • 2008-03-08: Construction at Summit, MP57, MP58, Cajon Station. Construction continues 7 days each week. There are signs of the third main almost everywhere between Summit and Keenbrook. The Baldy Mesa Road (3N21) remains closed. The Parker Ranch Road (3N48) now ends at MP58X as the grade crossing there has been removed. [Nikon D200]
  • 2007
    • 2007-11-04: Construction at various locations including Cajon Station, Summit, Swarthout Canyon Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), and Blue Cut [Nikon D200]
    • 2007-08-26: Swarthout Canyon Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), Summit (with views of third main track construction), MP 58, Baldy Mesa Road Temporarily Closed [Nikon D200]
    • 2007-07-04: Swarthout Canyon Grade Cossing, Summit (new signal bridge), MP 58, Cajon Station (Ames Construction signs) [Nikon D200]
    • 2007-06-03: Swarthout Canyon Grade Cossing, MP 58/58X [Nikon D200]
    • 2007-05-19: Swarthout Canyon Grade Cossing, MP 58/58X [Nikon D200]
  • 2006
    • 2006-09-03: Cajon Station, Swarthout Canyon Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), MP 58, Hesperia, Summit [Nikon D200]
    • 2006-07-23: East of Summit, Summit, Verdemont (Rail Train, Caboose) [Nikon D200]
    • 2006-07-03: Swarthout Canyon Road Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), MP 58, BNSF 5100, BNSF 4300, Burned Out BNSF 846 [Nikon D200]
    • 2006-06-04: Swarthout Canyon Road Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), MP 58 [Nikon D200]
    • 2006-01-28: Swarthout Canyon Road Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), East of Hiland and Summit [Nikon D70]
  • 2005
    • 2005-04-09: Between MP 58 and 58X [Nikon D70]
    • 2005-04-02: Between MP 57 and MP 58 [Nikon D70]
    • 2005-03-13: Swarthout Canyon Road Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), MP 57.25, East End of Summit [Nikon D70]
  • 2004
    • 2004-11-27: MP 58, MP 58X, MP 57.25, Summit, E end of Summit on a cold, foggy Saturday after Thanksgiving [Nikon D70]
    • 2004-09-05: Swarthout Canyon Road Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), Lugo Area, East end of Summit [Nikon D70]
    • 2004-08-28: Swarthout Canyon Road Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), Old Keenbrook [Nikon D70]
    • 2004-08-22: Swarthout Canyon Road Grade Crossing (Cajon Camp), Lugo Area, East end of Summit [Nikon D70]
    • 2004-07-25: East of Summit, Swarthout Canyon Grade Crossing [Nikon D70]
    • 2004-07-24: East of Summit [Nikon D70]
    • 2004-06-27: Summit, East of Summit [Nikon D70]
    • 2004-05-31: Swarthout Canyon (Cajon Camp), East of Summit [Nikon E5700]
    • 2004-02-29: Between Logo and Summit, UP MP 474 (Swarthout Canyon Grade Crossing) [Nikon E5700]
  • 2001
    • 2001-09-29: MP 58 and MP 58X and Vicinity [Nikon E995]
    • 2001-05-20: Trains and Wildflowers in the Vicinity of MP 58 [Cannon S100]
  • 2000
    • 2000-09-02: MP 58, MP 58X, Summit [Cannon S100]
    • 2000-08-28: Alray, MP 58, MP 58X, West of Summit, Summit [Cannon S100]
    • 2000-07-29: MP 58, MP 58X [Canon S100]
    • 2000-07-03: Cajon Station, Gish, MP 58, MP 58X [Canon S100]
    • 2000-05-20: Alray, MP 58, MP 58X [Nikon E900]
  • 1985
    • 1985-05-05: Cajon Station, Summit, MP 57, Cabooses [Leica M6]
  • 1983
    • 1983-07-15: Cajon Camp, MP 57, Cabooses [Leica M3]
    • 1983-06-09: Summit, W of Summit, E end of Summit, Cabooses [Leica M6]