Climbing Cima Hill
A big eastbound manifest is nearing the last miles of its 2000 ft climb from Kelso as it approaches the crest at 4175 ft Cima Summit as it splits the signals at CP C252, the west end of the summit siding, on Union Pacific's Cima Subdivision.
Despite the warm light, it was quite cold and windy here, and the big train operating 4x1 was working hard to make the 2.2% ruling grade on one of the West's oft overlooked stretches of heavy duty mountain railroad.
Luck was with us as we drove up with only 30 min of daylight left on this cold clear Sunday afternoon high in the Mojave desert along the old San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Route mainline. The twin GEs and twin EMDs running elephant style are framed by a pair of Joshua trees that are synonymous with the Mojave desert and grow only in a distinct range of elevation between 1,300 and 5,900 ft. The Joshua tree forest covering the nearby Cima Dome and the adjacent Shadow Valley is the largest and densest in the world.
Cima, California
Monday February 8, 2016
Climbing Cima Hill
A big eastbound manifest is nearing the last miles of its 2000 ft climb from Kelso as it approaches the crest at 4175 ft Cima Summit as it splits the signals at CP C252, the west end of the summit siding, on Union Pacific's Cima Subdivision.
Despite the warm light, it was quite cold and windy here, and the big train operating 4x1 was working hard to make the 2.2% ruling grade on one of the West's oft overlooked stretches of heavy duty mountain railroad.
Luck was with us as we drove up with only 30 min of daylight left on this cold clear Sunday afternoon high in the Mojave desert along the old San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Route mainline. The twin GEs and twin EMDs running elephant style are framed by a pair of Joshua trees that are synonymous with the Mojave desert and grow only in a distinct range of elevation between 1,300 and 5,900 ft. The Joshua tree forest covering the nearby Cima Dome and the adjacent Shadow Valley is the largest and densest in the world.
Cima, California
Monday February 8, 2016