UP Basin, CA
The Mojave River is easily mistaken for a dry wash filled with sand. Although water of the Mojave cut Afton Canyon from the surrounding mountains, only a few times in recent history has enough water flowed here to provide more evidence than a puddle. The river exits the east end of Afton Canyon and ends in the vast Mojave River Sink basin. The Union Pacific built the route of the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad through this part of the California Mojave Desert along the convenient path of the river to avoid the surrounding mountains.
The rising sun turns the sky and thin cloud to delicate shades of pink and orange over the Mojave River Sink. The crown of the rails running east from the west switch at Basin siding reflect the color of the sky. The mainline of the UP LA & SL is nearly tangent before turning south into the Devil’s Playground to avoid the Kelso Mountains 25 miles distant across the empty basin. At the point were the rails vanish over the horizon a red signal at the west switch at Crucero indicates an approaching westbound grain train.
Union Pacific replaced the original Union Switch and Signal Company signal hardware on the Cima Sub during a modernization in 2015. By 2020 the disused code line on the north side of the right-of-way had also been removed.
UP Basin, CA
The Mojave River is easily mistaken for a dry wash filled with sand. Although water of the Mojave cut Afton Canyon from the surrounding mountains, only a few times in recent history has enough water flowed here to provide more evidence than a puddle. The river exits the east end of Afton Canyon and ends in the vast Mojave River Sink basin. The Union Pacific built the route of the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad through this part of the California Mojave Desert along the convenient path of the river to avoid the surrounding mountains.
The rising sun turns the sky and thin cloud to delicate shades of pink and orange over the Mojave River Sink. The crown of the rails running east from the west switch at Basin siding reflect the color of the sky. The mainline of the UP LA & SL is nearly tangent before turning south into the Devil’s Playground to avoid the Kelso Mountains 25 miles distant across the empty basin. At the point were the rails vanish over the horizon a red signal at the west switch at Crucero indicates an approaching westbound grain train.
Union Pacific replaced the original Union Switch and Signal Company signal hardware on the Cima Sub during a modernization in 2015. By 2020 the disused code line on the north side of the right-of-way had also been removed.