Through the passes day ONE part TEN

Through the Passes series is well back, my friends!

After a quick pit stop at Carl's JR, we drove about a half mile to see that the grain train that we saw back at Boron approaching us yet again!

We found Arroyo Drive, which we missed last year, and caught it there:

Through the passes day ONE part NINE

Rocket Site Rd., Boron, CA

One side, Safetran incandescent lights:

The other side, Safetran incandescent lights:

Look at how long the road goes in a straight line!

After waiting about 15 minutes, the searchlights in the distance go from dark, to yellow(approach), to green(clear).

After waiting 45 minutes, the UP cement local on its return trip back to Monolith approaches!

You know the rest...

This would not be the last time that I would catch this train, though. Stay tuned...

Through the passes day ONE part EIGHT

As we approached the private crossing that landed in the middle of Boron with signals, I saw something coming around a bend in the distance. Duh, it was a train. But it was far enough away so that I could easily get this picture with about a minute to spare:

The signals go off:

The train approaches at about 70 mph:

Something you don't see every day: a BNSF h1 style locomotive!

The train crosses:

And... wait, what the heck is THIS car???

Through the passes day ONE part SEVEN

After a great Mexican lunch, we headed back on the road for more crossings!

Boron Rd., the only crossing on the poll that I did not see a train at!

The full crossing from the north side:

A shot of the northern signal in all its glory:

Overview from the south side(the FJ Cruiser is ours):

The south signal in all its glory:

Now, if you followed the "Up the Tehachapi Grade" series last year, then you probably remember the accident that occurred back in 2006. Where a girl sacrificed her life to save one of her friends. I did not take a picture of the sign this trip though, as the scanner was going bananas for a train that I would see at the next crossing, stay tuned...

Through the passes Day ONE part SIX

Welcome to Domingo's Mexican restaurant, the only place in Boron!

Yes, people from Edward's AFB eat here. Here is my review:

We got there, first thing I noticed was the decent atmosphere. It is run by the mayor of Boron, but he had to go do something, so he was not there when we were there. We ordered our drinks, but they were doing it at a WAY too fast of a pace. Not even a "how are you doing" from the waiter. The service gets three stars. So we get our chips with the drinks. The salsa may have been the best salsa I have ever had. You could see chunks of tomatoes, onions, and herbs in there. And it was mildly spicy, but I have had worse. The reviews that I read made me get the carnitas tacos, and I was glad they did. It came out, and normally, I don't like tons of condiments on my food, but these were the right condiments with the right taste.The carnitas, which is fried, fajita-style pork, stuck out on the taste, and my two favorite Mexican condiments, guacamole and salsa, were the condiments on the taco. I was sad that I only ordered two, because they were so GOOD. Even though the service was three stars, the food made up for it, that is why my overall rating for the restaurant is 4 1/2 stars.

Through the passes 2011 day ONE part FIVE

With my birthday being in the past week, I got a gift that I can not get off of. I, though, thought that I should not leave you guys hangin'. No, not every part has to be about signals. ;D

Welcome to Boron!

...And Kern county!

There is a crow on top of the sign!

Through the passes 2011 day 1 part 4

I continued a couple of minutes down US 58, I promised that I would not stop at this crossing. Promise broken

An overview of the crossing. If you look closely at the signal to the left, you will see that there is a broken gate light. It was reported on the scanner the next day:

I did not wait at this crossing for two reasons:
1. I was hungry
2. The road is busy.

I sort of chuckled when I saw this sign:

A rear view of the signal with the broken gate light.

Due to both the highway and the track being busy, there are advance warning signs with lights that flash yellow whenever a train comes by.

Through the passes day 1 part 3

I purposely blew a UP crossing on the way to Kramer Junction(I was currently on US 395) because I was so eager to get to the crossing that won the Boron Poll(the US 395 crossing). After 30 minutes of what felt like riding on a roller coaster, I finally reached this:

I finally made it to the Mojave Sub. And the crossing that won the poll.
The relay case:

(haha, Milepost 777.7)

After 45 minutes of waiting, and nothing, I was worried that there was trackwork somewhere. But, I did not hear any mention of this area, and the Union Pacific defect detectors on that portion of the sub were active, so I did not stress that. Maybe traffic was light? After 15 minutes of going bananas on Google trying to find an answer, I saw a
 distant light. I was so unprepared at the time, I sprinted out of the car at the same time as I took this picture:

Enjoy the rest!

Oh, yeah, I forgot  to mention, this crossing is one of the few to have the gates with completely vertical stripes on it!

And, this crossing has a problem of people blowing the gate:

The train finishes soon after:

Then, I picked on some watermelon, then I continued onwards...

Through the passes 2011 day 1 part 2

After 45 minutes of no luck at the busy Devore, I migrated to Swarthout Canyon Rd., which is also on the very busy Cajon Pass.

The signal with the 20" backgrounds:

A blurry overview of the crossing:

The relay case:

And now, it is time for a Through the passes extra! Guess what happened right after I left the Swarthout Canyon crossing? This picture should tell you most of the story:

Oh, but wait, that train appears to be on the 12 train a day UP track instead of the 95 train a day BNSF track... And I had been camping out at the BNSF track for a full hour... hmmm...

Through the passes 2011 part 1

Last year's series was called  "Up the Tehachapi Grade 2010". This year's is called "Through the passes 2011". I changed the name because I got shots of the Union Pacific(UP) tracks south of Mojave, and of stuff at Cajon Pass. If you want more updates, go to Traintalk. Anyhow, for this part, crossings are the only thing, as I battled the winds in Devore, CA:

Note: I did not get any shots of the BNSF crossing, just the BNSF relay case. If you want to see both crossings clearly, then click here(the closest crossing is the BNSF crossing)

A terrible, wind-battling view of the UP crossing:

The UP relay case:

The BNSF relay case:

A good view of the UP signal furthest away from me:

Now, I am going to start a poll. It will be a Yes/No question. Check the sidebar to see it!