Barstow, CA

[TGVDUDE]

As some of you may know, Barstow is situated in the middle of Los Angeles & Las Vegas in California, and is a major 'railfreight interchange' & Loco Depot if you will for Union Pacific & BNSF, I visited there when on holiday travelling from Anaheim - Las Vegas but had no camera to record the huge amount of railway activity there, with literally hundreds of loco's and thousands of wagons to be seen, Can't beat leaving McDonalds to find 5 Loco's powering away on an insane long & heavy freight train

I was wondering if anyone on here has also visited, for railway reasons or not because i found it a great town, and willing to share photographs if they had any.

Many Thanks,
Lewis Mitchell

 

[swidnod]

Hi There;

Been through Barstow many times en route to & from Las Vegas....but alas, with non-railway types....so no pics. Haveto agree though, that it is an impressive junction and area. Also Barstow is on the legendary Route 66, although a more run-down part of it. Just to the North West (by about 40 miles) is Mojave, a small junction but still very interesting.

Regards;
STU from EGDL

 

[paulusthegnome]

A better area to view movements on that track is Cajon Pass.

Take Exit 131 on I-15 and park at the McDonalds
([ 34.308919,-117.470244] said to be the second busiest in the world and a good spot to leave the less enthusiastic co-travelers).

Walk down to the end of Wagon Train Rd. and take the Pacific Crest Trail north (west), passing under the freeway.

The PCT crosses the track three times in the next two miles and offers many
places to view and photograph the freight traffic blasting in both directions on the grade.
My record count is 13 locomotives, 9 at the head end, two in the middle and 2 dragging, all screaming in maximum dynamics on a slow intermodal freight.

This is also a good spot to stretch the legs before heading for L.V.

Another opportunity is to take hwy-138 eastwards from the I-15 junction to
Summit Post Rd. [34.326551,-117.422584] which used to cross the tracks
but I believe has been abandoned.

This is the top of the grade and a lot of rail traffic stops there. In recent years, the area has been illuminated and fitted with video surveillance.
So be careful not to trespass. The UP bulls have no sense of humour or tolerance for tourists.

P

 

[Real Ale Rider]

I've been there with my fiancé!

There is an impressive station building, with a Route 66 museum inside.

We visited in the middle of a sandstorm, so it was impressive to see the locos appearing out of the sand.

 

[Barton Keyes]

Barstow's Casa Del Desierto still serves as an Amtrak train station.

 

[Pete2210]

Tehachapi Loop is a good place to trainwatch, just turn off I-58 onto the Woodford road and turn left after the railroad bridge, I had several hours good trainwatching there in Christmas 2006