This morning, Wayne and Drew came over for a long overdue work day on the layout. Santi tried to talk me into heading out to the Pass, but we have our N scale version of Cajon to work on instead.
We made some adjustments to the lighting; added safety bariers to the hidden tracks; completed the grade transition at Summit; removed the backdrops at San Bernardino; repaired the backdrop at Drawbar Flats and Silverwood; plus ran trains.

Drew spent some time experimenting with his digital camera and the movie editing software that comes with XP. You can see the results here (2.5 Mb). Somehow I think I'll be posting more movies in the future.

Just because something was posted on the Internet doesn't mean it's true, but if it is, there was an interesting post over on TrainOrders. "On Saturday, November 20, BNSF, UP and Amtrak put a record number of trains (by BNSF's count) over Cajon Pass - 118. That was 89 BNSF and 26 UP freights and 3 Amtrak movements. Not counted: an unusually high number of helper movements (16). This eclipsed a record of 111 trains set four days earlier." Now the biggest problem with this is that Amtrak only runs two trains a day. So what was the third Amtrak train? There is no mention of this in the BNSF news releases, nor in a news search on Google.

What a storm! Last night we had a tremendous storm roll into the area. Thunder that shook the house, and no gap between the flash of lightning and the clap of the thunder. When the sun came up, the hills south of the house had snow covering them down to just a thousand feet. I knew that Cajon had to be spectacular. I had some family obligations so I couldn't head out. Santi was out there though, and got some fantastic photos.

Stuart posted his photos of last Sunday's railfan trip here. I can't figure out what happened with that photo of me. It looks like I rubbed a maple bar on my teeth, and I don't know why my feet are pointed like that. I like the dramatic lighting on the trains through the cut at Summit.

After the Cajon Group discussion on the extent of the Union Pacific property rights, I thought I'd post something from the California Penal Code...

369i. (a) Any person who enters or remains upon the property of any railroad without the permission of the owner of the land, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession and whose entry, presence, or conduct upon the property interferes with, interrupts, or hinders, or which, if allowed to continue, would interfere with, interrupt, or hinder the safe and efficient operation of any locomotive, railway car, or train is guilty of a misdemeanor.

As used in this subdivision, "property of any railroad" means any land owned, leased, or possessed by a railroad upon which is placed a railroad track and the land immediately adjacent thereto, to the distance of 20 feet on either side of the track, which is owned, leased, or possessed by a railroad.

Within a few seconds of my post, I got a reply from Ted York, "Just don't hinder the operation of the BNSF and you are ok. In the case of the UP just spot them a five dollar bill!" I responded with, "You ain't kidding. My buddy and I were at LAUPT Sunday checking out the Officer's Special when "Security" told us we were in a restricted area and needed to leave. His accent was so thick we could barely understand him. Should've asked if I could buy him a cup of (insert regional hot
drink here).

For those who don't know, Ted York is featured in the current Model Railroad Planning Guide. He has a great HO scale layout depicting Cajon Pass.

Santi has posted his shots from our Friday trip. They can be seen here, but here is a preview. This is a shot from Goat Hill, followed by a shot from the rocks at Sullivan's Curve.

Santi and I spent Friday in one heck of a Cajon adventure. We went to Cajon Station, Sullivan's Curve, Drawbar Flats, Mormon Rocks, Alray and the tunnels, the other side of the tunnels, Hill 582, Summit, Del Taco, Drawbar Flats, Goat Hill, Sullivan's Curve, the top of Sullivan's Rock, Cajon Station, Keenbrook, Blue Cut, Flat tire, Swarthout, Mormon Rocks and gone.

So what's with the goat, you ask? Well, as we headed up the road to what should be known as Goat Hill, we encountered a jet black pigmy goat. If there was ever a definition for couger bait, this goat was it. We tried for several minutes to catch her, but she wouldn't cooperate. Now I'm haunted by dreams of an eviscerated goat carcass on a fire road.

I found some time today to sneak out to the Pass and check out the areas previously closed by the fire closure, and to test my Bronco's four-by-four capabilities. I guess the spirit of Sullivan had me!

I found a great vantage point over the area between Alray and Cajon. As you head west on 138, the first street on the left is Lone Pine Canyon Road. Within a hundred feet is a dirt road on the left. This road eventually goes along the UP tracks and CP Canyon. It then curves uphill and is a good grade up and over the ridge above Sullivan's Curve. Eventually, it comes out at Swarthout Canyon and Blue Cut, but I found my favorite views long before then. Just a hundred yards out, before you get to CP Canyon, is a great view of the UP tracks through an S-curve of a tight cut by Mormon Rocks (of course I didn't have my camera with me). The second great place is a wide spot on the road, under the power lines. A USGS benchmark calls the place "Tower 2" and it is shown in the bottom-center grid on this USGS map. I didn't need four-wheel drive for this part of the journey, but a high clearance vehicle is recommended.

After checking out Alray from the OHV staging area, I took the dirt road south of Summit, called "Little Horsethief Canyon", or 3N44. The gates were closed at the top of the hill, but from up there, you can see the old Summit grades very plainly.

Feeling pretty confident now with the Bronco, I went for the back roads of Swarthout, specifically 2N87. That was where I was forced to switch it into 4x4 mode. What a climb! But no train views. Disappointed, I turned around and tried to find a back way to Keenbrook via Applewhite road. I have no idea where they got that name. Not the Applewhite part, but the Road part! It was an incredible journey, fording creeks, praying for traction, and looking out for Ned Beatty's lover. I decided to turn around when the road was blocked with a sedan, in great condition except for the shotgun holes in the doors and blown out windows. This thing was so fresh, I didn't see any rust and the plates were still on it!

I broke lots of safety rules on this trip, most noteably, I didn't have a buddy with me, I could only sporadically get phone reception, and I didn't bring any tools other than a shovel and extra water. Sometimes you just gotta go for it!
I decided that I need to get some scenery done on the layout so I'm going to set a goal of finishing the tracklaying on the area between Drawbar Flats and Summit, and that will be the first section to be sceniced. This is the area shown in this photo, and it is the area closest to the side garage door, the view most guests see when they first see the layout. It is very simple track, no structures, has tunnels and rockwork, and seems perfect for the artistic side of me.

Finally, someone who knows what they're talking about has posted news and not just speculation on the opening of the fire closure area at Cajon Pass:

In Cajon Pass, There were (2) Forest Orders authorizing temporary closures. Louisianna and BlueCut fires in 2002 closed all of the railfanning areas and have been lifted. That F.O. order prevented human entry into the closure area.

The Grand Prix / Old Fires of October 2003 reburned portions of the same area (more towards the 215/15 split) and a new Forest Order was issued to help with rehab efforts and expires in December 2004 at which time the Forest Service can renew for one more year. This Forest Order only prevents motorized vehicles.

This year, after several years of drought, low fuel moisture and low humidities, the lower elevations now are at risk and a decision was made to close those areas. Remember that the fire danger level can change and either additional areas will be closed or opened.

On the USFS website: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sanbernardino/ you will find two maps a small one for dial up and an 11 page (4.6mb) for high speed internet. If there are any changes I will update the USFS webpage to reflect the additional closures. At some point I plan to add a page that includes the Forest Orders so the public can review the specific language in the Forest Orders.

I apoligize for taking this slightly off topic. Remember to look, listen and live.

Regards,
John Miller
Office of Public Affairs
San Bernardino National Forest
(909) 382-2788

Got an email from my buddy Stuart today. He says, "Between the progress on the trains and the pool, I can't read your blogs anymore...can't you just go back to sticking your head in the fan? It makes for a much better read..."

We had the same idea for the dust box fans: "you might try using fans from old computer hard drives. they run quiet and on 12 volts. I keep one on my workbench hooked up to an old MRC power pack, to keep the fresh air flowing. you can probably find a few curbside on trash day..."

Since I used to run a computer forensics lab, I've got a few of those on hand. I was going to gang them up and build a frame for a furnace filter on the intake side. Should work great.

What a weekend! On Sunday, I decided against all the honey-do things on my list in favor of putting up a wall between the laundry area and the Silverwood area of the layout. I put in metal studs, drywall, plus taped and mudded everything. It looks great! I've got to put up some more mud this week and then sand and paint. Now Sherry wants a ceiling put in the laundry room with a ceiling fan too. I shouldn't complain, she's let me take over the rest of the three-car garage for the layout!

Wayne came over this morning and we spent several hours working on the layout and removing the cupboards over by Silverwood. Wayne added the cork roadbed on the BNSF Main #1 between Devore and Silverwood. We also ran the Southwest Chief on the UP tracks without problem. That means the clothes-lining of the bare-table train had to be because of the wheel flanges rubbing aginst the center ridge on the Walther's well cars.

This evening, after Wayne split, I got the cork down on the BNSF Main #2 between Mormon Rocks and Devore. I also put down the mesh/mud on top of the foam from Summit down to Mormon Rocks. I took the cupboards we just took down and turned it into shelving under San Bernardino.

So the anniversary of the Union Pacific's completion of the transcontinental railroad is May 10th. On May 10, 2004, at 12:04 AM EST, I completed the UP loop on my layout. The first train to make the loop was a UP Tunnel Motor, pulling a bare-table train that clothes-lined at Mormon Rocks. I tried it again with a manifest train and it was no problem. Looks like I'll need to stick with short cars on that route. That was the first problem. Then I noted a short when I threw a turnout. Looks like I used the wrong turnouts! I used Electrofrog turnouts when I should've used Insulfrog. Urgh! The Wiring for DCC site shows how I can fix it. It's worth a try, otherwise it's rip them out and try again. On the bright side, it was great watching trains going around the layout. It took two minutes and fifteen seconds for the train to make the UP circuit. Oh yeah, the third thing to go wrong is the power outlet on this laptop computer just smoked! I'm going to bed!

Last night I finished the rest of the hidden tracks on the UP line. I now only need to lay the tracks between Silverwood and Cajon and we'll be able to run the entire UP circuit. Unfortunately, I found that while gluing the tracks for the Dike power district, the tracks left too big of a gap at the insulated rail joiners at Devore. That'll be an MoW chore before too long.

On Saturday night, Wayne and his wife, plus Drew and his family came over for dinner. It was a great chance to thank them for the hard work on the layout. It was also a great chance to start laying tack! We got the entire UP Blue Cut power district laid. I hooked it up to the power bus on Monday and ran a train through the district. Last night, I got industrious after work and laid the track in the UP Dike district, meaning that as of right now, half the UP tracks are down and working. If I can hurry, maybe I'll have my Union Pacific tracks completed for my own May 10th GREAT EVENT!

Wayne got me a great little ATSF MoW gondola, plus I've got some other MoW cars. I've been thinking about getting an MoW track cleaning car and putting together a Maintenance of Way train to keep at Cajon and bring out for track cleaning.

Today was a "mental health" day from work. Too many hours on the job and not enough hours slacking off. Wayne and Drew were over and once again, we got a lot done. The bus wires are in for the U.P. tracks, the foam has a coat of drywall mud and mesh, the backdrop at Morman Rocks is going up, and there is a new peg board for some tools. In the afternoon, Wayne and I headed over to Longs and TrainQuest where I bought two boxes of cork, the code 100 track for the hidden U.P. tracks, rail joiners, etc.

Wayne and I did another recon trip up to the Pass today. I took four pages of notes and Wayne shot at least a CD full of photos. It was interesting to see someone else look at the Pass with a critical eye towards modeling the area. Usualy when I go railfanning, everyone else is concentrating on the trains. I'm the only one looking at signals, culverts, etc. I'm so glad Wayne is now comfortable enough with the layout that he can look at the Pass with that same eye and thought process.

In no particular order, here are some of the notes from today's trip:

• The freeway bridge at Devore is actually two bridges, one in each direction.
• It would be nice to add at least a ranch or two on the hillside by Keenbrook.
• Bee hive boxes in the creek bottom, under Sycamores.
• There are at least three culverts between the freeway and Blue Cut.
• The culverts always line up with a gully or canyon above.
• The connecting canyons all face downstream.
• In a few places there is a corrugated steel debris screen uphill of the tracks.
• A few higher areas have pockets of Coulter Pines.
• High power lines are rail brown.
• Curved creek bank before Blue Cut has rail fence and oxidized rip-rap.
• Power lines are directly above the Blue Cut viaduct.
• The BC Viaduct is 32' tall, 80' long and double track wide.
• The opening is 20' high and wide, but 20' from the downhill side.
• There is a cool cut-stone wall extending from the uphill side.
• There is a 6' I-beam and wood retaining wall between Swarthout Road and the BNSF tracks.
• Many of the signals and boxes are painted a fleshy tan color.
• There are several enclosed culverts running from the UP tracks to the BNSF tracks before Cajon Station.
• There is a 6' flood wall on the creek side of Cajon Station.
• The entire crossover between the signals at Summit is wood ties.
• The BO tracks at Summit have wood ties.
• The grade crossing at Summit Guard shack is cement.
• The security lamps at Summit are on the top of wood poles, with white insulators and three wires.

Wayne came over today to help out with the layout. Yup, at long last we're working on the layout again. We got the benchwork for the entire UP loop completed. We re-worked Sullivan's Curve and finalized the grade at Silverwood. I need to get 5 rolls of the WS Plaster Cloth, 2 Large Right Turnouts, 1 Large Left Turnout, 15 pieces of cork, 13 pieces of Peco Code 80 Concrete Tie flex track, and 10 pieces of Atlas Code 100 Flex Track. Sherry has suggested a new wall to create a laundry room, which led to Wayne's suggestion of widening the layout at Alray. Damn! Another project!

So the cop traffic jam scene is a little stereotypical, but being a fan of urban layouts, The Acela Express is a winner. The work around the house has progressed at a break neck pace. We're almost ready for the gunite on the pool, but before the deck goes in, I want to run the irrigation, plus conduit for low-voltage lighting and garden speakers.

Alright. Time to come clean. I haven't worked on the layout since February 12th. In the interim, I've fought off at least one virus, installed new toilets, built a fence, moved the door on the tool shed from the north wall to the east wall, put new hardware on the kitchen cabinets, and supervised the digging for our new swimming pool. Sherry tells me this weekend will be spent putting in crown molding in the master bath. It may be another week before I get to play trains.

Well, as predicted, the counter rolled over to 10,000 yesterday. The honor of clicking that one over goes to John Quinn. Stuart Chirls was disappointed to have made 10,001. I promise to give him some warning when I get close to 25,000.

On Saturday, I headed over to the Model Train Expo with Wayne, Mario and Roy. Later we ran into Hugo at the show. Mario spent at least a grand on G Scale stuff. Just a few years ago, the shows were about 5% G Scale. Now it is at least 50% G scale.