Railfanning Cajon Pass and Other RR'ey Things There

[Rivet Miscounter]

All, I am going on vacation in a few weeks in Palm Springs.   I'm planning to take a day while the wife is at the spa to railfan Cajon Pass.

So, just looking for tips, and other things to do in the area.  (and, is Cajon Pass still a good option....accesible, safe, etc)   Any scenic railways or hobby shops or other railfan spots or museums?   Even commuter lines that might have a nice view?  We're staying in San Diego on the first night so wondered about some coastline commuter?  I did see something about a rockslide on one line in the area so that might not work.   We have also tossed around the idea of a day trip to the LA area, but we really have no reason why...I sort of think that would be a bust.

Anyway, thanks for any good leads.    I don't have a ton of time, but might talk wifey into a museum on a second day of activities.  The choice of Palm Springs was almost akin to the proverbial throwing of a dart.   Then I noticed that we were close to Cajon Pass so I thought that might be a good thing to explore.   That's about the extent of my planning.

[eja]

Your correct.  You cannot take the train from San Diego to LA

https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e&edid=0efff00f-20dd-4f67-b675-a26a236fb0d4&pnum=13

[tappertrainman]

If you're staying in San Diego, you really ought to visit the model railroad museum in Balboa Park.  They have a GINORMOUS Tehachapi layout, and other interesting smaller exhibits.  Well worth an hour or two, even for non-train lovers (my wife enjoys going).

I visited Cajon Pass last year and while it's always a beautiful Southern California scenery, it can hit or miss, sometimes we'd see 10 trains in a row, then a couple hours with nothing.  But that's railfanning for you.  There's beautiful views to be seen for sure, and with 4 main lines (3 BNSF and 1 UP) the likelihood of trains just around the bend is high, you just may run into dry spells that could frustrate a spouse.  You can find your way right next to the tracks, or have higher up vantage points for photos, depends on what you want.  Note also that Palm Springs is about an hour and a half (each way) away from Cajon Pass, depending on traffic, so you may not have tons of time once you're there.

[Rivet Miscounter]

Tapper, you must have replied while I was actually at Cajon yesterday...lol.

I went alone...we were staying in Palm Springs and I got up at 4:30a and headed toward San Bernardino.   Traffic was insane even at that hour and it took me about two hours to get to the summit. (met Amtrak as I was starting the climb out of San Bernardino)  Not really having my bearings, I once again got stuck in traffic on a back road that is apparently a cut-through for commuters.  So it was 8am before I really even got close to the tracks.   I saw a few trains from afar during all of that, and once settled in a spot....everything completely died.  (for those familiar, I was near the spot they refer to as "Cajon Station".)

UP and one BNSF track were out of commission due maintenance.  I saw maybe 7-8 trains over the next 4 hours. (one was a UP tie train)   And two of those were after I had already uprooted to leave and had to backtrack to my spot only to discover that yeah the light had officially shifted and I was trying to photograph train shadows.   Only grade crossings I found were private and posted no trespassing, so I was basically stuck.   It was still "ok", but i really wish some things had gone a little more my way.   

Here are few pics I grabbed with my phone.  Haven't had the chance to even look at my camera stuff yet.   I know, "a bad day railfanning is still better than a good day at work"...definitely still glad I made the effort.

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