Railfanning Union Pacific Mojave Subdivision

Friday morning, May 25, 2018, I spent a few wonderful hours railfanning Union Pacific's Mojave Subdivision, just a few miles west of Mojave, CA, at milepost 376.8. Lots of mainline railroad action, as U.P.'s Tehachapi segment never fails to dissapoint me.

Photo: It's 1845 on Thursday evening, May 24, 2018, as Union Pacific #5942, a GE AC44CWCTE leads a double stack train west of Mojave, at milepost 376.8. You can see the steep grade - it's 2% - which is monumentally steep for a mainline roadroad, not to mention the busiest single track railroad in North America. U.P.'s busy Mojave Subdivision can see 60 trains a day, much to the delight of railfans, such as myself...

Photo: At the end of a long grain train, a Union Pacific DPU fades into the sunset. There is nothing that I love better than to be a part of big-time railroad action in the Tehachapi area of Union Pacfic's Mojave Subdivision.

Gone, but not forgotten, are the days of the caboose... Ah, to live in the 1970's again... with a 2018 digital camera!

Photo: It's nearly 7 o'clock in the evening, as I look back into the setting sun and a Union Pacific double stack, as the train desends the 2% grade and heads east into Mojave.

Photo: BNSF #6069, a GE ES44AC, leads a piggyback train west, at milepost 376.8, about 5 miles west of Mojave, CA. Yes the grade is 2%, and that's big-time STEEP for a mainline railroad. Not to mention, Union Pacific's Mojave Subdivision is the busiest single-track mainline in North America - 60 trains a day happen - so the 2% grade really works wonders with me.

2% grade equals a clime of 2 feet up for every hundered feet in distance. Consider what that GE ES44AC is doing... dragging up lots of dead weight with steel wheels on steel track... quite a sight to see.

Photo: BNSF #6069 fades into the sunset, as she leads a westbound stack train up the steep grade. The mountains in the background are actually the Sierra Nevada mountians, near the Pacific Crest Trail. Quite a difference between the Tehachapi area and a hundred miles or so to the north... Whatever the case of the mountains, the railroad action is great.

Photo: BNSF #3906 leads a merchandise up the 2% grade, as she heads west out of Mojave. The sights of Mojave are in the background, including the many sidelined airliners, which make the small Kern County of Mojave a destination for railrans, and aviation lovers as well.

Photo: BNSF #4218, a GE ES44C4, leads a mixed train east up the grade at milepost 376.8, at 0700 in the Friday morning of May 25, 2018.

Photo: Double stach action on Union Pacific's Mojave Subdivision, as Union Pacific #6459, a GE AC44CW, leads a double stack container train east, down the long 2% grade into Mojave, after crossing Tehachapai Loop. Great railfan action happens near Mojave!

Photo: Union Pacific #7374, another GE AC44DCW, leads a west bound mixed freight train up the 2% grade out of Mojave on this early Thursday evening.

Photo: Union Pacific #2666, a GE ET44AH "Evolution" series leads an auto train east at milepost 376.8, with the picturesque Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. The heavy grade is 2%, and the units ae in full dynamic bracking. Check out that Norfolk Southern unit just behind #2666; Mojave Subdivision and Union Pacific are firm believers in sharing resources.