Cajon Pass - Rail Transport

Rail Transport

The California Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, was the first railroad to use the Cajon Pass as a route through the mountains. The rail line through the pass was built in the early 1880s as part of a connection between the present day cities of Barstow and San Diego. Today the Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway (the successor to the Santa Fe) use the pass to reach Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Due to the many trains, noteworthy scenery and easy access, it is a popular location for railfanning, and numerous photographs of trains on Cajon Pass appear in books and magazines about trains. The current Amtrak Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief passenger train travels through the pass.

The Union Pacific Railroad operates and owns one track through the pass, on the previous Southern Pacific Railroad Palmdale cutoff, opened in 1967. The BNSF Railway had two tracks and began to operate a third main track in the summer of 2008. The railroads share track rights through the pass ever since the Union Pacific gained track rights on the Santa Fe portion negotiated under the original Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. The original BNSF (ATSF) line was constructed in the 1880s and later roads, U.S. Route 66 and I-15, roughly followed this route. The 3.0% grade for a few miles on the south track is challenging for long trains, making the westbound descent potentially dangerous, as a runaway can occur if the engineer is not careful in handling the brakes. The second track, built in 1913, is 2 miles longer to get a lower 2.20% grade. It ran through two short tunnels, but both were removed when the third main track was added next to the 1913 line. Speeds of 60 and 70 mph (97 and 110 km/h) may be seen on the straighter track away from the pass, but are typically 14 to 22 mph (23 to 35 km/h) ascending and between 20 and 30 mph (32 and 48 km/h) while descending. The third track enables a capacity of 150 trains per day on the BNSF lines.

Cajon Pass was the site of a major train accident on 14 December 1994, when a westbound Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe intermodal train lost control and crashed into the rear of a westbound Southern Pacific coal train just below California Highway 138 between Alray and Cajon. The steep downhill grade south of the pass was a contributing factor in the 12 May 1989 San Bernardino train disaster.