Tag Archives: Tunnel 2

photography, Tips and Technique

Union Pacific Z-Train; Sinuosity at Tunnel 2 in Four Photos.

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The magnificence of the former Southern Pacific crossing of California’s Tehachapi Range is the antique sinuosity of the line combined with the bucolic nature of the terrain and unusually heavy freight traffic.

Last weekend, I made these views near Tunnel 2 between Bealeville and Caliente using my FujiFilm XT1 digital camera.

On the SP this would have been an eastward train, today on Union Pacific it is considered southward. In both situations movement directions are by the timetable and have little relationship to the compass.
On the SP this would have been an eastward train, today on Union Pacific it is considered southward. In both situations movement directions are by the timetable and have little relationship to the compass.

UP_Z-Train_at_Tunnel_2_DSCF1078

Like a long snake, the train winds its way uphill toward Tehachapi Summit.
Like a long snake, the train winds its way uphill toward Tehachapi Summit.
At the back of the train is another GE Tier 4 (ES45AH) working as a 'Distributed Power Unit'—a radio controlled engine.
At the back of the train is another GE Tier 4 (ES45AH) working as a ‘Distributed Power Unit’—a radio controlled engine.

A nearly new Union Pacific GE tier 4 in fresh paint was an added attraction to the uphill Z-train (UP’s term for a priority intermodal run).

I worked my angles to make the most of curvature.

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