California has a number of "must see" railroad locations: The original Transcontinental railroad over the solid granite of Donner Pass, The Union Pacific’s Coast Line and Amtrak’s Surf Line that skirt the Pacific Ocean, Cajon Pass (the busiest railroad mountain crossing in the United states), the shared trackage up and over the Tehachapi Mountains – including the famed Tehachapi Loop, in which trains pass over (or under) themselves – and this location … The natural crossover at Frost. Located just south of Victorville, one of the old Santa Fe mainlines crosses over the other in order to enable trains to operate with backward left-hand running on Cajon Pass, some 15 miles to the west (compass south). When a second mainline was being built in 1913 across Cajon Pass and the Mojave Desert, the original, steeper 1885 grade became the preferred grade for downhill westbounds, and the crossover at Frost was built (so it isn’t really "natural"!) to allow trains to cross from one mainline the other without interrupting traffic flow. A third mainline is scheduled to be added in in the 2020s, which will eliminate this unique operation – so get there to photograph it now. (It is easily accessed by car by heading east on Bear Valley Road and turning north at Ridgecrest Road, and when the houses stop on the left side and the road begins to drop downgrade, and turn onto the dirt road on your left – no four-wheel-drive is needed! – and wander around until you find this view, which is very easy to locate.) And, in this view, BNSF train Q-CHISBD2-20 (Guaranteed Service Intermodal, Chicago IL to San Bernardino CA) has passed through the narrows and is crossing over the eastbound main behind ET44C4 3862, Dash 9-44CW 5319, and ET44C4s 3726 and 3999. (Victorville, California – April 21, 2021)
