As BNSF train U-KCKSDG1-27M, a military unit train heading to San Diego CA from Kansas City KS, was crossing Cajon Pass on October 31, Union Pacific ES44AC 7455 was leading BNSF Dash 9-44CW 5262. And then the crew's hours of service expired, and the train sat just east of San Bernardino while the crew rested. When the fresh crew arrived (a new engineer, but the same conductor as the day before), they took the time to swap the two diesels so that BNSF Dash 9-44CW 5262 is now leading. Freights heading to San Diego hop onto Southern California Regional Rail Authority’s (Metrolink) trackage at Atwood, the BNSF San Bernardino Sub/SCAX Olive Sub junction in Placentia CA, and then travel on the short Olive Sub to SCAX' Orange Sub, as seen here, and eventually to the San Diego Northern's San Diego Sub to get to San Diego ... although this train may be going only as far as USMC Camp Pendleton, about 45 miles north of San Diego, to load tanks and other military vehicles. On the left the UP’s Santa Ana Industrial Lead splits off the Metrolink trackage to head to industries in the southern part of the city. (Santa Ana, California – November 1, 2024)
