Harsh, tough, and grueling like Tehachapi?
Long demanding grades with sweeping
curves such as Cajon? So what do you
think of San Gorgonio Pass, better known
to railroaders as Beaumont Hill? Chances
are you may not have heard of it by any
name, and if you have, you may not realize
it’s as critical as the others in connecting
this region with the rest of the country.
To locate the pass, grab a map of Cali-
fornia and find Los Angeles. Move your
finger east. Find the area between the
desert communities of Thousand Palms —
near Palm Springs — and Indio in the
Coachella Valley to the east, and then back-
track to the San Bernardino Valley city of
Loma Linda, near Redlands on the west.
Between those points is a tough 60-mile
stretch of mainline railroading in a land-
scape that morphs from hilly desert terrain
on the east side to suburban valley sprawl
on the west. Dozens of freight trains con-
quer the route daily.
Rubber-tired traffic on nearby Interstate
10 probably sees this as nothing but an
interlude between the flatlands. Railroaders
give the crossing, with its 2,591-foot sum-
mit, more respect as they move heavy ton-
nage along a grade of 1% eastbound and 2%
westbound. At Thousand Palms, the rail-
head is 265 feet above sea level. At Loma
Linda it’s 1,165 feet.
This is Union Pacific’s former Southern
DESCRIBE SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN
RAILROADING FOR ME.
Eagle
Mountain
Mine
Summit
Ro
goz
a
Be
rtr
am
Fe
rru
m
Sa
lto
Mor n
tim
er
Me
T cca
he
rm
Co al
ach
ell
a
Ind
Myo io
Thou ma
san
d^ P
alm
s
Rim
G lon
arn
et
We
st^ P
alm
Sp
rin
gs
Cab
azo
n
Fin
gal
Ba
nn
ing
Bea
um
on
t
Hin
Or da
dw
Lom ay
a^ L
ind
a
Re
dla
nd
s
Sa
n^ B
ern
ard
ino
We
st^ C
olt
on
To Cajon
Pass
N
© 2019 Kalmbach Media Co., TRAINS: Rick Johnson
0 Scale 2 5 miles
79
111
(^1010)
Union Pacific
Eagle Mountain Railroad (abandoned)
N.^ In
dian
Can
yon
Driv
e
Nor
th^ P
alm
Spr
ings
Am
trak
stat
ion
Oak Valley
Parkway
San Timoteo
Canyon Road
To Yuma, Ariz.
To Los Angeles
CA
LI
FO
R
NI
A
Map area
CP SP626: 196 feet below
sea level; lowest point on a
U.S. mainline railroad.
540
-200
400
1,000
1,600
2,200
2,800
550 560 570 580
Milepost
590 600 610 620 630
CP
S
P^6
26
M
ec
ca
Th
er
m
al
Co
ac
he
lla
In
di
o
M
yo
m
a
Th
ou
sa
nd
P
al
m
s
Ri
m
lo
n
Ga
rn
W et
es
t^ P
al
m
S
pr
in
gs
Ca
ba
zo
n
Ba
nn
in
g
Be
au
m
on
t
Hi
nd
a
Or
dw
ay
Lo
m
a^
Li
nd
a
Re
dl
an
ds
Fi
ng
al
Ele
va
tio
n^
(fe
et
)
BEAUMONT HILL AND THE COACHELLA VALLEY