Trains – September 2019

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.

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© 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
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BEAUMONT HILL AND THE COACHELLA VALLEY