Railfanning BNSF Needles Subdivision near Ludlow, in June 2003

Here's a synopsis of my railfan trip of June 19-22, 2003, to the B.N.S.F.'s busy Needes Subdivision:

Thursday, June 19, 2003: Left work around 0800 and headed south on CA 99. Stopped at Bakersfield for gas and headed east on CA 58 to Barstow, and then east on I-50. At Newberry Springs, I turned off the Interstate, as I wanted to head east on Rte 66, as it is historic and a lot more fun. At Newberry Springs, I purchased gas at the Shell station at $1.79 per gallon. Friendly people and good service.

I headed east on historic Rte 66, past the Bagdad Cafe and checked out all the historic sites. I continued east to Lavic, a siding on the BNSF Railroad. At that place, I spent the rest of the day photographing the many trains that appeared. It was, like, a train every 10 minutes. Such is life on the Needles Sub.

Friday, June 20, 2003: Yippee! A beautiful sunrise in the Mojave desert on the 6th anniversary of my marriage to my beautiful wife Sharlene and I'm railfanning, in the desert... with my brother? Do I have a life, am I stupid, or what? Maybe all of the above!

Then, on to the west end of Ludlow for some fantastic photography. In my humble opinion, this is the best area in the Needles Subdivisition. As far as the amount of traffic, it was like a turkey shoot. One train after another. Life is good on the Needles Subdivision.

Left: June 20, 2003: BNSF eastbound at mp 694.7, west of Ludlow. Right: Ditto. In my humble opinion, this is the best photo location on the Needles Subdivision.

Next, it was time to gas-up in Ludlow ($1.99 a gallon), grab a hot dog, (they have a lot of snacks and good food to eat but Ludlow is DRY!) and head out to photograph some "Americana." By now, it was about 1100 and the light was bad for shooting pictures of trains.

I met my brother Paul at Ludow at 1500. Then, we proceeded to spend the time photographing trains in the area west of Ludlow.

Left: June 20, 2003: BNSF eastbound at MP 634.6, west of Ludlow. Such a great photo location! Right: BNSF #4554 east, leads a double-stack container train. This photo was taken at the west end of Ludlow, a location that I love. Note the old BN green SD-40, and the AT&SF SD-40 in the middle of the lashup.

Saturday, June 21, 2003: Got up, and ate an excellent breakfast of canned pears and vienna sausages. Such is the case for railfan fare. Paul and I then headed east to Ash Hill, and caught many trains in that area. When the light got stale for photography, about 1100, we packed it up and headed east on historic Rte 66 to photograph more "Americana."

Left: BNSF #4430 leads an eastbound single-stack container train at West Ludlow. If you didn't look closely, you'd almost think that #4430 belongs to U.P., as the orange paint is quite faded to almost U.P. yellow! Right: BNSF #4468 east, yet, another double-stack train east. The Needles Subdivision sees 80 to 90 trains daily.

When the light got better, it was time to get back to the business of photographing BNSF. We headed west on Rte 66 and wound up at the west end of Klondike. You need 4WD in this area as the sand is quite deep. If you got into trouble and couldn't pull your way out, it's an 8 mile walk to Ludlow. Paul and I were ok, but there were a few spots that required careful attention. If you plan to 4-wheel there or railfan, be prepared.

Left: BNSF #4029 leads a westbound auto train at the west end of Ludlow, a half hour before sunset. Right: BNSF #4100 leads a very colorful westbouhd double-stack container train, at the east end of Ash Hill. Yes, the middle units are painted in BN cascade green, and are 40-something year-old SD-40's.

Paul and I spent a couple of hours at the east end of Ash Hill/West Klondike photographing BNSF. Then, too bad, it was time to head home. I took Paul back to Ludlow and he transferred all of his personal effects into his van and we said our good byes.

From there, I headed west on I-50 to Barstow, then west on CA 58 and, at Kramer Junction, I headed north on US

After turning west on CA 89, and then west on US 50, it was an uneventful drive home. On this trip, I'm glad that I didn't get shot at!

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