Cajon Pass and Cima Hill

A brief stop at hill 582 for an EB BNSF stack train

Very nice. However, I didn't see anything on Cima Hill.

Next was CP Cajon with Sullivan's Curve in the background.

A brief stop at Blue Cut, but it was getting hot. 

We took a break from the heat and drove to Colton to see a derailed SD40-2, some urban trains, and a yard.  There is a GATX car cleaning and repair facility next to the UP yard

Ok, these are not trains, but please indulge me as this might be a good layout vignette.  This is the SOCAL logistics airport in Victorville.  It's an airliner boneyard and storage facility.  The helicopter was placing an AC unit on top of a new Amazon warehouse next to the airport.  Can anyone enlighten me on the pros / cons of using a helicopter as opposed to a crane?

Back at Cajon Pass, we stopped at Mormon Rocks

As the light was fading, we caught one last UP Coal Train at CP Cajon.

I also stopped in Cima, CA to catch two UP trains working their way up the hill.  I think the first one was loaded cement hoppers based on the short length of the train.

@Hot Water posted:

Very nice. However, I didn't see anything on Cima Hill.

Thanks HW, I was working up to it as you see.

@ESPEE 8722 posted:

Ok, these are not trains, but please indulge me as this might be a good layout vignette.  This is the SOCAL logistics airport in Victorville.  It's an airliner boneyard and storage facility.  The helicopter was placing an AC unit on top of a new Amazon warehouse next to the airport.  Can anyone enlighten me on the pros / cons of using a helicopter as opposed to a crane?

Cranes can only reach so far from the edge of the building, and the farther they lean over, their lift capacity decreases tremendously.

@ESPEE 8722 posted:

Ok, these are not trains, but please indulge me as this might be a good layout vignette.  This is the SOCAL logistics airport in Victorville.  It's an airliner boneyard and storage facility.  The helicopter was placing an AC unit on top of a new Amazon warehouse next to the airport.  Can anyone enlighten me on the pros / cons of using a helicopter as opposed to a crane?

Helicopters are faster to Set units when they are far from the edge of the building.

Mikey

Thanks for the helicopter vs. crane info.  It seems the helicopter is much quicker as it doesn't have to be setup for each lift. 

@ESPEE 8722 posted:

We took a break from the heat and drove to Colton to see a derailed SD40-2, some urban trains, and a yard.

Here is a link to download the .pdf report:

https://safetydata.fra.dot.gov...NSFCA032211220220321

Thanks everybody for the likes.  Here a few shots at Mormon Rocks from my visit in June 2018.  We went in the morning, and the light was better for photos from the other side.

And a wider shot of Blue Cut from 2018.  The empties are going toward LA.  You can see some fire damage from the 2016 fire.