11 photos included after text.

The next area to be covered is the Cameron Area and it will include the railroad locations of Warren, Cameron and Monolith.  None of these areas are actual towns, but Monolith is the location of a large cement plant called Monolith.

There are no amenities in any of these areas so be prepared, although Mojave and Tehachapi are very close by. 

Route 58 is the main road through the Cameron Area with exits you will use at #167 the business 58 route into Mojave, Cameron Road at exit #159, Sand Canyon Road at exit #156 and finally Tehachapi Road at exit #151. 

Detectors at mileposts 377.0 near the signal bridge north of Mojave will announce the arrival of uphill trains when you are close to Warren, and the detector at milepost 363.8 near Tehachapi will proclaim the presence of downhill trains when you are closer to Monolith.

This is the area of the Tehachapi Mountains where there are several wind farms with hundreds of wind turbines that populate the mountain sides.  These are an interesting feature of the Tehachapi Pass for people that would use the pass, but aren't there for the trains.  (I heard once that there are some people like that.  Unbelieveable!).

WARREN

Warren is the area where the railroad tracks curve out of the Mojave Valley and are directly next to Route 58.  Immediately after that, they will follow along the contures of the hillside traveling away from the roadway for a short time then they will return and splice three signals that you can easily see from Route 58.

The first curve near Route 58 is not that great, but the second curve with the signals is.  Drive on Route 58 from exit #167 to the Cameron Road exit #159.  Cross over the highway and return south bound toward Mojave exactly 7.9 miles to just past the truck weight station where there is a dirt road (hard to see) turning toward the tracks.

Turn onto this road.  The signals with a nice curve will be to your left, and another nice curve to your right.  You can drive on this road as it travels around the curve to several photo locations and not be bothered by the California Highway Patrol.

Photos are possible either summer or winter almost all day of trains in either direction, but mainly in the early morning and late afternoon.  Just work your sun angles around this curve for the best light.

CAMERON ROAD

Just as my title implies, this location is off of Route 58 at exit #159.  Just south of the overpass is where the road turns and there is a good place for photos of uphill trains in the late afternoon of summer.  You are slightly elevated and it is easy to park and wait for a train.  Just stand next to the guardrail and shoot.

You could also follow the road as it parallels Route 58 for a short time before it turns and crosses the tracks at a grade crossing.  After this grade crossing there is no more interest in trains so no need to go farther.

At this grade crossing, the tracks are on a curve, and there is no great place to position yourself for a great angle, but you could take a photo if you wished.  It is a nice photo, just not really that appealing concidering the other choices nearby.

SAND CANYON ROAD

Well...I lied.  The exit #156 is for Sand Canyon Road, but the railroad location is after Sand Canyon Road turns away and the road you're on turns into Tehachapi Road.  If I called it Tehachapi Road though you would not see an exit.  Oh well.

First there is a nice location on the other side of Route 58 that I need to mention.  From the Sand Canyon Road exit #156, go back toward Cameron Road for 1.4 miles to a large open area with several piles of dirt.  Park away from the road and walk back toward Sand Canyon Road along the edge of this open area.

Soon you will see a great place for photos of downhill trains as they lean into a curve and on the other side of a small creek.  In the distance you will see where the tracks go under Route 58 just after the Sand Canyon Road exit.  Photos of these downhill trains are fantastic in the early morning of summer only.  Your scanner will tell you when a train is approaching from the detector at milepost 363.8.  When it activates the announcement, you will have about 5 minutes to get ready.

Return to the Sand Canyon Road exit #156 from the Cameron Road exit #159 for the second photo location.

From the exit #156 go to the stop sign.  Turn right and go about .1 mile to another stop sign for Sand Canyon Road.  Turn left and another .1 miles later, Sand Canyon Road will turn to the right and travel up the mountain side.  (No need to follow this road for trains).

At this point the road will become Tehachapi Blvd and after .2 miles there will be a dirt road that will go toward the tracks to your left.  Follow this road as it returns in the direction of the overpass for Route 58.  When you arrive there park out of the picture you will be taking of downhill trains just before they go under the overpass.

I recomend that you climb up the embankment for the overpass for this early morning in winter or summer photo of downhill trains.  At this location also, you will hear the scanner at the detector at milepost 363.8 announce the coming of a train.  However here you will have only about 3-4 minutes before the train arrives.  You can see the cement plant at Monolith and will probably be able to see the train as it approaches in the distance.

LAND FILL ROAD

Just another mile from the dirt road that took you to the Route 58 overpass is a road that goes to a land fill and just before that road is another good place to get early morning photos of downhill trains.  Park to the side of what is now Tehachapi Blvd only a couple hundred yards from the entrance to the land fill.

The tracks are now in a nice curve that you can use to your advantage and you should see some signals about .3 mile past the land fill road.  Position yourself to several places around this large curve in the tracks and use the signals if you wish.  Just past the signals the tracks form an "S" curve that you can also use for those downhill photos.

This same location between the signals and the grade crossing at Monolith is a good location for photos in the late afternoon in summer only of uphill trains now, and you might be able to have some of the wind farm turbines in the background of your photos.

MONOLITH

The Monolith Cement Plant is obvious, and there is a grade crossing for Tehachapi Blvd there.  You could use the Cement Plant as a background for more photos if you wished.

Another 1.5 miles after the grade crossing is the large apparatice for the talking detector at milepost 363.8.  It is larger than most and has an overhead latice that supports the to tall/shifting load detectors.  Photos are possible here almost all day for interesting photos of trains as they go through the detector in either direction.

The overpass for Route 58 exit #151 is another 1.1 miles toward Tehachapi, CA and you could use the overpass as another prop for your photos.