10 photos included after text..

I will begin my discussion of Tehachapi Pass in the small town of Mojave, CA which is on the eastern side of the pass where the BNSF mainline turns away from the Union Pacific mainline south of town.

Route 14 or the Sierra Hwy, approaches Mojave from Lancaster, CA to the south and after Mojave, it continues in a northeasterly direction out of town.  Route 58 is the main road that went into town until just afew years ago when a bypass was built.  Now Route 58 approaches from the town of Barstow to the east and about three miles out of Mojave, turns north.  It will travel around Mojave on its east side and then curve in a westerly direction about 5 miles to the north. 

There are three exits from Route 58 into the town of Mojave.  To the east is exit #172 which is the original way into town when there was no bypass.  The second exit is exit #165 and that is Route 14 which enters Mojave from its northern middle side.  Exit #167 is the third exit which is the other business route 58 into town from the very north.

Mojave's main road is Route 14 and business 58 as it travels in a slight northwest direction.  There is a small 6 track mainly storage yard just west of the road.  Most of the amenities are off of this road in town and not at any of the exits from the bypass. 

There are some of the standard fast food and gas choices along with several cheaper hotels.  Fine dining "Mojave style" is the Denny's.  Gas is a little above the national average but get it here because it is about 25 cents more expensive in the next town of Tehachapi, CA.  A nights stay is around $40.00.

SIERRA HWY BRIDGE

This bridge is to the south of Mojave where the hwy travels over the railroad tracks just after the junction of the BNSF track off of the Union Pacific track.  The bridge is actually an "S" curve over the tracks and is a good photo location in that you will be slightly elevated and the sun is at a great angle much of the time.

Winter mornings are your best choice for early morning photos of downhill trains as they negociate the series of turnouts at the southern end of the yard.  Afternoon photos of Union Pacific or BNSF trains approaching Mojave are great either in the summer or the winter.  Simply park at the base of the bridge and then walk up to your selected photo angle.

Track for the Union Pacific will parallel Route 14 and continue into Mojave on a straight track, but the BNSF will approach in a large "S" curve that makes for a more interesting photo.  Photos of the BNSF trains however are a bit of a challenge since there are some telephone wires that you would have to work around.  Just don't go completely to the top of the bridge and work your photo under them.

MOJAVE YARD

All along the main drag of the Sierra Hwy through Mojave is the small yard to the west of the road.  Photos are possible all along its border with only a couple of buildings and some telephone poles to deal with.  Roster shots of engines and other equipment are easy to get in the mornings of either summer or winter.

The Union Pacific stores some engines sometimes in the Mojave Yard for work on the two branches that exit the yard area, or for helper service if needed.  There are usually some cars in the yard also in the form of entire trains of coal cars or covered hoppers.  Remember this yard is used mainly for storage, not classification, and there are no engine facilities.

There are six tracks in this yard and it stretches from the Sierra Hwy Bridge to the Oak Creek Road less than a mile north.  There are a couple of small offices on the west side of the tracks but don't venture into that area.  You will be chased out and photos that you would get in the afternoon, you could also get in the morning.

OAK CREEK ROAD BRIDGE

To get to this bridge, turn off of the Sierra Hwy at Mono Street, and go only one block to "K" Street.  Turn north, and again go only one block to Oak Creek Road where the incline for the bridge is obvious.  It is not possible to park on the bridge so park at either side and walk up the sidewalks to your photo location.

This is an interesting bridge in that although there are sidewalks on both sides of the bridge with a concrete barrier to seperate you from the traffic, there is also a tall chain-link fence on its side.  Photos are still possible if you bring a ladder, or shoot through one of the three holes in the fence that someone placed there on purpose.

Those holes are on the south side of the bridge only and it is easy to fit a camera lens through the about 6" opening.  That helps for the early morning in summer photos or the late summer afternoon photos of the uphill trains. 

Downhill trains are better photographed in the late afternoon in summer, or the early morning in winter, but are more difficult since there are no holes on the north side of the bridge.  Photos are possible but you will have to be at the edge of the fencing and that makes a more challenging photo with the various obsticles you have to work around.

It would help if someone would put more holes in the fence, but until then your only other option is to use a ladder if you brought one.  If that is the case, and it is tall enough, just place it where the angle is best for you and shoot over the fence like I do.

LONE PINE BRANCH

Even though this is not a major photo location, it is interesting in that off the Lone Pine Branch which is .2 miles north of the Oak Creek Bridge, just after the track crosses over the Sierra Hwy, is a new team track that the Union Pacific Railroad has installed for unloading parts and supplies for the giant wind farms that are all around the Tehachapi area.  Also pieces of some of the new towers will arrive via train to Mojave and be unloaded here.

On my last trip to Tehachapi, I saw two large four truck heavy-duty flat cars that had just been unloaded.  This area might be a good area to keep an eye on when in Mojave, CA.

THE SIGNAL BRIDGE NORTH OF MOJAVE

Another .3 miles from the Lone Pine Branch grade crossing, is the junction of Route 14 where it will turn north easterly away from Mojave, CA.  Two miles after that the railroad tracks that ar now about 1/4 mile west of the road, will return closer to the road in a large "S" curve that makes for a nice photo of uphill trains.

Just park off of the road and walk carefully to the west side of the road at a location that suits you.  Photos here are best in the early morning in summer or winter with summer being better.

Another .3 mile north, you should see a dirt road that will go to a grade crossing over the tracks.  Do not cross the tracks, but instead turn to the north and this dirt road will take you to several different photo locations that you could use a really nice signal bridge as a photo prop.

This signal bridge is another .3 miles away but photos are really great especially with the mountains in the background.  These photos of downhill trains are best in the early morning of winter, and the photo is even better if the mountains are snow-capped. 

You can even use the signal bridge in the early mornings in summer if you wish for photos of uphill trains.  Just drive past the signal bridge and shoot from there.  Although the mountains will not be in the photo, the Mojave valley will.

The Sierra Hwy will turn to the northeast toward exit #167 for Route 58 bypass right at the location of the signal bridge.  Here you should see where the original route 58 was before the bypass.