Union Pacific freight train M-NPWC2-22 passes through the iconic Mormon Rocks, dusted with snow, as it ticks off the last few miles of its journey from North Platte, Nebraska, to West Colton Yard, just 25 miles ahead. But first, this train will take the siding at Canyon (on UP’s Mojave Subdivision) to meet a northbound train intermodal train. UP SD70ACe 8610, SD70ACe 8524 and AC4400CW 7285 (with ES44AC 8030 and AC4400CW 6539 pulling duty as the rear DPUs) on this train. In the last 1960s, Southern Pacific built this railroad (dubbed the Palmdale Cutoff) to allow trains to bypass congested Los Angeles, and their surveyors found a narrow route through these historic sandstone blocks, exposed to the elements through plate tectonics due to the nearby San Andreas Fault. The rocks received their name from Mormon settlers, moving to the Los Angeles Basin from Salt Lake City UT. (Cajon Pass, California – December 27, 2019)
