Inland Empire Railfanning Tour Volume 17: UP Train using the Balloon Track!

West Colton's location East of Los Angeles has always been a bit of a logistical challenge for SP and later UP. While the original plans for a hump yard called for one at Indio, SP's decision to put one serving Los Angeles East of the basin, regardless of ultimate location, puts trains heading westward in a predicament considering the departure yard's eastward-facing nature. The balloon track at the East end (nestled underneath the West leg of the wye leading to the Palmdale Cutoff) was the elegant solution, and today a few "haulers" a day use this track to head westward towards Los Angeles. Our cameras caught a recently-rebuilt C44M on the point of a hauler as it passes by its own train, heading west!
||Equipment List||
|||Photography|||
Canon 7D Mark II - www.bhphotovid....
Canon 5D Mark III - www.bhphotovid....
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM - www.bhphotovid....
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM - www.bhphotovid....
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM - www.bhphotovid....
Manfrotto MT055XPRO3 Tripod - www.bhphotovid....
I use hexagonal plates for my tripod mounts, though your usage may vary with those
|||Video|||
Canon XHA-1S - www.bhphotovid....
Bogen 3040 Video Tripod - No link, but it's relatively easy to find on eBay for about $150
|||Misc|||
ATCS Monitor - groups.io/g/AT...
Uniden Bearcat BC245XLT - wiki.radiorefe....
Final Cut Pro X - www.apple.com/...

[@averageguy7136]

Great job. Thanks for filming and explaining this. I had no idea they did that at WC.

[@NickCarRSP]

Great Video!

[@darrelgibbs4898]

I Would Love To Give You Award for All Your Video They Are so Excellent O my god

[@Wheatfieldrailz]

Nice!

[@Bahnchef1994]

Nice Video Thumbs up 👍

[@valdairoliveiras2448]

Otimo video amigo saudações do Brazil

[@paulmatulavich7321]

Nice perspective. Looks like you are using a telephoto lens with a fixed focal length?

[@RailfanJunction]

Thanks! I use a Canon XHA-1S with a variable zoom! My full equipment list is in the description.

[@danielwalton9012]

But I Do Make Cleo, & T Bone The 1st two New Dogs with Mr. Shackleford!

[@Atsf1976]

Nice work as I've only witnessed this once when I have been out there. What frame rate do you shoot your videos in?

[@RailfanJunction]

Thanks! And 60FPS!