For those on the list who contemplate shooting trips to Southern California over the winter months (when the light is really stellar on clear days), let me make a suggestion.
If you want to spend an interesting morning/afternoon shooting BNSF, consider the double and triple-track main line between Fullerton and Corona, Calif., thru Santa Ana Canyon. Want a place just to hang out, quaff a cold iced tea and see plenty of action? Fullerton's the place...the newly remodeled Amtrak-Metrolink depot there features Amtrak, Metrolink and BNSF action, there's comfortable seating, a depot cafe and nice 3/4 lighting in the morning and afternoon. East of there, several nice photos exist around Placentia. Follow the road east of there and the tracks bisect the rapidly growing, affluent Anaheim Hills area, and the double-tracking has removed all the pole lines, opening up some nice scenes for photography. I like afternoons in this area but there are morning angles as well. Keep going east into Santa Ana Canyon and again, there's been plenty of growth, but the triple tracking project removed pole lines and opened up some great photo locations, and the residential development has brought two nice overpasses to the area with great down-on angles of the main line. There are plenty of nice photos in Santa Ana Canyon, food and services nearby and you don't have to worry about hassles from rent-a-cops (a la Cajon) or the human debris that seems to gather along tracks in urban areas. And, in this era of "zero tolerance," some of the best photo angles on this stretch are to be had from public streets and non-railroad property. And for dinner, may I suggest the Olde Town Brewing Co., a new restaurant in the ATSF Orange, Calif., depot. Good food, great beer and patio dining along the San Diego main line. And you thought the only thing worth shooting was Cajon, the desert and Tehachapi... --David R. Busse Diamond Bar, Calif. --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects
