Union Pacific over Cima Hill

One of the most dangerous mountain grades on the Union Pacific is Cima Hill. Located in California's Mojave Desert, this short, steep hill has had a long history of runaway trains.
This video is an excerpt from our program "Union Pacific's Cima Subdivision" which is available on DVD, HD Blu-ray, and digital download with Vimeo On Demand. If you would like to order the entire program visit this link.
www.7ideaprodu...

[@TM-bk3ok]

14:41 Nice to see that the UP is letting their Dash 9's stretch their legs.

[@marcspurgeon1802]

Kelso station is truly a jewel in the desert! I actually ate in the Lunch Room when it was still active… great shots!

[@richardleffingwell103]

In the late 70s, my signal gang was the last m of w crew to live at Kelso while extending sidings and respacing signals on the hill. I highly recommend visiting the depot museum for a glimpse of remote desert railroading. There was once a roundhouse and "Y" for turning helpers during the steam years. An antenna on top of the 300 ft water towers was aimed at a metal screen reflector on the mountains to bring in TV from Las Vegas for the section crews and maintainers houses that were across the tracks from the depot.

[@ianpark1906]

Brilliant footage and very informative, especially to those not in the US (that would include me) 👍

[@chillimocha]

I agree. I am in Western Australia and this is fascinating for me to see the scenery and watch the trains in the US.

[@johndalley1288]

Great video. I don't think folks realize just how busy this line from Salt Lake to LA can be.

[@7ideaproductions]

We filmed this after spending a week on BNSF's Needles Sub which was around 80 trains per day. Although UP traffic was a small fraction of that (like 12 -15 trains per day) we had pretty good luck. Several meets too!

[@NhattrungHuynh-xg6nk]

​@@7ideaproductions❤😢😢😊

[@Greatdome99]

Santa Fe's (BNSF) climb over the Arizona Divide is only 1.4% compared to UP's 2.2% here and north of Las Vegas-and much less curvy. That's why UP purchased the SP in 1996 for its faster Golden State Route via El Paso, which sees most of its transcon trains rather than here.

[@bigrr64]

Another awesome train video. When I lived in La I would go to Vegas a lot LOL. But I like to go through Kelso because it was such a beautiful drive and I always stop that train station for a break. I love to watch the trains go by love your channel thank you sir.

[@7ideaproductions]

Kelso is a great place to get away from I-15 traffic and just watch the trains. Nipton is another great location on the other side of Cima Hill. Just watch out for turtles!

[@JohnMakuck-is7be]

7idea is thumbs up for video,narration,and info,hope 7idea keeps on going for a lot of years,I am a big fan thank you.

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Another fantastic video and catches. Enjoyed watching once again and have a great rest of your Tuesday.(Steve)

[@7ideaproductions]

Thank you Steve! You too!

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

@@7ideaproductions Your welcome and thank you also.

[@brendenkennedy4304]

Union Pacific is one of my favorite Railway companies. Keep up the great work.

[@charliebrooks2570]

Nice video! Beautiful desert areas!

[@k5elevencinc0]

That crazy 140 MPH derailment would of been crazy to see on film.

[@RollerCoasterLineProductions]

Another fantastic video

[@randallellison6421]

Awesome video, always enjoy some great desert railroading action!

[@petesopenrailsvideos]

This is a fantastic video and commentary. I've subscribed!

[@7ideaproductions]

Welcome aboard!

[@edmundk7056]

Continually great work! Thanks

[@psoon04286]

Great video and informative narration done by a real human👍🏼👍🏼😄

[@Bridgeoverthevalley]

Nice photography. Regrettably we can no longer ride Amtrak’s Desert Wind which rolled down these tracks. What sad mistake to discontinue that train.

[@denisetindall1487]

I like train videos on KZbin 👍

[@wicky201]

Beautiful video...Afton Canyon too.

[@7ideaproductions]

Thank you for watching!

[@geac9100]

This was my first video, as a new subscriber I'll be reviewing all your material. Keep up the good work!

[@7ideaproductions]

Thank you!

[@robertturner6797]

Gday great scenery especially the sunsets liked the information on the locos and the possible reason for the smoke emitted from the rear loco of the Quad hookup

[@jgparks1065]

I'm sure you're aware of Thornapple railroad videos. They were among my favorites. You have now Eclipse that. Most excellent photography and narration!!

[@7ideaproductions]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@blairterry9435]

Not bad. Cima Hill sure has a history of runaways and there was even one happening this year.

[@7ideaproductions]

Yes fortunately no fatalities this time.

[@blairterry9435]

@@7ideaproductions That’s lucky. Isn’t that lines used by UP’s old City of Los Angeles Streamliner between Chicago and LA to compete with Santa Fe’s Super Chief between the same two cities?

[@jbdbackfan]

Awesome work, per usual

[@discgolfillustrated2640]

Would you consider noting your video equipment? Your professional skills are most impressive. Thank you again for sharing. 👏🏻👍🏼

[@ashgaming2.095]

Nice trains

[@royzug2847]

Great video. Quite a desolate area in spots.

[@7ideaproductions]

Thank you!

[@wondabiz]

i wanna say theres been 3 (maybe 4) runaways on Cima Hill since the 80's. Most recent one being this year

[@bloodngut]

Yea this past March, 2 locomotives and 55 cars passed Kelso doing in excess of 140mph. It left the tracks 5 miles west of Kelso at a speed of 157mph

[@psoon04286]

Vandalism goes unchecked? Not the last time I was down taking photos and videos. The railroad police was fully alert and quick to chase me off ‘private property’😠 Wished they’d focus on the real trouble-makers

[@7ideaproductions]

Yes there is a difference between taking pictures or video and taking a paint can and spraying a bunch of crap on things.

[@spacecalander]

SP AC4400s had flashing ditchlights, so maybe this is a repaint SP unit.

[@7ideaproductions]

Yes indeed!

[@taylorbaggarleyunionpacifi3409]

Busy line of the union pacific lots trains used to go California and vages

[@BobSmith-mj7ik]

I can only imagine how hot those engines get in the dessert 🥵

[@trtrains8203]

I think what ur talking about is that toaster in the turbo

[@rowanlidbury]

It's not vandaisum, it's art.

[@JeffC-fq1be]

What's going on with 141 at around 14:30 with those puffs of smoke?

[@michaelmorgan7893]

Maybe things have changed in recent years along that portion of the UP, but all the times when driving to Vegas throughout the early /mid 2000's, I hardly saw one train a day on that line. (Granted, once the line disappears from view along I-15, I wouldn't know if trains are there or not)

[@Greatdome99]

Remember that UP now owns So Pacific-Rock Island's Golden State route via El Paso, which is far superior to UP's mountainous route via Salt Lake. Most intermodals have migrated south.

[@unionpacificrailfan783]

Nice catch where's he headed

[@aleu650]

They use Tortoise Switch Machine 😉 10:50

[@shaunrobertson1857]

Which ones were the dash 9s I only seen aces tier 4 es44s and c44accte’s

[@7ideaproductions]

To the best of my knowledge, UP doesn't run many Dash 9's.

[@shaunrobertson1857]

@@7ideaproductions kind of what I thought I figured there all retired and in the process of rebuilding all of them into c44acms I believe hope I’m not wrong

[@adrianu399]

This is an awesome video! Thank you for this! Quick question just in case anyone knows.. between Long Beach/ west Colton yard is the next crew charge after that in Yermo? Or do they go all the way up to Arden in vegas and crew change there?

[@Greatdome99]

Yermo, then Las Vegas.

[@nightbot7021]

What camera do you use?

[@7ideaproductions]

That was shot with a Sony PXW X180.

[@nightbot7021]

@@7ideaproductions cool. I'm thinking about getting the Panasonic HC-X2 for my train videography. Do you know about that camera at all?

[@7ideaproductions]

Yes I owned one for about 30 days and returned it. Good camera for the price. Shoots very nice looking footage in Vlog if you grade in DaVinci Resolve. Stock SDR colors ok too. Good audio if you use a good shotgun mic. Onboard mic is garbage, but that is the case with most camcorders. Other positives are: Long battery life Long recording time even when shooting UHD 60P at 10 bit. (HEVC) Good sturdy build that is well balanced when handheld. The big negative (and why I returned it) is the rolling shutter. If you are trackside, the picture will turn to jello when the train passes. Completely unacceptable in my opinion. The HC-X2 is advertised as having an "electronic global shutter" but I can tell you it is a gimmick. If you are interested in footage I shot with my HC-X2, check out my KZbin video on the Durango and Silverton here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWjMgKaVbLSUg8U

[@nightbot7021]

@7ideaproductions thanks for the heads up. That's a bummer that it does that. Back to square one in the camcorder search lol. Are there any that you recommend?

[@nightbot7021]

@@7ideaproductions have you used the cannon C200?

[@trtrains8203]

13:45