On Monday January 25th I flew Southwest to Ontario, California. My flight landed around 4:00 pm PST and I signed for rental Dodge pickup with high clearance.
I decided to try for a few train photos before dinner. I had done my homework and knew the only nearby spot I could reach before sunset would be the Metrolink commuter rail station at Rancho Cucamonga. Cucamonga is a derivative of a native-american word for a “sandy place” and Rancho comes from the days of Spanish rule in the area.
I pulled into the parking lot just as a westbound train for Los Angeles was stopping at the platform just before 5:00 pm. I had just enough time to hold my camera over the top of the chain link fence at the corner of the lot as F59PH #865 roared by shoving five cars towards Los Angeles.
The next train was a westbound towards San Bernardino that arrived twenty minutes later right at sunset with another F59PH leading.
Here is a view showing the station and the cab car bringing up the rear of the eastbound train. The San Gabriel Mountains west of San Bernardino loom in the background wearing a light dusting of snow.
The next train would be another eastbound out of Los Angeles in twenty minutes so I walked through the tunnel to the other platform for a different view. The official Rancho Cucamonga station sign fronted a large open space in the middle of a wye off of the old AT&SF passenger main between Los Angeles and San Bernardino, and I assume that BNSF offers local freight service here.
As the light continued to fade I dropped back to ISO 6400 with 1/60 of a second at f5.6 and composed my photo to include a signature palm tree as the eastbound slowed to a stop with a newer F59PHI leading.
This train had a larger number of commuters who moved away from me down the platform to the tunnel on the way to the parking lot.
As the station clock shows it was now 5:48 pm, so I packed it in and headed to the hotel.
