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Location / Name:
Ibis CA, San Bernardino County
What's Here:
BNSF Needles Sub
Grade Crossing
Signals
Data:
GPS Coordinates: 34.94289, -114.82459
Phone A/C: 760
ZIP: n/a
Access by train/transit:
Amtrak Southwest Chief in Needles
The Scoop:
About 16 miles west (by road) from the station in Needles is Ibis. US 95 crosses the BNSF mainline here, where there are 2 tracks at the grade crossing and a set of signals. Two and half miles west is another set of signals. There are about 60 to 70 trains a day that pass through here.
Just east of the crossing, the WB track takes a circuitous route to lessen the grade. According to the "waltersrail" page: The line in the foreground was built by the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1883, while the second line in the background was constructed by the Santa Fe in 1923 with a shallower grade (1.4 percent as opposed to 1.8 percent) for eastbound traffic.
Looks like there is a slight hill just west of the grade crossing, on the other side of the WB track, where you can good shots of EB trains.
If you go to Google images and search for BNSF Ibis CA, you'll find lots more pictures!
Radio Freqs:
AAR 55 / 160.935 - Needles to Hector
AAR 55 / 160.935 - Mojave Dispatcher, Hector to E. Barstow
AAR 32 / 160.590 - Mojave Dispatcher, E. Barstow to Barstow
Acknowledgements:
Denver Todd
Roland Lucas
Matthew Griffin
Google Maps
Websites and other additional information sources of interest for the area:
http://www.waltersrail.com/2019/03/bnsf-transcon-kansas-city-to-cajon-part.html excellent pictures!
See below the photos for others.
Exit 133 from east-west running I-40. Go north 6.35 miles on US 95 to the grade crossing.
http://www.trainweb.org/brettrw/bnsf/needlessub/bnsf0786.html
http://www.trainweb.org/brettrw/bnsf/needlessub/bnsf0683.html
Roland Lucashttps://www.flickr.com/photos/152163655@N06/48920351501/in/photostream/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/168392473541532714/
At the Crossing
Colorlights at the crossingGPS Coordinates: 34.94284, -114.82489
Intermediate ColorlightsGPS Coordinates: 34.93622, -114.86885
They are 2.5 miles west of the grade crossing at US 95, on CA Route 66.
Some graffiti seen on a few of the cars on a train Google caught west on Route 66.
Disclaimers:
I love trains, and I love signals. I am not an expert. My webpages reflect what I find on the topic of the page. This is something I have fun with while trying to help others.
Please Note: Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them. For those of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, my indexa page has a list of almost everything railroad oriented I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to help you detail your pike.
If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan guide is correct. Once in a while, an error may creep in :-)
My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a thousand words, especially for railfanning. Text descriptions only get you so far, especially if you get lost or disoriented. Take along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still better if you get lost! I belong to AAA, which allows you to get local maps for free when you visit the local branches. ADC puts out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their state maps do not have the railroads on them. If you can find em, I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and concise graphics, and they do a really good job of showing you where tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads. Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known.
Aerial shots were taken from either Google or Bing Maps as noted. Screen captures are made with Snagit, a Techsmith product... a great tool if you have never used it!
By the way, floobydust is a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data book, and means miscellaneous and/or other stuff.
Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have something to add or correct.... credit is always given! Please be NICE!!! Contact info is here
Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as being possibly inaccurate, wrong, or not true.
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NEW 08/20/2022, AUG21/2022
Last Modified 21-Aug-2022