Changing of the Guard

Twilight at East Oro Grande, Cal., in June 2010: the headlights of an eastbound BNSF train illuminate old Santa Fe signals and their replacements. (click to enlarge)

 Over the past several years I've made a habit of photographing the signals I grew up with as they're retired in favor of modern replacements that resemble silver erector sets. When I was a teenager, photographer Dave Busse pointed out that when he was on vacation he could easily identify any railroad he encountered based on the unique signals that guarded the line. That won't be the case for much longer. Just like the classic semaphores succumbed to progress, so too are veteran searchlights and cantilevers coming down in favor of high-tech but largely lookalike masts and towers. A few California lines still make use of these aging classics, but the population is dwindling. On my recent trip to the Salton Sea, we encountered a scene in transition along the old Santa Fe (now BNSF) mainlines at East Oro Grande, east of Victorville and beside Route 66. We spent much of the "blue hour" shooting BNSF and UP freights as they blasted by the doomed target signals. The shot above was part of a favorite sequence, and a nice farewell to the old guard.