A new train order station was added at Ansel in the late 70s to speed up operations between Mojave and Palmdale. This gave the dispatcher a little more time to figure out how eastbound trains were doing after coming over the Tehachapi Mountains. This office was eliminated when CTC was installed over the Palmdale Colton Cut-off and up to Mojave. The engineer on the Searles Turn (Extra 5301 East) snags his set of orders as the train passes the new station on October 29, 1976.

The helper engineer really has to stretch to grab his set of orders. The middle fork on the train order delivery pole is designed for the conductor on a passenger train standing in a Dutch Door. Disk 48

Index

A Year Later