Making Tracks for a Railroad Festival

If you’re a parent, you might recognize this scene. You’re driving along with the toddler in the car seat. Suddenly, the child screams with delight, pointing out the window.

“Choo-choo!” the child proclaims. And sure enough, a freight train is chugging its way down nearby tracks.

There’s just something about trains that fascinates people.

You can indulge your child’s and your fascination with the mighty freight pullers on Saturday during the Amtrak Fall Railroad Festival at the Glendale Amtrak Station.

It’s brought to a focus by Ned Jones, a photographer who is himself a rail buff.

“I grew up around Santa Fe (the rail company). They used to go past my house,” he said. He was living in South Pasadena at the time and is a 1968 graduate of South Pasadena High.

He likes to photograph trains because of “all that horsepower being put to work, the color, the fact that you can be outdoors. It’s fascinating.” He particularly enjoys going out to the Tehachapi Loop where the trains cross the mountains to get to the San Joaquin Valley.

“To see that long train, which is over a mile-and-a-half (long) going up that hill, it’s just incredible,” he said.

The festival will feature exhibits by Santa Fe, Union Pacific, Amtrak and the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society. Two engineers from Santa Fe will be selling T-shirts and caps, in case you want to wear your passion, and there will be hot dogs and chips for sale.

Oh, and Jones will have his own photographs on display and for sale.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the station, at the end of Cerritos Avenue, southwest of San Fernando Road. Admission is free.