Knotts bought a bunch of narrow gauge equipment from the DRGW when they phased out narrow gauge in the mid-fifties. If you run North on the I-15 out of San Diago about 60 miles East of Los Angeles, it will take you right up Cajon Pass. The 15 will junction with the 215 twice. The first time stay on the 15, that is the South terminus of the 215. The second time, the 215 North terminus will end at the 15, and you are starting up into the pass. Get to the right lane and the first off ramp past the 215/15 junction will be Kenwood Ave. Get off on Kenwood and turn left at the end of the off ramp. It will take you to old route 66, and eventually to Blue Cut(5 miles or so) . At Blue Cut you'll see a picnic area to your left under some huge cottonwood trees. Less than 100 yards back down the road is a concrete wall along side the road, and just across the small canyon is a railroad bridge over a small creek that will join Cajon Creek. It is one of my favorite places to watch trains. Continue up the road and it willl end back at I-15. Get back on the I-15 North, you will pass a truck scale, and then just past the truck scales the first off ramp will be Route 138. Get off the freeway on route 138, turn left at the end of the ramp , and you are at Sullivan's curve and the Mormon Rocks. That is another great place to railfan and some great scenery for background shots. If you want to you can go on back to I15 and on up to the summit. The railroad summit will be off to the right of the freeway. It is a few miles to the right of the freeway and I've never gone up there, so I can't help you there. If you want to get back to L.A., you are only a couple of hours away. If you haven't been there before, go to
http://www.socalrailfan.com/forums/index.php There are guys there who go up to Cajon all the time to railfan. The admin of that site has been accused of making Cajon his second home he is up there so much. Introduce yourself on the site and you may find a few railfans who will join you and give you a guided tour of the pass. I'd be happy to help you out in person, but my mother-in-law passed away (somewhere around 90-91, not sure of her age) and the memorial service is in Tampa on Dec 3, so I will be in your part of the country while you are out here.
East of San Diego at Campo is the San Diego Railroad Museum. It is operated by volunteers and only open on weekends. On my map, it looks like the easiest way to get there is East on I-8 almost to Imperial County and then come West on highway 94. 94 is freeway in San Diego, but if you take 94 all the way East, it looks like it is a winding mountain road East of San Diego for quite a ways. If you take the !-5 North out of Los Angeles to Magic Mountain (a Six Flags theme park North of LA), just past Magic Mountain, go West on Highway 126 to the town of Filmore. There is a passenger train pulled by f-units that runs from Fillmore to Santa Paula and back on an old Southern Pacific branch line. Again I'm not sure if it runs everyday or just weekends. Whatever hotel you stay in will probably have flyers with the Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, and other tourist attraction flyers in the lobby. I'm sure I've given you more than you can possibly do in your short stay here in So Cal, but I figured to give you choices.
