added: March 12, 2013  /  updated: March 10, 2016 (Part 4)

please scroll down for more infos / bitte nach unten scrollen für mehr Infos

Part 1: Below are different photos of this "one of a kind" diorama (by Kim Nipkow)
No question, we are pleased with this special tribute to the builders of the real thing. Lots of photos - click here The guys are: Don E. Toles, Gary G. Gray, Marc Fournier, Jerry Shinar.
201: Overview of the whole Diorama. From left: UP Track (Colton-Palmdale cutoff), BNSF MT-1 and MT-2, Hill 582 (BNSF MT-3 is missing)
202: Bird's Eye View of this realistic Diorama
203: West side of Hill 582 (looking East) - Please note: Kim added a photo backdrop of the real thing with photoshop on the computer!
204: North-West side w/UP West bound on MT-2	205: BNSF WB Double Stack heading for L.A.
206: BNSF EB on MT-1 and UP SB on UP Track	207: Crazy Railfans catching the BNSF ES44AC EB on MT-2
208: North side w/BNSF MT-1 and MT-2	209: East side w/bench under the trees
210: South side w/Gary's pickup and Marc's Jeep	211: Hill 582 Memorials w/Don (standing) and Marc (sitting on Don's car)
Kim, the builder, with the Hill 582 Diorama. In the background is his Layout (backdrop not finished).
This Hill 582 Diorama was on display at the 4th-US-Modellbahn-Convention in Rodgau (Frankfurt) Germany on October 19/20, 2013. In addition, Kim was running clincis about landscaping. Take a look at their web site: direct link And last but not least, the well known Pelle Soeborg (Denmark) will be there as well.
PDF of 8 page report of this diorama published in German "Modellbahn Kurier Special No. 13" in May 2013: direct link  copyright by EK-Verlag

Part 2: Below are different photos of this "one of a kind" diorama (by Werner Meer)
I am the proud owner of this diorama and it is on display in my US-Railroad-Shop and can be seen during my regular opening hours. I took a lot of photos to show views from different angles and all the details, even some are more or less similar. A big thank you goes to Kim for building my favorite place in the world "Hill 582" in HO scale.
24: Two BNSF EMD SD75M diesels are passing Hill 582	18: BNSF WB on BNSF MT-2 toward San Bernardino
13: BNSF MT-1 (left) is usually for EB Trains uphill toward summit	25: North/West side of the Hill
64: Bird's Eye View	65: North side og the Hill
12: The Hill is an excellent spot for railfanning	26: The Swiss flag proves, there are Swiss railfans here
68: Standing at the North end of the Hill, we are on eyelevel . . .	19: . . . with the roof of the engines. Also great for close up photos
34: The flags are only placed if there are special visitors	33: Looking North/East
55: Two BNSF MoW Vehicles are also around	57: Looking East
32: Above the BNSF tracks is the UP track	56: SP built the Palmdale-Colton Cutoff in 1967
16: Along the UP track is a US Forest Service Road, which . . .	15: . . . can be used for railfanning as it is a public road.
14: The vegetation can be seen very well	53: The bushes look very realsitsic
22: There is a UP MoW pickup truck checking the UP main	23: The loco is an Athearn Genesis EMD SD70ACe
66: The Hill can easy be reached by car. Sometimes, the dirt roads . .	67: .  are washed out and it might be difficult with a low clearence car
51: West side of the Hill	29: Nice detailed surrounding of the Hill
54: Common vehicles on the Hill: Red pickup of Don (between . . .	30: . . . the trees), silver pickup of Gary and blue Jeep of Marc
47: The white Cadillac Escalade could be the rental car of Ruedi.	11: Or did Werner replace his Chrysler Town & Country today?
46: Hill 582 Memorials just to the right of the pickup truck	42: Don's truck with the water tank and Marc - Don is standing
36: East side wooden retaining wall	41: Once again, it looks like the real thing
48: The flags are waving and welcoming the visitors	58: The usual position of Don's truck for watering the plants
59: North side with Memorials and the coupler	60: It is just like a short alley
70: Excellent re-creation of the Hill. No Eucalyptus trees are on . . .	72: . . . the diorama, because there is nothing available in HO scale
09: Bench with Pelle Soeborg and Kim, Memorials w/coupler	80: Bird's Eye View
79: It is time to go for a visit to the real Hill 582	77: Still taking photos
76: Looking South, the road to the top of Hill 582 is steep . . .	75: . . . but no problem with any vehicle

A great opportunity to present a special loco on a special diorama

The first time ever, the diesel loco of Werner Enterprises is passing Hill 582 on its way from Omaha, NE to San Bernardino, CA. There is a long string of Werner trailers (TOFC) to be delivered to the Fontana Terminal of Werner Enterprises.
Werner Enterprises (WE) is a big trucking company founded by Clarence L. Werner in 1956 and based in Omaha, NE. With 7'200 Trucks (Tractors), 25'000 Trailers and 14'000 employees, WE is one of the five largest truck carriers in the U.S. WE is using the railroads for TOFC service, which can be seen over Cajon Pass as well. Direct link to Werner Enterprises: click here Last but not least, the host of this website, Werner Meer, feels somehow familiar with WE because his first name is Werner.
81: This very unique paint scheme was applied by . . .	82: . . . Ferdinand Rat on an Athearn GE AMD-103
93: The 53' reefer trailer was produced by Athearn	89: Bird's Eye View
96: Ferdinand used the reefer trailer decals of A-Line (PPW)	95: Athearn made the solid blue Werner trailer as well
91: And another bird's eye view	90: No question, Hill 582 is an excellent spot for railfans
87: The BNSF SUV must be of Dave Miller	85: So many different angles to take pictures
84: Almost identical to photo 85	83: The proud owner of the WE loco is Werner Meer
Werner Enterprises Terminal Diorama in HO scale (1/87) with the above Werner Diesel Loco - take a look: click here

New 5/04/15: A great opportunity to present a special freight car on a special diorama

Beat Schneuwly (Switzerland) did very realistic weathering on a CSX Gondola. The finished model visitted the Hill 582 Diorama.
265: Great looking Gondola. Photo by B. Schneuwly	266: Looks realistic against the sun. Photo by B. Schneuly

Part 3: Below are different photos of the construction of this diorama (photos by Kim Nipkow)
It was for sure not an easy job to build something that is existing in the real world. So, Kim wanted to re-create Hill 582 as close as possible. Some details were hard to do because everything is 87 times smaller. No question, the result is outstanding.
250: This was the first drawing looking at Google Maps	251: Here are the different elevations
248: From left: UP track and BNSF MT-1 and MT-2	249: Just a wooden frame was the starting point
252: To get the contours of the terrain, he used styrofoam	253: Afterwards, the styro was covered with plaster
254: Next step, mark all dirt roads	255: Ready to start with track laying and landscaping
256: The foundation with diff. sand is done	257: The first bushes are planted
258: The difficult part is the Hill itself	259: How to make the retaining walls etc.
260: Finally, the trees and bushes have been planted	261: Even the bench in the middle has been mounted
262: Now, the Hill sides will get bushes	263: Railfans are already enjoying this spot in the middle of Cajon Pass

 

Part 4: Below are Photos of Hill 582 on my Mojave Desert (Cajon) HO Scale Layout by Werner Meer

Building Hill 582 from the ground up to be a more or less exact replica of the real thing. In the meantime, the second railing and addtl. wooden deck has been installed.

New 3/10/16:  Landscaping Cajon Pass - Hill 582 - finished - click here

 

Part 5: Below are are different links to the "real thing" of Hill 582 (Cajon Pass) in Southern California

This exclusive photo with the dramatic dark sky was taken by Don Toles on 11/19/11

WM 5/31/10 South/East side - 3037	WM 6/1/10 West side w/MT-1 & MT-2 - 3206	WM 6/1/10 Railfans walking to the Hill - 3338

Here are the links for our "History of Hill 582" pages:

	The History of Hill 582 General Overview Page 1/3 Written by Don E. Toles (USA) Updated: 4/28/14
5/14/08 Don Toles w/Hill 582 memorials - 623	See these 3 pages with all photos - click here	7/07/08 Hill 582 as seen from the East side - 19

 

	History of Hill 582 The Early Years Page 2/3 1991 - 2006 by Don E. Toles Updated: 7/01/10
12/01 - Gary & Don X-Mas 2001 - 068	Read it and see all 108 photos - click here	4/9/06 - Chard Walker, Don, Karl, Gary - 105

 

	History of Hill 582 The Late Years Page 3/3 2008 - 2015 by Don E. Toles Updated: 10/11/15
12/29/08 - Triple meet, WB & 2 EB trains - 8139	Read it and see all 364 photos - click here	12/29/08 - Don Toles w/memorials - 8140

Copyright by Don E. Toles (with permission Werner Meer)

Below are links of a recent visit to Hill 582 (May/June 2010) by Werner Meer

	Cajon Pass Hill 582  Part 1 by Werner Meer May 29 - 30, 2010 Updated: 7/22/10
WM 5/29/10 UP EB coming round the curve - 2119	See all 204 photos - click here	WM 5/29/10 BNSF WB pass UP EB - 2131

 

	Cajon Pass Hill 582  Part 2 by Werner Meer June 1, 2010 Updated: 7/26/10
WM 6/01/10 BNSF EB w/9 locos - 3222	See all 239 photos - click here	WM 6/01/10 North side of Hill 582 - 3334

 

	Cajon Pass Hill 582  Part 3 by Werner Meer June 2 + 4, 2010 Updated: 7/31/10
KS 6/02/10 - Don with question - we say, yes - 161	See all 261 photos - click here	WM 6/02/10 - Railfanning at its best - 2604

 

8 different and detailed Maps of Cajon Pass with captions (Mile Posts and Location) by Gary G. Gray - click here New 8/11: Maps "How to find" Hill 582, Sullivan's Curve, Noisy Point by Gary G. Gray - click here

Accurate Map of Cajon Pass with 3rd Main Track by Michael Amrine - click here

 

Part 6: Kim Nipkow is an excellent modeller and landscaping specialist

Below are different links to his activities of dioramas and home made Joshua Trees See also his own web site / Sehen Sie auch seine Homepage - click here

 

Mojave Desert Diorama mit Joshua Trees - Mojave Desert Diorama with Joshua Trees - click here

 

Werner Enterprises in the Mojave Desert in HO Scale - click here

 

Joshua Trees im Modell - Modeling Joshua Trees - click here

 

Joshua Trees im Mojave Desert - Joshuas at the Mojave Desert - click here

Go back to Cajon Pass Main Page - click here
 

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HO Mojave Desert Layout

See 2500 photos of my HO Scale Mojave Desert Layout:

0  Track Plan 10/20/07	1  Underframe 1/17/08	2  Track Laying 4/12/08	3  Track Laying 9/24/08	4  Track Laying 10/03/08	5  Landscaping 1/29/08
6  Streets & Buildings 3/23/09	7  Streets & Buildings 10/30/10	8  Streets & Crossings 11/28/11	9  Landscaping 4/27/13	10 City of Percyville-1 1/29/14	11 City of Percyville-2 3/26/14
12 City of Percyville-3 5/10/15	13 Landscaping Cajon 7/27/15	14 Cajon & Hill 582 3/10/16	15 Finished Layout 11/19/15	16 Werner Ent. Terminal 12/27/15	17 Percyville 2016-1 2/20/16
18 Cajon 2016-2 2/26/16	19 Details 2016-3 3/30/16	Buildings made by Pelle Soeeborg	Same Buildings located in Mojave, CA	blank	blank