Santa Susana Pass

Three Southern Pacific tunnels — numbered 26, 27, and 28 running west to east — bore through sandstone at Santa Susana Pass, creating a single-track corridor that concentrates all rail traffic through a narrow canyon. The single-track section extends from Chatsworth station westward through all three tunnels into Simi Valley.

Most railfans position themselves at Stoney Point, a rocky outcropping directly off Topanga Canyon Boulevard at the SR-118 overpass, where the curved approach to Tunnel 28 (the easternmost, 500-foot portal) is fully visible from a legal public vantage. A second popular spot is Rocky Peak Fire Road, accessed via Rocky Peak Park north of SR-118, where a 4.75-mile round-trip hike with 900 feet of elevation gain reaches a ridge with commanding views down to the track.

Westbound trains (toward Ventura/Oxnard) labor visibly against the grade through the pass; dynamic brakes and flange squeal echo off the sandstone canyon walls as train speeds drop to roughly 35–45 mph through the single-track segment. Headlights appear well before locomotive arrival through the tunnel portals, giving ample time to set up cameras. On weekdays, two to three movements per hour are common during peak windows.

Santa Susana Pass sits at approximately 1,480 feet elevation in the Simi Hills, on the boundary between the City of Los Angeles and Simi Valley. The terrain is dominated by massive Chatsworth sandstone boulders — some reaching 50 feet in height — interspersed with coastal sage scrub, toyon, and black walnut. The canyon corridor through which the tracks run has a raw, undeveloped character that feels surprisingly remote for a location 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park protects 670 acres of this landscape along both sides of the tracks, preserving the surroundings from urban encroachment. Morning marine layer is common from October through April, occasionally adding atmospheric mist to early-morning photographs. Summer days push past 95°F by midday — early arrival is essential. Broad views of the Santa Monica Mountains open to the south from the Rocky Peak Fire Road ridge.

The line through Santa Susana Pass carries three distinct passenger operators plus Union Pacific freight, all sharing a single-track segment through the tunnels.

Metrolink Ventura County Line operates 22 trains per weekday through Chatsworth (11 each direction), connecting East Ventura to Los Angeles Union Station. Service is concentrated in peak hours — heavy inbound (toward LA) flow in the morning, outbound in the late afternoon. Weekend service is dramatically reduced to just 2 round trips per day.

Amtrak Pacific Surfliner runs 10 trains daily (5 each direction) through Chatsworth, with service spread between 6 AM and 10 PM. These multi-car bi-level consists are among the most photogenic trains on the corridor.

Amtrak Coast Starlight passes once daily in each direction — typically mid-morning southbound and afternoon northbound, though times vary seasonally.

Union Pacific freight operates under trackage rights on the Coast Line, running intermodal, auto-rack, and manifest freight. Estimated 8–12 freight movements per day based on observer reports; no official count is published.

Stoney Point (Tunnel 28 East Portal): The most accessible vantage is from the Stoney Point Park parking area off Topanga Canyon Boulevard, adjacent to the SR-118 overpass. The curved approach to Tunnel 28 is clearly visible — eastbound trains (toward LA) emerge from the tunnel framed by the rock cut, best lit in morning light. A 200–400mm telephoto works well from the parking area. This is the site of the September 2008 Chatsworth collision and carries historical significance.

Rocky Peak Fire Road (Elevated Ridge): From the Rocky Peak Park trailhead off Rocky Peak Road (north of SR-118), a 4.75-mile round-trip hike with ~900 feet of elevation gain reaches a ridge above the track alignment. Wide-angle shots (24–70mm) capture the full canyon, rock outcrops, and train in context. Best in winter when vegetation is lower and the air is clearer.

Corriganville Park (East Side): Located about 4 miles from Stoney Point, Corriganville Park offers intermediate-distance views of the line from a former Hollywood Western filming location. Morning light favors westbound trains here.

Metrolink and Pacific Surfliner schedules are published at metrolinktrains.com and amtrak.com. For freight, monitoring UP scanner frequencies gives several minutes of advance notice of approaching trains.

Southern Pacific began construction of three railroad tunnels through the pass in 1898 and completed the route on March 20, 1904. Tunnels 26, 27, and 28 — running west to east — were all bored through sandstone to eliminate a winding surface alignment prone to landslides and seasonal washouts. The largest, Tunnel 26 (the Santa Susana Tunnel), stretches 7,369 feet (1.4 miles) through the Simi Hills and remains the longest railroad tunnel in Southern California. Its wooden lining was encased in concrete in 1921, reopening in 1922. The route shortened the distance between Montalvo and Burbank to 61 miles, reducing travel time between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the Coast Line.

The September 12, 2008 Chatsworth train collision — at the east portal of Tunnel 28 — is a defining event in the pass's modern history. A Metrolink commuter train ran a red signal and collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train, killing 25 people and injuring 135. The NTSB investigation found the Metrolink engineer had been texting while on duty. The disaster accelerated passage of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and drove federal mandates for Positive Train Control (PTC) installation across U.S. passenger rail corridors.

Santa Susana Pass is one of the few locations within the Los Angeles metro area where railfans can observe multiple passenger operators and freight traffic working through genuinely rugged terrain, accessible entirely from public parks and trailheads. The 7,369-foot Santa Susana Tunnel — Southern California's longest railroad tunnel — forces all traffic onto a single track, creating a natural concentration point with consistent train frequency. Three sandstone tunnel portals offer varied photographic perspectives within walking distance of each other. No other accessible pass near Los Angeles combines this mix of daily train volume, dramatic geology, historical depth (1904 engineering, 2008 collision), and proximity to public open space.