OK, I am back and forth on this pic. The roadbed ballast and track all look to perfect to be the real thing. The sandy hillside with the brush and various sticks look to real to be a model. The background looks like it is hazy. Someone tell me what I am looking at here.
What you are looking at is an actual photo taken by a guy named Ralph Back in the 70's outside of Los Angeles, CA. I picked up this picture with that information on it and modeled it with Intermountain locomotives. Look up Ralph Back on Google and I'm sure you will read all about him and his photographs.
This picture was taken on the AT&SF R.O.W. west side of the cut at Summit, Cajon Pass, Ca. The picture appears to have been photo shopped, sharpened perhaps. It is a cold winter day and the lighting is less then perfect, what with the overcast. The roadbed as afore mentioned appears to be well groomed. Look back to the left of the picture behind the locomotives you can see a section of rail that has been discarded. This indicates the M.O.W. crew has been through recently.
