LOS ANGELES — The Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads Monday were advising their customers to expect service delays into and out of Southern California as wildfires raked the region from Los Angeles area to San Diego.

The Cajon Pass, the main east-west rail corridor through the San Gabriel mountains, was closed for about 18 hours on Sunday. The pass re-opened by 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

In addition to the east-west route, the UP's north-south line from Los Angeles was closed for about a half-day. It re-opened at 11:20 a.m. Sunday. Thousands have evacuated the path of the fires, which have claimed at least 13 lives, destroyed 700 homes and burned more than 300,000 acres.

October is the busiest month of the year at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex (schedules), so intermodal trains immediately began to back up. The BNSF, for example, reported 82 trains of all types holding in the region.

Both railroads said that although trains were moving into and out of the region since late Sunday, it would take a day or two to relieve the backlog. Also, terminal operators at the ports were notified that delays were likely in moving equipment to the facilities.

The railroads also cautioned that high winds and reduced visibility would continue to pose a threat to rail operations until weather patterns changed and fire fighters gained the upper hand in fighting the fires.

The wildfires compounded a crew shortage problem the UP has been grappling with all month.

The intermodal rail system generally entered the peak shipping season this fall in good condition. Equipment was plentiful and cargo volumes at the ports did not spike as early as in previous years. The current problems are expected to be short-lived as the importation of holiday merchandise through the ports normally begins to drop off in early November.

Bill Mongelluzzo