Famous Tehachapi Railway Loop in Southern California
April 9, 2019
In this video, we stop off to view the famous Tehachapi Railway Loop in southern California
The Tehachapi Loop is a 0.73 miles (1.17 km) long spiral, or helix, on the Union Pacific Railroad Mojave Subdivision through Tehachapi Pass, of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, south-central California. The line connects Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley to Mojave in the Mojave Desert.
Rising at a steady two percent grade, the track gains 77 feet (23 m) in elevation in the Loop.[1] Any train more than 4,000 feet (1,200 m) long passes over itself going around the loop. At the bottom of the loop, the track passes through Tunnel 9, the ninth tunnel built as the railroad worked from Bakersfield.
The line averages approximately 40 trains each day.[citation needed] Due to its frequent trains and scenic setting, the Tehachapi Loop is popular with railfans. In 1998 it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and is designated as California Historical Landmark – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehachapi_Loop
I show via Google maps where the loop is located and where we parked the fifth wheel. Since the road in is narrow and curvy, I parked the trailer in the village Keen 3 miles away and drove in with just the truck.
Lucky for us a long train soon showed up, and I got some video footage of it passing through the loop. So cool!
Video Footage of the Tehachapi Loop
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Source: Famous Tehachapi Railway Loop in Southern California
