Tehachapi Loop

{{Short description|Rail line spiral between the Central Valley and Mojave Desert}}

File:Intermodal train on Tehachapi Loop.jpg and double-stack container manifest]]

File:TehachapiLoop usps.jpg from the Keene Post Office celebrating the Loop's 129th anniversary]]

The Tehachapi Loop is a {{convert|3779|ft|mi km|2|adj=mid|-long}} spiral,{{cite web |title=Tehachapi Pass Railroad Line |url=https://www.asce.org/project/tehachapi-pass-railroad-line/ |website=asce.org |publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers |access-date=22 October 2020 |archive-date=21 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921124049/https://www.asce.org/Project/Tehachapi-Pass-Railroad-Line/ |url-status=dead }} 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 {{convert|77|ft}} in elevation and makes a {{convert|1210|ft|m|adj=mid|-diameter}} circle.{{cite journal |last1= Ande|first1=Howard |year=2010 |title=Tehachapi in the 21st Century |journal=NRHS Bulletin |publisher= National Railway Historical Society|volume= 75|issue=Spring 2010 |pages= 4–21}} Any train that is more than {{convert|3,800|ft|m|}} long—about 56 boxcars—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 was extended from Bakersfield.

The line averages about 36 freight trains each day. Passenger trains such as Amtrak's San Joaquins are banned from the loop, although the Coast Starlight can use it as a detour. Its frequent trains and scenic setting make the Tehachapi Loop popular with railfans.{{cite journal |last1=Lustig |first1=David |title=Hotspot: California's Tehachapi Mountains |journal=Trains |date=July 2022 |volume=82 |issue=7 |pages=46–47 }} In 1998, it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. It is also designated as California Historical Landmark #508.{{cite ohp|508|Tehachapi Loop|October 7, 2012}}

History

One of the engineering feats of its day, the Loop was built by Southern Pacific Railroad to ease the grade over Tehachapi Pass. Construction began in 1874, and the line opened in 1876.{{cite web| url=http://www.tehachapionline.com/history-of-the-tehachapi-loop| work=Tehachapi_online| title=Tehachapi Loop history| access-date=December 1, 2011| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118132404/http://www.tehachapionline.com/history-of-the-tehachapi-loop| archive-date=November 18, 2011}} Contributors to the project's construction include Arthur De Wint Foote and the project's chief engineer, William Hood.{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_HcUJAAAAIAAJ/page/n190 172] |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_HcUJAAAAIAAJ |quote=Arthur De Wint Foote. |title=Interviews with Mining Engineers |last=Rickard |first=Thomas Arthur |year=1922 |publisher=Mining and Scientific Press |location=San Francisco |oclc=2664362}}

The siding on the loop is known as Walong after Southern Pacific District Roadmaster W. A. Long.{{cite book| title=Exploring the Southern Sierra, West Side| author1=Jenkins, Jim C.| author2=Jenkins, Ruby Johnson| name-list-style=amp| publisher=Wilderness Press| year=1995| page=[https://archive.org/details/exploringsouther00jcje/page/23 23]| isbn=0-89997-181-4| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/exploringsouther00jcje/page/23}}{{cite book| title=California's Geographic Names| author=Durham, David L.| page=1124| publisher=Quill Driver Books| year=1998| isbn=1-884995-14-4}}

The project was constructed under the leadership of Southern Pacific's civil engineers, James R. Strobridge and William Hood, using a predominantly Chinese labor force.{{Cite web|last=McFadden|first=Christopher|date=2017-02-11|title=Going Round the Bend With the Tehachapi Loop|url=https://interestingengineering.com/going-round-the-bend-with-the-tehachapi-loop|access-date=2021-05-25|website=interestingengineering.com|language=en-US}} The Tehachapi line necessitated 18 tunnels, 10 bridges, and numerous water towers to replenish steam locomotives. Between 1875 and 1876, about 3,000 Chinese workers equipped with little more than hand tools, picks, shovels, horse-drawn carts and blasting powder cut through solid and decomposed granite to create the helix-shaped {{convert|0.72|mi|adj=mid}} loop with grades averaging about 2.2 percent and an elevation gain of {{convert|77|feet}}.{{Cite book|last1=Chang|first1=Gordon H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-6VDwAAQBAJ&q=Tehachapi+Loop+chinese+workers+2.2+percent&pg=PT430|title=The Chinese and the Iron Road: Building the Transcontinental Railroad|last2=Fishkin|first2=Shelley Fisher|date=2019-04-30|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-1-5036-0925-9|language=en}} In 1882, the line was extended through Southern California and the Mojave Desert with 8,000 Chinese men working under Strobridge and another man.{{Cite news|last=Graybill|first=Andrew|date=2019-05-10|title=The Forgotten History of the Chinese Who Helped Build America's Railroads|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/books/review/gordon-h-chang-ghosts-of-gold-mountain.html|access-date=2021-05-25|issn=0362-4331}}

File:ATSF 19870400 CA Walong.jpg

Operations

The Loop became the property of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1996, when the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific systems merged.{{cite web |title=Tehachapi Loop |url=http://digital-desert.com/tehachapi-loop/ |website=digital-desert.com |publisher=Walter Feller |access-date=13 June 2022}} Trains of the BNSF Railway also use the loop under trackage rights.

Although Southern Pacific ran passenger trains on the Loop for years, it banned passenger service there soon after handing its trains to Amtrak in 1971. Union Pacific has maintained the ban since taking over Southern Pacific. As a result, Amtrak's San Joaquin train is unable to directly serve Los Angeles until a bypass is constructed or the United States federal government or the California State Legislature compel the railroad to allow passenger service to resume. Amtrak operates Amtrak Thruway buses for passengers wanting to travel between the Central Valley and Los Angeles. An exception is made for the Coast Starlight, which uses the line as a detour if its normal route is closed.{{cite news |last1=Shepard |first1=Stacey |date=June 20, 2008 |title=All aboard! Train makes rare trip over Tehachapi Loop |url=https://www.bakersfield.com/news/all-aboard-train-makes-rare-trip-over-tehachapi-loop/article_ca8ea19b-4e86-5bbc-b48c-b7fd749c3918.html |access-date=13 June 2022 |work=The Bakersfield Californian}}{{cite news|url=http://www.tehachapinews.com/lifestyle/2013/03/02/passenger-trains-will-be-diverted-over-tehachapi-loop.html|title=Passenger trains will be diverted over Tehachapi Loop|date=1 March 2013|newspaper=Tehachapi News}}

Recognition and access

A concrete viewing platform was constructed at the scenic overlook on Woodford-Tehachapi Road in the summer of 2021, allowing railroad enthusiasts to watch trains on the loop at a safe distance from the winding, two-lane roadway.{{cite news |last=Smirnoff |first=Nick |date=July 27, 2021 |title=New Tehachapi Loop Overlook Celebrated |url=https://www.tehachapinews.com/news/new-tehachapi-loop-overlook-celebrated/article_2c8abecc-eef5-11eb-ade0-f7cbc0c7d27c.html |work=Tehachapi News |access-date=October 21, 2021}}

The Tehachapi Depot Museum is located in the nearby town of Tehachapi.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=October 24, 2020|title=The Tehachapi Depot Railroad Museum is reopening|url=https://www.theloopnewspaper.com/story/2020/10/24/happenings/the-tehachapi-depot-railroad-museum-is-reopening/7333.html|access-date=2021-05-25|website=The Loop Newspaper}}

The California Historical Landmark plaque reads:

:NO. 508 TEHACHAPI LOOP - From this spot may be seen a portion of the world-renowned Loop completed in 1876 under the direction of William Hood, Southern Pacific railroad engineer. In gaining elevation around the central hill of the Loop, a 4,000-foot train will cross 77 feet above its rear cars in the tunnel below.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=August 26, 1953|title=Landmark chl-508 Tehachapi Loop|url=https://www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com/landmarks/chl-508|access-date=2022-06-13|website=californiahistoricallandmarks.com}}

A large white cross, "The Cross at the Loop", stands atop the hill in the center of the loop in memory of two Southern Pacific Railroad employees killed on May 12, 1989, in a train derailment in San Bernardino, California.

File:Tehachapi Loop NHCE Landmark.jpg

References

External links

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hHiIu9WcO8 New aerial video of the 2nd track improvement, Nov 2016]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvPFOOMM_ts Aerial video of 4000' train going uphill through the loop Nov 2015]
[http://www.trainweb.org/brettrw/maps/loop.html Trainweb.org: Tehachapi Loop - Map and Railfan Info]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20111118132404/http://www.tehachapionline.com/history-of-the-tehachapi-loop Tehachapi Loop - A Brief History]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060902043145/http://www.railserve.com/tehachapi/ Tehachapi Loop Photos]
[http://hewgill.com/photo/trips/tehachapi-loop/ Photo Gallery of Tehachapi Loop shots]
[https://www.sdmrm.org/permanent-exhibit#southern-pacific-on-the-tehachapi-pass HO Scale Model]{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum
[http://www.grungehobbit.com/ Stay In The Loop - Tehachapi News & Entertainment]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLb_99f_JSE Aerial video of BNSF train traversing Tehachapi Loop]
[http://www.rd-rail.fr/1-PHOTOS/PH18/index-ph18.html A photographic report of Tehachapi and Cajon Pass (May, 2012)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125134720/http://www.rd-rail.fr/1-PHOTOS/PH18/index-ph18.html |date=2018-01-25 }}

{{Coord|35|12|03|N|118|32|13|W|format=dms|display=title|type:landmark_region:US-CA}}

Category:Rail infrastructure in California

Category:Southern Pacific Railroad

Category:Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Kern County, California

Category:California Historical Landmarks

Category:Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks

Category:Transport infrastructure completed in 1876

Category:Tourist attractions in Kern County, California

Category:Tehachapi Mountains

Category:1876 establishments in California

Category:Union Pacific Railroad lines