Tehachapi Loop
Encyclopedia
Spiral (railway)
A spiral is a technique employed by railways to ascend steep hills.A railway spiral rises on a steady curve until it has completed a loop, passing over itself as it gains height, allowing the railway to gain vertical elevation in a relatively short horizontal distance...
', or helix
Helix
A helix is a type of smooth space curve, i.e. a curve in three-dimensional space. It has the property that the tangent line at any point makes a constant angle with a fixed line called the axis. Examples of helixes are coil springs and the handrails of spiral staircases. A "filled-in" helix – for...
, on The Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
through Tehachapi Pass
Tehachapi Pass
Tehachapi Pass is a mountain pass crossing the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, California in the United States. The route over the pass connects the San Joaquin Valley to the Mojave Desert...
, in south central California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The railroad line connects Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
to Mojave
Mojave, California
Mojave is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2762 feet...
in the Antelope Valley
Antelope Valley
The Antelope Valley in California, United States, is located in northern Los Angeles County and the southeastern portion of Kern County, California, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert...
. The loop takes its name from the circuitous route it takes, in which the track passes over itself, a design which lessens the angle of the grade. The loop gains a total of 77 feet in elevation as the track ascends at a sustained 2% grade. A train more than 4000 feet (1.2 km) long (about 85 boxcars) thus passes over itself going around the loop. Today, the railway line, with almost 40 daily trains on average, is one of the busiest single-track mainlines in the world. Notable contributors to the project's construction include Arthur De Wint Foote
Arthur De Wint Foote
Arthur De Wint Foote was a mining and civil engineer who built Foote's Crossing across the Middle Yuba River and Foote's Crossing Road , and designed the hydraulic wheel for the North Star Mine Powerhouse, now a California Historical Landmark.-Early years:Foote was born...
and the project's chief engineer, William Hood. Union Pacific currently prohibits passenger trains from using this line, which is preventing Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's San Joaquin
San Joaquín
San Joaquín is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region.The alcalde's office and municipal building is located at Ave...
train from serving Los Angeles. A notable exclusion is the Coast Starlight
Coast Starlight
The Coast Starlight is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States. It runs from King Street Station in Seattle, Washington, to Union Station in Los Angeles, California. The train's name was formed as a merging of two of Southern Pacific's train names, the Coast...
, which uses the line as a detour.
Originally built by the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
, it passed into the ownership of the Union Pacific
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
following the two railroads' 1996 merger. However, trains of the BNSF
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
Railway also use the loop under trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
. The area is considered to be one of the prime railfan
Railfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
areas in the country with its combination of frequent train traffic and spectacular scenery. The Loop has been considered one of the greatest engineering feats of its day (ca. 1876), and a railroad museum, featuring many related historical railroad relics, has been constructed in the nearby town of Tehachapi
Tehachapi, California
Tehachapi is a city incorporated in 1909 located in the Tehachapi Mountains between Bakersfield and Mojave in Kern County, California. Tehachapi is located east-southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of...
. In 1998 it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
The location of the loop is known as Walong, named in honor of Southern Pacific District Roadmaster W. A. Long. The loop contains a siding
Rail siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
, known as Walong Siding. It also contains a tunnel, known as Tunnel 9 because it was the ninth tunnel built as the railroad worked from Bakersfield.
A large, white cross has been placed in the center of the loop, at the peak of the hill. Known as "The Cross at the Loop", it is in memory of two Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
employees who were killed in a train derailment
San Bernardino train disaster
The San Bernardino Train Disaster, sometimes known as the Duffy Street Incident, is a combination of two separate but related incidents which occurred in San Bernardino, California: A runaway train derailment on May 12, 1989, and the subsequent failure on May 25, 1989, of a petroleum pipeline...
on May 12, 1989 in San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
.
The La Mesa Model Railroad Club has created a scale model of the Tehachapi Pass at the Model Railroad Museum in San Diego which is open to the public.
See also
- Spiral (railway)Spiral (railway)A spiral is a technique employed by railways to ascend steep hills.A railway spiral rises on a steady curve until it has completed a loop, passing over itself as it gains height, allowing the railway to gain vertical elevation in a relatively short horizontal distance...
- Horseshoe CurveHorseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania)Horseshoe Curve is a famous railroad horseshoe curve in central Pennsylvania, near Altoona in the United States. Called an "engineering marvel", it was completed in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad...
- Williams LoopWilliams LoopThe Williams Loop is a rail spiral located on the Union Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route through the Sierra Nevada Mountains in north eastern California, connecting the Sacramento Valley to Salt Lake City via the Feather River valley...
- Raurimu SpiralRaurimu SpiralThe Raurimu Spiral is a single-track railway spiral, starting with a horseshoe curve, overcoming a 132 m height difference, in the central North Island of New Zealand, on the North Island Main Trunk Railway. It is a notable feat of civil engineering, having been called an 'engineering masterpiece'...
External links
- Stay In The Loop - Tehachapi News & Entertainment
- The Cross at the Loop
- Tehachapi Loop Photos
- HO Scale Model at the San Diego Model Railroad MuseumSan Diego Model Railroad MuseumThe San Diego Model Railroad Museum is one of the world's largest indoor model railroad exhibits and is located in San Diego, California.-Location:The museum is located on the of the Casa De Balboa on the Prado in Balboa Park-Mission statement:...