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The Tehachapi Loop is a Template:Convert spiral,<ref name=ASCE>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 Template:Convert in elevation and makes a Template:Convert circle.<ref name=ASCE /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Any train that is more than Template:Convert 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.<ref name=ASCE /> Passenger trains such as Amtrak's San Joaquins are banned from the loop, although the Coast Starlight can use it as a detour.<ref name="interestingengineering"/> Its frequent trains and scenic setting make the Tehachapi Loop popular with railfans.<ref name="interestingengineering"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 1998, it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. It is also designated as California Historical Landmark #508.<ref name=CHL>Template:Cite ohp</ref>
HistoryEdit
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.<ref name=ASCE /><ref name="tehonline">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Contributors to the project's construction include Arthur De Wint Foote and the project's chief engineer, William Hood.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The siding on the loop is known as Walong after Southern Pacific District Roadmaster W. A. Long.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref name="interestingengineering">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Tehachapi line necessitated 18 tunnels, 10 bridges, and numerous water towers to replenish steam locomotives.<ref name=ASCE /> 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 Template:Convert loop with grades averaging about 2.2 percent and an elevation gain of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1882, the line was extended through Southern California and the Mojave Desert with 8,000 Chinese men working under Strobridge and another man.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
OperationsEdit
Template:Tehachapi Loop The Loop became the property of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1996, when the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific systems merged.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Trains of the BNSF Railway also use the loop under trackage rights.<ref name="interestingengineering"/>
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.<ref name="interestingengineering"/> 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.<ref name="interestingengineering"/> 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.<ref name="interestingengineering"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Recognition and accessEdit
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Tehachapi Depot Museum is located in the nearby town of Tehachapi.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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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.<ref name="tehonline"/>
See alsoEdit
- Williams Loop — another loop in California
- California Historical Landmarks in Kern County
- California Historical Landmark
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- New aerial video of the 2nd track improvement, Nov 2016
- Aerial video of 4000' train going uphill through the loop Nov 2015
- Trainweb.org: Tehachapi Loop - Map and Railfan Info
- Tehachapi Loop - A Brief History
- Tehachapi Loop Photos
- Photo Gallery of Tehachapi Loop shots
- HO Scale ModelTemplate:Dead link at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum
- Stay In The Loop - Tehachapi News & Entertainment
- Aerial video of BNSF train traversing Tehachapi Loop
- A photographic report of Tehachapi and Cajon Pass (May, 2012) Template:Webarchive