A visit to Tehachapi in 2002

[Barry Ten]

My wife has been kind enough to dig out and scan some prints we took during a two-day visit to

the Tehachapi Loop, and Tehachapi town itself, in September 2002. Hope these are of some interest,

with a mix of BNSF, UP and former Sante Fe power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the same trip I also saw a couple of Southern Pacific units near Tehachapi town, but only from a car so no photos possible.

 

While I was photographing the trains, my wife spotted lots of woodpeckers in the area of the Loop:

 

 

It was a great couple of days, breaking a long drive down from Yosemite to Burbank. I'd go back in a flash.

[njee20]

Would love to go. It’s a shame it’s such a long way from anywhere!

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Great photos - thank you to Mrs Ten for scanning them and @Barry Ten for posting them.  @njee20, have you seen the Mark Clay McGowan YouTube channel?  He’s an ex-railroad employee who lives in the Tehachapi area so the Loop and Pass is his local line?  Worth checking out, Keith.

[scottystitch]

I visited on a two day stopover in Los Angeles in 2019.  We stayed at a hotel at Tehachapi itself and then headed down to the loop one morning en-route Bakersfield to meet a friend.

 

It's a wonderful location, with good access and plenty of good angles, although sitting in a valley, the sun takes a while to get over the ridgeline.  Traffic flow is quite high as well.

 

Best

 

Scott.

[Barry Ten]

1 hour ago, scottystitch said:

I visited on a two day stopover in Los Angeles in 2019.  We stayed at a hotel at Tehachapi itself and then headed down to the loop one morning en-route Bakersfield to meet a friend.

 

It's a wonderful location, with good access and plenty of good angles, although sitting in a valley, the sun takes a while to get over the ridgeline.  Traffic flow is quite high as well.

 

Best

 

Scott.

 

We stayed in a motel and then had a meal in a railroad-themed diner. I seem to remember that of the two times we visited the Loop, one was a lot more active than the other.

[Barry Ten]

Some more:

 

 

 

 

[Barry Ten]

And one straggler.

 

[BMacdermott]

Hello Barry Ten

 

Many thanks for the photos - brought back fond memories of my two trips there about 10 years ago.

 

On my first trip, all I saw was a track maintenance vehicle! The second was rather more exciting like your shots.

 

Brian

[newbryford]

I was "granted" an hour on the loop as we passed through on an 8-hour road journey in May 2022.

Got lucky with one up and one down the spiral.

Even my non-railway enthusiast companions (Mrs NB and another couple) were suitable impressed by the loop and the length of the trains.

 

 

There's even a time lapse video on youtube of the same two trains (Not by me!)

 

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

On 14/03/2023 at 16:23, Barry Ten said:

 

 

 

 

This is probably just me, but at first glance I thought this photo was of a very good model (N-Scale).  Must be the way the light falls on the hills behind - giving them the appearance of a backscene (to me at least).  Hope you don’t mind, Keith.

[APOLLO]

Tehachapi live Webcam. Dark cold and wet at the moment.

 

https://www.youtube.com/c/TehachapiLiveTrainCam/live

 

Visited in 2000 with wife and son. We stayed in this motel for 2 nights, and asked "for a room with a railroad view" - which the wife loved (not) as helper locos were cut off here during the night on several freight trains !!

 

https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/baymont/tehachapi-california/baymont-inn-and-suites-tehachapi/overview?CID=LC:BU::GGL:RIO:National:09600&iata=00093796

 

Tehachapi is a nice little town with all the amenities and the railroad runs alongside it. There was back then a nice model railroad store there also. The loop is a few miles to the north and is well worth visiting,  best viewed from the Woodford Tehachapi road above it.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Tehachapi,+CA+93561,+USA/@35.1967854,-118.5367113,1795m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80c1f63459df4611:0x4fa974d6b84a9cd4!8m2!3d35.1321877!4d-118.4489739!16zL20vMHFfaHk

 

Brit15

Edited March 16, 2023 by APOLLO

[Barry Ten]

1 hour ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

This is probably just me, but at first glance I thought this photo was of a very good model (N-Scale).  Must be the way the light falls on the hills behind - giving them the appearance of a backscene (to me at least).  Hope you don’t mind, Keith.

 

These are also out-of-the-box models with no weathering: