Tehachapi Loop, CA
Long before I arrived for the first time in the USA I felt that I was already intimately familiar with Tehachapi, having read so much about it, and seeing so many, many photographs. I knew that one day I had to go. It was also on that first visit that I sealed a very special friendship with a good Samaritan, Rick Cartwright, who got me out of a fix after I managed to lock myself out of the rental car the moment I arrived at the Loop on that first day. He stayed with me for hours until recovery arrived from the rental company, during which time we stayed and enjoyed the procession of trains as the sun set. And then he had a 10 hour drive home to Phoenix! There are few people who would have done what he did.
The spectacle of trains climbing up and over themselves, tying their cars in a knot as they gain 77 feet in height, powering their way between Bakersfield and Mojave, is something to behold, and if any self-respecting rail fan only ever gets one chance to go to the USA then Tehachapi has to be high on the list of places to go. Although by the first time of my visit in 1997 the route was already under the ownership of the Union Pacific, I am so, so glad that Southern Pacific and Santa Fe units (their trains running over the route on trackage rights) were very much the norm. A subsequent visit revealed that these former fallen flag colours had been swept away.
The SP will for ever remain my favourite railroad, followed by the Santa Fe, so my photographic collection of this area in particular are very much treasured.
The spectacle of trains climbing up and over themselves, tying their cars in a knot as they gain 77 feet in height, powering their way between Bakersfield and Mojave, is something to behold, and if any self-respecting rail fan only ever gets one chance to go to the USA then Tehachapi has to be high on the list of places to go. Although by the first time of my visit in 1997 the route was already under the ownership of the Union Pacific, I am so, so glad that Southern Pacific and Santa Fe units (their trains running over the route on trackage rights) were very much the norm. A subsequent visit revealed that these former fallen flag colours had been swept away.
The SP will for ever remain my favourite railroad, followed by the Santa Fe, so my photographic collection of this area in particular are very much treasured.
