imported>Mjdestroyerofworlds: Gold Runner service

2025-11-05T18:02:09Z

Gold Runner service

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{{Short description|Rail line spiral between the Central Valley and Mojave Desert}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
[[File:Tehachapi Loop Aerial.jpg|thumb|Aerial overview of the Tehachapi Loop in 2022]]
[[File:Intermodal train on Tehachapi Loop.jpg|thumb|BNSF train on Tehachapi Loop in 2011, with mixed [[trailer-on-flatcar]] and [[Double-stack rail transport|double-stack]] container manifest]]
[[File:Tehachapi Loop.jpg|thumb|A panoramic view of the Tehachapi Loop looking north-west]]
[[File:TehachapiLoop usps.jpg|thumb|[[Pictorial cancellation]] from the [[Keene, California|Keene]] Post Office celebrating the Loop's 129th anniversary]]

The '''Tehachapi Loop''' is a {{convert|3779|ft|mi km|2|adj=mid|-long}} [[Spiral (railway)|spiral]],<ref name=ASCE>{{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 }}</ref> or [[helix]], on the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] [[Mojave Subdivision]] through [[Tehachapi Pass]], of the [[Tehachapi Mountains]] in [[Kern County, California|Kern County]], south-central [[California]]. The line connects [[Bakersfield]] and the [[San Joaquin Valley]] to [[Mojave, California|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.<ref name=ASCE /><ref>{{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}}</ref> Any train that is more than {{convert|3,800|ft|m|}} long—about 56 [[Boxcar|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 ''[[Gold Runner]]'' 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 [[railfan]]s.<ref name="interestingengineering"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lustig |first1=David |title=Hotspot: California's Tehachapi Mountains |journal=[[Trains (magazine)|Trains]] |date=July 2022 |volume=82 |issue=7 |pages=46–47 }}</ref> In 1998, it was named a [[National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark]]. It is also designated as [[California Historical Landmark]] #508.<ref name=CHL>{{cite ohp|508|Tehachapi Loop|October 7, 2012}}</ref>

==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.<ref name=ASCE /><ref name="tehonline">{{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}}</ref> Contributors to the project's construction include [[Arthur De Wint Foote]] and the project's chief engineer, William Hood.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

The [[Siding (rail)|siding]] on the loop is known as Walong after Southern Pacific District Roadmaster W. A. Long.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=California's Geographic Names| author=Durham, David L.| page=1124| publisher=Quill Driver Books| year=1998| isbn=1-884995-14-4}}</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">{{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}}</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 [[History of Chinese Americans#Transcontinental railroad|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}}.<ref>{{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}}</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>{{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}}</ref>

[[File:ATSF 19870400 CA Walong.jpg|thumb|An eastbound Santa Fe train passes over itself on the loop in April 1987]]

==Operations==
{{Tehachapi Loop}}
The Loop became the property of the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] in 1996, when the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific systems merged.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tehachapi Loop |url=http://digital-desert.com/tehachapi-loop/ |website=digital-desert.com |publisher=Walter Feller |access-date=13 June 2022}}</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 ''[[Gold Runner]]'' 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 [[Coast Line (Union Pacific Railroad)|normal route]] is closed.<ref name="interestingengineering"/><ref>{{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]]}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

The Tehachapi Depot Museum is located in the nearby town of [[Tehachapi, California|Tehachapi]].<ref>{{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}}</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>{{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}}</ref>

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 [[San Bernardino train disaster|a train derailment]] in [[San Bernardino, California]].<ref name="tehonline"/>

[[File:Tehachapi Loop NHCE Landmark.jpg|thumb|National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark identifier]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Trains}}
*[[Williams Loop]] — another loop in California
* [[California Historical Landmarks in Kern County]]
*[[California Historical Landmark]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [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]]

Tehachapi Loop - Revision history

imported>Mjdestroyerofworlds: Gold Runner service