Tehachapi Loop visitor facilities upgraded
Californian spiral gains a viewing area, allowing lengthy freight trains to be better observed by members of the public.
THE famous Tehachapi Loop in California, located around nine miles northwest of the eponymous city, enables trains to gain or lose height as they climb across the Tehachapi Mountains on the inland route between Los Angeles and Sacramento via Bakersfield. Opened in 1876, the loop has been a local tourist attraction for years but had little other than some historical information beside a narrow country road.
Recognising the number of visitors, both rail enthusiasts and interested tourists who visit the site, the local rail museum in the old Tehachapi depot and the local Government agreed to create a safe viewing area and more parking beside the road. Despite Covid-19 lockdowns, the work was undertaken in the summer of 2021 with most of the $150,000 cost donated by local people and businesses. Some but not all of the vegetation between the road and the loop has also been cut back to provide better views.
The line across the mountains is largely single track north of Tehachapi itself, although the tracks at the loop were doubled in 2015-2017 involving substantial construction work. The tunnel at the loop where one track crosses the other remains single track so passing trains often wait on the loop itself – visible from the new lookout.
Up to 35 freight trains currently use the line daily and with further double tracking that is planned, this may increase to 50 a day. There are no passenger trains, although Amtrak’s Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle is occasionally diverted via Tehachapi if the coastal route via Santa Barbara is closed.