Western Railroad Discussion > Amtrak Tehachapi Reroute Sunday

For those of you who normally do not check out the Amtrak forum there are very good indications that Amtrak's Coast Starlight #11 will be detouring over Tehachapi Sunday afternoon. See the Amtrak forum for the discussion.


Todd Clark
Trainorders.com

I may have missed it, but are we actually talking about a daylight move over the pass?

Brett

PS and if so, is there a target time, assuming everything is running ok...

The word ive heard is it will go BNSF from Stockton to Bakersfield ( Becuase the speed of the rail is much better than the UP fresno sub ) Then UP crew from Bakersfield to LA. Via suagus / Metrolink route. Should be interesting to see. From my own knowledge any 4 axle power does'nt pull the mountain well , and you can almost forget it if they stop ( Which i doubt they will ). I can see todd now plugging TRAIN ORDERS all over the train. Would be interesting to see how many more hits you get as a result of this activity. Better pump up the power on the CAM. Have fun , and dont be a bunch of crazed idiots chasing this thing , Remember to obey the laws of the road as you drive 95 mph to get to the next photo op.

It is expected for the train to depart about 1pm out of Bakersfield for a daylight run over the pass. All we need is a picture of John Bromley standing at the loop with the Amtrak train behind him with the words "There is no Amtrak train here." If he is not available I am sure that spokesman from Iraq who lost his job after the US entered Baghdad is still looking for work.


Todd Clark

Nbetween Wrote:

> I can see todd now
> plugging TRAIN ORDERS all over the train. Would be
> interesting to see how many more hits you get as a
> result of this activity.

Maybe when Gunn is not looking I will attach my Trainorders.com banners to the rear of his business car :)

> Better pump up the power
> on the CAM. Have fun , and dont be a bunch of
> crazed idiots chasing this thing , Remember to
> obey the laws of the road as you drive 95 mph to
> get to the next photo op.

Here is to hoping we catch the train on the camera. Keep in mind it will take 30 minutes or more after passing for the video to make it on the server as the data is transmitted via cell phone. Tehachapi is a bit more stable than Dunsmuir in being activated by false alarms. There should not be as many railfans in view.

Todd

Hey Todd,

Just wondering. Any chance of extending the captures on Sunday to two minutes to try to capture the #11 climbing up the "back side?" I don't know if you can do that remotely or not.

Thanks,
Dave

If the event really happens and you plan on chasing #11 down the valley or over the Tehachapi's, please, please be careful. I know this has not happened in years but think safety. There are many many fans world wide waiting to see pictures and video and not read of a tragic accident. Have fun but be safe.

Dave
Madera, CA

davemg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Todd,
>
> Just wondering. Any chance of extending the
> captures on Sunday to two minutes to try to
> capture the #11 climbing up the "back side?" I
> don't know if you can do that remotely or not.
>
> Thanks,
> Dave


During testing when the files get too large the system hangs during the cellular transfer. I rather be safe and keep it at the current settings than risk not capturing anything.


Todd

Should we expect to se a UPRR SD70 on the head end? Any UP TE&Y people see anything yet?

webmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is expected for the train to depart about 1pm
> out of Bakersfield for a daylight run over the
> pass. All we need is a picture of John Bromley
> standing at the loop with the Amtrak train behind
> him with the words "There is no Amtrak train
> here." If he is not available I am sure that
> spokesman from Iraq who lost his job after the US
> entered Baghdad is still looking for work.
>
>
> Todd Clark


Hey, Todd. I have a photo of John at the loop with our son watching a BNSF train go by the lookout there before tunnel 10-------please remember that John was the PR person who only told what the company was doing at the time. PR people don't make policy or decisions . They repeat and interpret the decisions. Corporations boards/executives make decisions and then the PR people have to spread the word and interpret and defend and etc "the word"----don't pillory John. He did what he was paid to do. He told what the company policy was at the time. If the company policy has changed, even if only for a day to accompany Gunn, don't blame John. When you are a company PR person, you tell what you are told to tell and you try to negotiate how that word will "look". It's the name ofthe game. And BTW, you spend a lot of time telling the suits what you think will fly and what won't---JB had incredible crediblity while he was in that job. That is a major plus.

The last time the Coast Starlight detoured via the Tehachapis was on August 26, 1974, due to a freight train derailment at San Ardo. Both the northbound and southbound trains detoured, meeting at Kern Junction where they stopped adjacent to each other so officials (either Amtrak or SP or both) could transfer from one train to another.

I saw only one other railfan (beside myself) chasing the southbound Starlight through the Tehachpis that day.

The UP has slow orders through Lancaster and part of Palmdale, 25mph due to crossing problems. They had to shorten the approach distances because of ballast conditions, every time it rains multiple crossings have false activations.

Thanks for the defense Carol, but I think it's kind of funny. The picture was taken by Mike "Wings" Iden from our mechanical department who threatened to blackmail me by posting it on TO. Mike and I had been working on a dog and pony show down in Bakersfield with the green goat and had a free afternoon. I kidded him about railfanning the loop as well. It was a great day and easy to see why it is such a railfan Mecca. The before that visit last time I had seen Tehachapi they were running Espee Cab-forwards and Santa Fe 3800s. jb

Today "The Bakersfield Californian", local section, ran an article announcing #11 would run over Tehachapi Sunday afternoon. Look for a BIG turnout of train-watcher from Bkfld to Mojave.
Uncle George

October 22, 2005
Section: Local
Page: b3


Railroad buffs excited about plan for trip through loop

DAVID BURGER, Californian staff writere-mail: dburger@bakersfield.com
A commercial passenger train will travel through the Tehachapi Loop Sunday for what historians call the first time since 1971, sending local railroad enthusiasts into locomotion. Track work in the San Jose area prevented safe passage for the southbound Amtrak Coast Starlight #11, so the train will be taking a rare detour through Bakersfield and Tehachapi to reach its destination in Los Angeles, Amtrak officials said.

The train will be coming from Sacramento. An Amtrak spokeswoman said the train should pass through the loop between 6:30 and 8 p.m., depending on when it arrives in Sacramento from Seattle.

"It's a one-time thing," said Vernae Graham, Amtrak spokeswoman, adding that Sunday evening was the only time the train would be diverted.

George Gilbert Lynch, a Bakersfield resident who worked for Santa Fe Railways in the 1950s, spent Friday on the Internet letting fellow train enthusiasts know about the train passing though the famous loop.

"People will be coming from three to four states away," Lynch said.

The Tehachapi Loop, located about 10 miles west of Tehachapi near Highway 58, is a world-famous railroad construction landmark, said Del Troy, former president of the Tehachapi Heritage League.

According to the Web site www.tehachapi.com/loop, in the 1870s the Southern Pacific Railroad wanted to link central and southern California through the Tehachapi Pass, which had elevations of up to 4,000 feet. The high and rough terrain forced engineers to construct a loop with 18 tunnels and a total length of 8,240 feet. It was completed in 1876.

Passenger trains stopped going through Tehachapi in 1971, Troy said, with excursion tours strictly around the loop being done every so often. It is still one of the busiest railways in the nation for freight trains, she said, but in the 1970s, officials thought passenger trains traveling through the pass would incur too much liability.

Because of the frequency of freight traffic, said Sheryl Bovi, co-owner of Trains Etc. in Tehachapi, commercial passenger traffic never resumed.

"I don't think (Amtrak) realizes how big a deal this is," Bovi said. "I'll be doggone. What a thrill to be on that (train)."

The Coast Starlight, when not detoured, travels daily along the coast between Seattle and Los Angeles. The train is scheduled to leave Sacramento at 6:35 a.m., and arrive in Los Angeles at 9 p.m.

To learn more about when the train will pass through Tehachapi, contact Amtrak at www.amtrak.com or 1-800-USA-RAIL on the day of departure to check the train's status.


Copyright, 2005, The Bakersfield Californian

webmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is expected for the train to depart about 1pm
> out of Bakersfield for a daylight run over the
> pass. All we need is a picture of John Bromley
> standing at the loop with the Amtrak train behind
> him with the words "There is no Amtrak train
> here." If he is not available I am sure that
> spokesman from Iraq who lost his job after the US
> entered Baghdad is still looking for work.
>
>
> Todd Clark


It's not exactly what you asked for but it's close.

---

Of course, the claim in the Bakersfield Californian article that "in the 1970s, officials thought passenger trains traveling through the pass would incur too much liability" is complete nonsense.