Western Railroad Discussion > Reefers at Edison, and Tunnel 10 work.

Edison is an interesting little ag town a few miles RR east of Bakersfield (Ca)

I was doing a little crusing around today and decided to check out the reefer situation.

1.  Big L packers.
2.  In 2015 there are not too many places you can see this many 57' reefers spotted for loading, at different shippers, all in the same view.
3.  Work at tunnel 10, just above the Tehachapi Loop. The loop siding (Walong) will be extended to connect with the next siding east (Marcel)
 

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Thanks for sharing the Tunnel 10 work progress photo. I know it will be beneficial to have the longer siding/'double track' between Marcel-Walong but I hate to see the mountain change. 

~Ryan

Remind me again, are they straightening the curve as well here?

Cajon92 Wrote:
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> Thanks for sharing the Tunnel 10 work progress
> photo. I know it will be beneficial to have the
> longer siding/'double track' between Marcel-Walong
> but I hate to see the mountain change. 
>
> ~Ryan


Yea, change, change, change, woo hoo!

Re: straightening the curve, don't know. Seems like it would make sense though.

JR

 In photo #2, we used to cut in the helpers on te track just to the left of the telephone poles. 
V

SLOCONDR

IIRC the work at Tunnel 10 will take the new track to the north of the tunnel, to connect Walong to Marcel.
As the whole mountain is mostly 10 degree curves there is no incentive to widen any one or any short segment to wider curves, there would be no way to achieve higher speeds or other benefits of improved alignment.
As this curve will swing wider than the tunnel, it will have a greater radius, but I doubt by enough to change speeds.
They cannot shorten curves by going straight, they simply have to run off a certain number of miles to gain the elevation difference between Caliente and Tehachapi.
Any investment money would be better spent extending sidings like this.

Will they "daylight" Tunnel 10 in the process?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/15 00:58 by BCHellman.

How did Edison, California get its name?  It's not served by Southern Calif. Edison, being in PG&E territory, but, back over 100 years ago, a siding was constructed here for unloading heavy electrical apparatus for the first Edison Kern River hydro-electric station.  The equipment was transferred to very sturdy  drayage wagons and hauled by mule teams up the Kern River canyon.  In 1907, the plant went on line, and a record-breaking steel tower transmission line carried the energy to Los Angeles.  Although the power grid has been reconfigured a number of times over the last 100 years, some of the unusual towers are still in place along I-5.

BCHellman Wrote:
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> Will they "daylight" Tunnel 10 in the process?

No according to the online report.

Posted from Android

Of interest to fans of 60s music (which I imagine are abundant on this site): a railroad crossing in Edison was where Brian Wilson recorded the train-passing sound effect at the end of his song "Caroline, No", which closed out the legendary Pet Sounds album. The train in question was the Espee's Owl.

Tor in Eugene

DNRY122 wrote:

> How did Edison, California get its name?  It's not served by Southern Calif. Edison, being in PG&E territory, but, back over 100 years ago, a siding was constructed here for unloading heavy electrical apparatus for the first Edison Kern River hydro-electric station.  The equipment was transferred to very sturdy  drayage wagons and hauled by mule teams up the Kern River canyon. In 1907, the plant went on line, and a record-breaking steel tower transmission line carried the energy to Los Angeles.  Although the power grid has been reconfigured a number of times over the last 100 years, some of the unusual towers are still in place along I-5.

The above is mostly correct but not entirely.  There already was a siding at the location the SP called Wade.  Accounts of the time only tell of Edison building a warehouse for construction supplies for its plant in the Kern River Canyon (the plant is now called Kern River No. 1) - the accounts had no specific mention of putting in a siding or spur, though it's likely this was done.

I 'm not sure the transmission line from Kern River No. 1 to Los Angeles would be "record-breaking."  The line was 117 miles long while the earlier transmission line from the Borel hydroelectric plant on the Kern (this plant was completed in 1904) to Los Angeles was 127 miles long.  The Borel electical transmission line was the first to use steel towers.

Local history books published in Kern County state that Edison was named after a nearby substation.  Not true, the substation is at Magunden, not Edison, and it was built well after the "Wade" to "Edison" name change.

John Sweetser




 

That substation has or had a very Edison Co looking building, it still standing?

Out

If you're referring to Magunden, as far as I know it's still there.  It was originally built as a switching station for the transmission lines running from Big Creek to Eagle Rock.  I had a job installing a data cable there, and needed to find a good way to route it through the building.  Looking in the station drawings file, I found some drawings with "Pacific Light and Power" title blocks, and I think the location was called the Bakersfield Switching Station.  Since PL&P merged with Edison in 1917, I felt like I had found the electrical equivalent of papyrus from the tomb of King Tut.  PL&P was part of the Henry Huntington empire, and the story goes that he needed the money to expand his library in San Marino.   

Regarding the Borel hydro plant, I was told that the line from Borel to Los Angeles was mostly wooden poles, and ran at 44,000 volts.  Not sure if it's still there, but many years ago there was a long-abandoned switching station building near Elizabeth Lake (west of Lancaster) Calif.  As I recall, it was more of a "taller than it was wide" building, rather than a "temple of electricity.

What made the KR-1 line special was the fact that it originally operated at 75,000 volts, which was the upper limit for power transmission in 1907, and it was the first line to have steel towers from end to end. Since steel transmission towers were such a new development, Edison had to call on a farm windmill company to fabricate the towers.  The original end point was the Edison Electric power house on the north side of the SP main line to Colton, and the building is still there, although it was sold off for non-utility use around 1930.  It can be seen from the I-5 Freeway, just south of Main St. in the old part of LA.

Most of this information is from personal observation or Iron Men and Copper Wires by Dr. William A. Myers.