Western Railroad Discussion > It does not have to be always sunshine....

Tehachapi is always great in sunshine, especially in early spring. Well, weather does not always cooperate, but it is still worthwhile to try. Such was the case last week. I had to re-route Our return trip by car from Seattle through southern California, as the usual track through Nevada promised to much snow for my liking. So why not stop overnight in Bakersfield, and maybe get to spend a couple of minutes extra time on Tehachapi? It took a little less time to reach Bakersfield (you can guess why) and we arrived around 4pm. My wife suggested to go directly towards Tehachapi and go to the hotel later, to which I of course whole heatedly agreed, looking at the cloud covered mountains, and just having passed through numerous downpours in RT99. Well at least we might be able to watch some trains even if the weather was not cooperating for pictures...

As we turned onto Bena Road, I noticed the headlight of a west bound far in the distance, at least we got one train! Continuing on to Bena I noticed the headlight of an eastbound a short distance away. Pull out and take a shot at the entrance to the siding. I knew that all the sheds at Bena were gone, but the area looked very empty to me, except the communication antennas nowadays often associated with signals, so that shot was not to my liking, anyway there was no sun. So I tried a bit further up to get a short of the westbound BNSF stacker, that came out OK. A short trip up to tunnel 2 to maybe get some more shots. There was much less light here, but the hills were bathed in a soft indirect light I never seen before, this really looked spooky. Here is the approach to tunnel 2, and a getaway shot with the DPU. The clouds are considerably darker towards the mountain promising more rain.....

Thomas Eckhardt
Hurricane UT

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Driving down towards Caliente, another west-bound was waiting and soon proceeded through the horse shoe curve.

Picture 4 UP west bound starting the ascent to Tehachapi

Picture 5 Going away shot with the tail end still in Caliente to the right. Noticeable is also the porta-john that had been placed there recently to judge by the bulldozer tracks.

Picture 6 By the time this train reached the west end of the Bealville siding, it was pouring again, and getting darker. The amount of mud when its raining is amazing. Also noticeable a new bank of porta-johns here, could it be sign of more activity on double tracking???



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/18 15:08 by Krokodil.

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The train took its time to pass, so it was time to do some artsy stuff from inside the dry car (picture7).

Of course the usual go-away shot from this spot can't be missed, so better make it two (shots), and then its time to return to the hotel!

Thomas Eckhardt

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Great trip. I visited Tehachapi in 2013. It was sunny, but I imagine the location is great all the year in every weather condition. It is a place I must return one day.

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Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1

This is the best time of the year on the Hill, when the grass is green!
It's always fascinating ever since we arrived in Mojave in 1948, when we had a choice of riding Santa Fe's Grand Canyons to and from Bakersfield, or the SP San Joaquin Daylights.
As a teenager i would often ride one of them in the morning, and come back on the other.
Also had some cab and caboose rides as a reporter,and a business train or two.Flown over it a few times also.
Great place in any weather.
Super memories!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Those are great photos, all of them! Your wife is a real dear to want to go to the Loop area before going to your hotel! Is she a railfan, too? Those are really dramatic shots! Thans for posting them.

Nice shots!