Western Railroad Discussion > Made my first trip to Tehachapi

In February, I wanted to make one more final trip before returning to work (apparently Colorado to Florida wasn't enough), so I figured SoCal was a place I hadn't been, but probably needed to. I decided on Tehachapi, as the Loop was more on my bucket list than Cajon. I made the necessary reservations, and on the day of the Super Bowl, I was off for a 14 hour drive...a drive that actually took me right past the Super Bowl during the 2nd quarter!

The resulting trip was more than I could have hoped for, as I was able to shoot the entire area from Bakersfield to Mojave in a matter of 3 days, minus tunnels 3-5, where a major work gang was located. In 5 days, I discovered why so many people enjoy shooting trains in this area: the scenery, the train counts, and the heavy grade contribute to a great experience. I'll attach what I feel are the best 3 shots from each day.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Photo 1:
BNSF 6855 leads 4 more engines (plus 2 more on the back) on the H-MODBAR out of Caliente. That's a Ferromex ACe 4th, and a NS gevo was on the rear.

Photo 2:
We're at the Cable crossovers now as this southbound works harder with 2 on the front, and 2 on the back.

Photo 3:
UP 9578 is the first UP DC to AC I've seen, leading here as it approaches the summit on the afternoon Z train (LCLT?).

A successful day 1!
~wko

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Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Photo 4:
I finally got to see a train going around the loop! The previous day I was unable to time any trains right, so this was the first train I got to see going around the loop, crossing an item off my bucket list.

Photo 5:
A short Z-NBYWSP climbs up to tunnel 2. I wasn't able to get to this area either on day 1, I enjoyed the quiet!

Photo 6:
Hot on its heels was another BNSF stacker, seen here on the approach to tunnel 2. With the presence of reefers, this one originates in Stockton, but I don't remember the destination (Alliance, TX?).

Day 2 ended prematurely when a train at Bena (I was at Ilman waiting for it) reported going into emergency, then heard "very close" gunshots when attempting to find the issue. They said they weren't going to do anything about it until armed UP special agents showed up, so I headed back to the room.
~wko

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Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Photo 7:
CP 7058 is a nice facing-out DPU on this H-RICBAR at Ilman. I had gotten the train at Kern Junction, then barely beat the front to here. This train was running 3x2x2.

Photo 8:
A northbound BNSF manifest drops down the grade at Bealville. This is where the action was, as trackwork between tunnels 3 and 5 had stacked them up in both directions.

Photo 9:
A B-PTLLAC repo move climbs up to tunnel 2 with 3985 on the front. This entire train was single stacked to avoid going via MT-CO-TX-AZ.

Depsite the low light, I still saw 3 of them between here and sunset!
~wko

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Thursday, February 15, 2024

Photo 10:
A southbound UP Z passes the cement plant at Monolith. A T4 ACe leader was a fun surprise, and with only 2 on the front, this train did not make good time at all up the grade.

Photo 11:
UP 6187 leads 6 other engines (not that you can tell haha) southbound past tunnel 10. They're in the new extention, and within a minute a northbound would be going through the tunnel. It made excellent video.

Photo 12:
Not to be outdone, 8 BNSF engines lead this southbound through Woodford siding. They were going to be waiting for 3 northbounds, but I didn't know about those until I was on the road towards Tehachapi.

This day was extremely busy, but only 1 day left!
~wko

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Friday, February 16, 2024

Photo 13:
A BNSF Q train passes through the crossover just south of Kern Junction in Bakersfield. The signal on the left is yellow over flashing red (advanced diverging restricting?) for a BNSF Z train that was roughly passing Edison at this time.

Photo 14:
Our final BNSF train of the trip is seen dropping down the grade at the loop. This train met the rear of a southbound UP stack train, making for another good sequence of video.

Photo 15:
​As I'm starting towards a hotel in Barstow...no wait, 2 feet of snow in the Utah/Colorado mountains, so Needles...the afternoon UP northbound Z passes the crossovers at Cameron.

It was a great trip, absolutely worth it, and I'll be back at some point. I've been busy since the last time I posted, with 2 trips to the KCS, 2 trips to the RCPE, single trips to the MRL, Arizona, C&TS, Minnesota, Powder River Basin, Sand Hills, and Florida, plus chases of the Big Boy, Iowa Interstate, UP museum move, heritage units, and more. I figured the TO community would enjoy seeing these pictures though!

Thanks for looking!
~wko

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Indeed Photo 3 is the "Generic", looks like every other IM, and more officialy is the ZLCLT.

Out 

Great shots and thanks for sharing! 

Fantastic images, you had a great trip. I haven’t made it back to Tehachapi in years, I definitely need to go back.

How was the traffic through Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday? I-15 seems to get busier each trip we take to So Cal from Utah.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

Great work, thanks for sharing.
This is the best shot I have seen of Tunnel 10 with the new track in a cut just to the side.

Thanks for sharing your fine images!  Looks you definitely had a great trip.

texchief1

Great job, enjoyed your report!

You have some nice ones there Kirk.  Lots of green on the mountains.

Dave

Great trip and report!  Thanks for sharing the pics.

Rich

Nice shots! Looks like a fun time in Tehachapi.

Larry

Very nice images; you had a productive trip!
GK

wko Wrote:
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> Thanks for looking!
> ~wko

Great choices of locations and angles, and being your first trip at that! Thanks for posting.

Great stuff..!!  Thanks for posting.

Awesome series!

Hey William Kirk Orndorff, very nice pictures taken. Thank you for sharing and
staying at "Quinn"tessential Railfan Accommodations.

Thanks for the kind words, all! The goal was to shoot as much of the line as I could, and I feel very satisfied with what I got.

atsf121 Wrote:
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> <SNIP>
> How was the traffic through Vegas on Super Bowl
> Sunday? I-15 seems to get busier each trip we
> take to So Cal from Utah.
>

Vegas itself was fine, I went through town during the 2nd quarter of the game, so everyone there for the game was in the stadium. Once into CA, the traffic on 15 picked up, but it still wasn't anything unreasonable, I didn't think.

SD7D_ACe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey William Kirk Orndorff, very nice pictures
> taken. Thank you for sharing and
> staying at "Quinn"tessential Railfan
> Accommodations.

Good to see you on here, Kirk! Thank you for providing a great place to stay, right alongside the action!
~wko