Rating:
1 vote

Tehachapi Loop

Kern County, California
Share:

Photos 

Looking east from the west approach

Photo taken by Nathan Morton in March 10

Enlarge

Map 

Description 

The location of the loop is known as Walong, named in honor of Southern Pacific District Roadmaster W. A. Long.[2][3] The loop contains a siding, known as Walong Siding. It also contains a tunnel, known as Tunnel 9 because it was originally the ninth tunnel on the way from Bakersfield.

A large, white cross has been placed in the center of the loop, at the peak of the hill. Known as "The Cross at the Loop", it is in memory of two Southern Pacific Railroad employees who were killed in a train derailment on May 12, 1989 in San Bernardino, California.

Facts 

Overview
Tunnel under .73 mile loop crosses under itself on UP (former SP) Railroad
Location
Kern County, California
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built in 1876 by the SP Railroad to circumvent the extreme grade of the Tehachapi Mtns. In 1998 it was added as a Nat'l Historic Civil Enginnering Landmark
Builders
- Arthur De Wint Foote
- William Hood
Design
The Tehachapi Loop is a .73 miles (1.17 km) long 'spiral', or helix, on the railroad main line through Tehachapi Pass, in south central California. The loop derives its name from the circuitous route it takes, in which the track passes over itself, a design which lessens the angle of the grade. A train more than 4,000 feet (1.2 km) long (about 85 boxcars) will thus pass over itself going around the loop.
Dimensions
Total length: 3,855.0 ft. (0.7 mi.)
Also called
Tunnel 9
Approximate latitude, longitude
+35.20111, -118.53670   (decimal degrees)
35°12'04" N, 118°32'12" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
11/360111/3896427 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Keene
Inventory number
BH 44651 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (3,819)
Arthur De Wint Foote (2)
Built 1876 (64)
Built during 1870s (544)
California (1,621)
Kern County, California (4)
 Open (28,308)
Owned by railroad (4,039)
Total length over 2500 feet (587)
Tunnel (542)
William Hood (2)

Update Log 

  • October 29, 2012: Updated by Jann Mayer: Added 2nd name and update railroads
  • October 16, 2012: New photos from Jann Mayer
  • March 29, 2010: New photos from Craig Philpott
  • March 28, 2010: Added by Nathan Morton

Sources 

  • Nathan Morton - morton890 [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Craig Philpott - cphilpott [at] puc [dot] edu
  • Wikipedia
  • Jann Mayer - jannmayer [at] gmail [dot] com

Comments 

Post a comment here Contact webmaster