September 18th, 2024, BNSF 7115, 9128 and Ferromex 4050 lead an westbound train as they wait for an eastbound intermodal to clear Tehachapi Loop on the Union Pacific Mojave Subdivision at Keene, California.
I’m thankful that I had and brought my drone on this trip as access to trackside at the loop has been cut off! I was last here 7 years ago and then you could get to where you could shoot trackside, but now there’s viewing platform about ¾ mile away. Being able to fly the drone allowed me many spectacular views that I’ve never been able to get in the past.
According to Wikipedia: The Tehachapi Loop is a 3,779-foot-long (0.72 mi; 1.15 km) spiral, or helix, on the Union Pacific Railroad Mojave Subdivision through Tehachapi Pass, of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, south-central California. The line connects Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley to Mojave in the Mojave Desert.
Rising at a steady two-percent grade, the track gains 77 feet (23 m) in elevation and makes a 1,210-foot-diameter (370 m) circle. Any train that is more than 3,800 feet (1,200 m) long—about 56 boxcars—passes over itself going around the loop. At the bottom of the loop, the track passes through Tunnel 9, the ninth tunnel built as the railroad was extended from Bakersfield.
The line averages about 36 freight trains each day. Passenger trains such as Amtrak’s San Joaquin are banned from the loop, although the Coast Starlight can use it as a detour. Its frequent trains and scenic setting make the Tehachapi Loop popular with railfans. In 1998, it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. It is also designated as California Historical Landmark #508.
One of the engineering feats of its day, the Loop was built by Southern Pacific Railroad to ease the grade over Tehachapi Pass. Construction began in 1874, and the line opened in 1876.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 100.