scientist
Train Attendant
We learned about the temporary Tehachapi Loop Detour from the December 16 AU Forum post Coast Starlight Service Alert a mere 3 days after returning to WAS from California via the Sunset Limited and Crescent. California again, so soon? You bet!
December 17th was a Saturday and provided the opportunity to plan a trip. By 9 p.m. that evening, the first reservation confirmation email arrived from Amtrak. We would do the Coast Starlight Tehachapi Loop Detour on February 7, assuming the detour was a reality. Should the reroute not happen, we would still travel along the coast in the Pacific Parlour Car (PPC), and that is a pretty good ride. Pretty good ride? OK, an understatement.
Besides, this trip would give us the opportunity to accomplish two other goals:
Los Angeles Union Station
For us, the day of the Tehachapi detour started in San Juan Capistrano. At 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 7th, we jumped the northbound Pacific Surfliner (773) to head to LAX. The trip north was uneventful and on time, putting us into Union Station a little before 9 a.m. We headed straight to the Trax lounge area, where an upbeat Amtrak employee greeted us and asked if we knew about the detour. We nabbed some coffee and conversed with other riders until about 9:50 a.m. That's when we were told to head on out to the train if we didn't need a cart or Red Cap.
We grabbed our backpacks and threaded our way down the tunnel to the CS. Sleeper 1431 was the George M. Pullman car, but we had scored a roomette in car 1430. The 1430 orientation was such that we could look straight into the adjoining PPC. After rushing to unpack, we grabbed cameras, notepads, and GPS and immediately headed into the Pacific Parlor Car to grab a couple of seats before leaving LAX.
Walking into the PPC, I asked the gathering, "which is the best side to sit on to see the ocean?" An outburst of laughter immediately suggested that the dozen folks who beat us to the PPC were there for the Tehachapi loop, too. Some were from the Bay area; another from Danville, PA, at least a couple were from North Carolina, and another pair started from Chicago.
We later met a couple from Australia traveling to Oakland. Booking their trip from Down Under, they really did not know what they would see along the way. However, with all of us so excited to do the detour, they figured this route must be as good as the regular one.
Departure
Departure was on time at 10:25 a.m. About 15 minutes out we came to a sudden stop. Though abrupt, it was not an emergency stop, so we were on are way in about 10 minutes. Never found out what the stop was for, but it provided a good opportunity to observe the industrialized area north of LA along the tracks. Near Burbank, the engineer decided to turn right instead of left; we were on our way to Tehachapi!
We followed the Metrolink route to Lancaster, passing through Santa Clara, Acton, and Palmdale along the way. Traveling though Soledad Canyon we passed along the Shambala Preserve of the Roar Foundation, founded to support abandoned exotic felines. Though we spotted none of the animals, another passenger thought there was a big cat atop one of the sheds. After crossing Soledad Pass at about 3,200 feet (Union Station is about 300 feet in elevation), we crossed the San Andreas Rift Zone, and headed down to Palmdale. It's fortunate that we passed rapidly, since we'd halted an ambulance at Palmdale Boulevard crossing.
The Mojave Desert
Leaving Palmdale behind us, we traversed some 40 miles of the western edge of the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Desert is not so wet as the the Pacific Ocean normally seen from CS; still, the Mojave has its own intriguing views. The desert has some strange plants, which are optimized for the limited precipitation received. Of course, all of that sunshine makes the Mojave a place where solar power development is being pursued, such as a facility a couple of miles north of Lancaster. The dryness also helps preserve things left outside, so the desert becomes a storage area for old stuff—like airplanes near Mojave. You just don't know what you might find in the desert. We passed through the town of Mojave right at 1 o'clock. About 2 miles north of Mojave is Aqueduct City. However, there's not much of a city here at this time—it's more of, well, a desert.
About a half a mile north of Aqueduct City the track turns west to head up the valley of Cache Creek, a sandy, ephemeral stream (a stream generally having no flow). About 5 miles west, the valley narrows—the valley floor, containing the double-track rail line and Highway 58, is only one-tenth mile wide. On the hills both north and south of the valley are windmills that provide renewable energy when the sun isn't shining. Here, this narrow spot in the valley is known as the Tehachapi Pass. This is not a pass in the true meaning of the term. However, with the opening to the Mojave Desert to the east and the Tehachapi Valley to the west, there certainly is a sense of a passageway, and the elevation is up to 3,770 feet.
Tehachapi and the Loop
Traveling another ten miles west-northwest from Tehachapi Pass, we reached the Summit just a mile east of Tehachapi. The elevation here is 4,032 feet above sea level. We had climbed nearly 4,000 feet from LAX Union Station. We entered the town of Tehachapi just before 1:30 p.m. There is a water tank right next to the golden yellow depot. The excitement in the PPC surged because we were less than 10 miles from the loop. Departing town, we headed downhill following the valley of Tehachapi Creek, crossing the creek a couple of times. We finally kept to the south side of the stream, passing through 5 tunnels as the track twisted and turned along the hillslope.
Exiting the fifth tunnel, we got a great view out the right windows of the loop, the loop tunnel, and the smooth, conical hill that the loop circles. We also saw that track work was underway, and the ties are being replaced with new concrete ones. A white UP bus for the work crew parked nearby. Well above the bus, atop the hill, we saw the Cross at the Loop that had been placed in memory of two Southern Pacific railroad employees killed in a 1989 derailment.
With the back view, we could see the heritage baggage car and dome car attached behind us. We learned that they both were non-revenue and were hitching a ride to the Bay Area for use on one of the Reno fun trains. Some weeping and gnashing of teeth accompanied the realization that those cars were empty.
From above, through, and looking back, the loop transit took little more than three minutes. So by 2:00 p.m., the loop had been completed, but the adventure continued, as did the camaraderie in the PPC. We continued on our way to Bakersfield and the Central Valley down the Tehachapi Creek valley and its gentle, hilly terrain.
Bakersfield and Beyond
The UP line in Bakersfield runs north of the current BNSF line used by Amtrak. The old depot is about a mile northeast of the current Amtrak station. We stopped in Bakersfield at about 3:20 p.m. to trade out the UP pilot before heading into the valley. Our route through the Central Valley was a little different from that of the San Joaquin trains from Bakersfield north. The UP route is a few miles east (up to about 10 miles or so) of the BNSF until Fresno, after which it is a few miles to the west. The scenery along both routes is similar, with farm fields and communities showing a strong agricultural economic base. We stopped at the old depot at Merced to get a new engineer. By 5:15 p.m., we were in Fresno, and darkness was beginning to fall. Even prior to dusk, it was a fairly cloudy, gray day, so the scenery was not so striking as on a crisp, blue-sky day, and only a few photos were taken.
After Darkness Fell
We continued to roll north in the dark eventually making our way to Lathrop where, because there is no direct way to change tracks from heading north to south (to head west), we had to do some forward and backward movement at a wye. We got delayed there for about 25 minutes for a 137-car freight train, but this made dinner much smoother. And with the Lathrop Police Department just outside the window, one could figure this to be a safe neighborhood.
Finally on our way, we headed through the night across Altamont Pass and then through Niles Canyon progressing toward Oakland. At Oakland, a number of day-trippers who had ridden with us solely for the detour made their departure. It had been an exciting day. For us, we could lay our heads down on our pillows and dream. What a wonderful day it had been on the Around-Our-Great-Nation Loop Tour.
scientist & GoldenGrrl
December 17th was a Saturday and provided the opportunity to plan a trip. By 9 p.m. that evening, the first reservation confirmation email arrived from Amtrak. We would do the Coast Starlight Tehachapi Loop Detour on February 7, assuming the detour was a reality. Should the reroute not happen, we would still travel along the coast in the Pacific Parlour Car (PPC), and that is a pretty good ride. Pretty good ride? OK, an understatement.
Besides, this trip would give us the opportunity to accomplish two other goals:
- Goal 1: take the Southwest Chief. We had taken every other Amtrak LD in the West multiple times, but never the Chief.
- Goal 2: take a loop around the country.
Los Angeles Union Station
For us, the day of the Tehachapi detour started in San Juan Capistrano. At 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 7th, we jumped the northbound Pacific Surfliner (773) to head to LAX. The trip north was uneventful and on time, putting us into Union Station a little before 9 a.m. We headed straight to the Trax lounge area, where an upbeat Amtrak employee greeted us and asked if we knew about the detour. We nabbed some coffee and conversed with other riders until about 9:50 a.m. That's when we were told to head on out to the train if we didn't need a cart or Red Cap.
We grabbed our backpacks and threaded our way down the tunnel to the CS. Sleeper 1431 was the George M. Pullman car, but we had scored a roomette in car 1430. The 1430 orientation was such that we could look straight into the adjoining PPC. After rushing to unpack, we grabbed cameras, notepads, and GPS and immediately headed into the Pacific Parlor Car to grab a couple of seats before leaving LAX.
Walking into the PPC, I asked the gathering, "which is the best side to sit on to see the ocean?" An outburst of laughter immediately suggested that the dozen folks who beat us to the PPC were there for the Tehachapi loop, too. Some were from the Bay area; another from Danville, PA, at least a couple were from North Carolina, and another pair started from Chicago.
We later met a couple from Australia traveling to Oakland. Booking their trip from Down Under, they really did not know what they would see along the way. However, with all of us so excited to do the detour, they figured this route must be as good as the regular one.
Departure
Departure was on time at 10:25 a.m. About 15 minutes out we came to a sudden stop. Though abrupt, it was not an emergency stop, so we were on are way in about 10 minutes. Never found out what the stop was for, but it provided a good opportunity to observe the industrialized area north of LA along the tracks. Near Burbank, the engineer decided to turn right instead of left; we were on our way to Tehachapi!
We followed the Metrolink route to Lancaster, passing through Santa Clara, Acton, and Palmdale along the way. Traveling though Soledad Canyon we passed along the Shambala Preserve of the Roar Foundation, founded to support abandoned exotic felines. Though we spotted none of the animals, another passenger thought there was a big cat atop one of the sheds. After crossing Soledad Pass at about 3,200 feet (Union Station is about 300 feet in elevation), we crossed the San Andreas Rift Zone, and headed down to Palmdale. It's fortunate that we passed rapidly, since we'd halted an ambulance at Palmdale Boulevard crossing.
The Mojave Desert
Leaving Palmdale behind us, we traversed some 40 miles of the western edge of the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Desert is not so wet as the the Pacific Ocean normally seen from CS; still, the Mojave has its own intriguing views. The desert has some strange plants, which are optimized for the limited precipitation received. Of course, all of that sunshine makes the Mojave a place where solar power development is being pursued, such as a facility a couple of miles north of Lancaster. The dryness also helps preserve things left outside, so the desert becomes a storage area for old stuff—like airplanes near Mojave. You just don't know what you might find in the desert. We passed through the town of Mojave right at 1 o'clock. About 2 miles north of Mojave is Aqueduct City. However, there's not much of a city here at this time—it's more of, well, a desert.
About a half a mile north of Aqueduct City the track turns west to head up the valley of Cache Creek, a sandy, ephemeral stream (a stream generally having no flow). About 5 miles west, the valley narrows—the valley floor, containing the double-track rail line and Highway 58, is only one-tenth mile wide. On the hills both north and south of the valley are windmills that provide renewable energy when the sun isn't shining. Here, this narrow spot in the valley is known as the Tehachapi Pass. This is not a pass in the true meaning of the term. However, with the opening to the Mojave Desert to the east and the Tehachapi Valley to the west, there certainly is a sense of a passageway, and the elevation is up to 3,770 feet.
Tehachapi and the Loop
Traveling another ten miles west-northwest from Tehachapi Pass, we reached the Summit just a mile east of Tehachapi. The elevation here is 4,032 feet above sea level. We had climbed nearly 4,000 feet from LAX Union Station. We entered the town of Tehachapi just before 1:30 p.m. There is a water tank right next to the golden yellow depot. The excitement in the PPC surged because we were less than 10 miles from the loop. Departing town, we headed downhill following the valley of Tehachapi Creek, crossing the creek a couple of times. We finally kept to the south side of the stream, passing through 5 tunnels as the track twisted and turned along the hillslope.
Exiting the fifth tunnel, we got a great view out the right windows of the loop, the loop tunnel, and the smooth, conical hill that the loop circles. We also saw that track work was underway, and the ties are being replaced with new concrete ones. A white UP bus for the work crew parked nearby. Well above the bus, atop the hill, we saw the Cross at the Loop that had been placed in memory of two Southern Pacific railroad employees killed in a 1989 derailment.
With the back view, we could see the heritage baggage car and dome car attached behind us. We learned that they both were non-revenue and were hitching a ride to the Bay Area for use on one of the Reno fun trains. Some weeping and gnashing of teeth accompanied the realization that those cars were empty.
From above, through, and looking back, the loop transit took little more than three minutes. So by 2:00 p.m., the loop had been completed, but the adventure continued, as did the camaraderie in the PPC. We continued on our way to Bakersfield and the Central Valley down the Tehachapi Creek valley and its gentle, hilly terrain.
Bakersfield and Beyond
The UP line in Bakersfield runs north of the current BNSF line used by Amtrak. The old depot is about a mile northeast of the current Amtrak station. We stopped in Bakersfield at about 3:20 p.m. to trade out the UP pilot before heading into the valley. Our route through the Central Valley was a little different from that of the San Joaquin trains from Bakersfield north. The UP route is a few miles east (up to about 10 miles or so) of the BNSF until Fresno, after which it is a few miles to the west. The scenery along both routes is similar, with farm fields and communities showing a strong agricultural economic base. We stopped at the old depot at Merced to get a new engineer. By 5:15 p.m., we were in Fresno, and darkness was beginning to fall. Even prior to dusk, it was a fairly cloudy, gray day, so the scenery was not so striking as on a crisp, blue-sky day, and only a few photos were taken.
After Darkness Fell
We continued to roll north in the dark eventually making our way to Lathrop where, because there is no direct way to change tracks from heading north to south (to head west), we had to do some forward and backward movement at a wye. We got delayed there for about 25 minutes for a 137-car freight train, but this made dinner much smoother. And with the Lathrop Police Department just outside the window, one could figure this to be a safe neighborhood.
Finally on our way, we headed through the night across Altamont Pass and then through Niles Canyon progressing toward Oakland. At Oakland, a number of day-trippers who had ridden with us solely for the detour made their departure. It had been an exciting day. For us, we could lay our heads down on our pillows and dream. What a wonderful day it had been on the Around-Our-Great-Nation Loop Tour.
scientist & GoldenGrrl
If only I'd have had more time when I was in LAX! 
