SoCal Road Trip 2006

We woke up at 6, showered, packed and checked out, then headed to Denny's for a quick breakfast. Then we hit the road and headed West up into the mountains. The storms had completely passed and we saw lots of blue sky mixed with some puffy low clouds in some of the valleys. The railroad tracks followed the road up through the hills, crossing under us and running through tunnels blasted into the mountains in places.

We drove past the Tehachapi Loop and saw a train looping around on itself. The loop area still had some morning clouds, but we could see them clearing ahead where we were headed. We exited in Bealville and drove down the road a few miles to the bottom of a valley where the tracks wrapped back and forth, gaining altitude. We drove along and found a great spot overlooking a tunnel opening where we waited for the next train.

About 20 minutes later we heard one coming in the distance and shortly it popped out of the tunnel and rumbled by us, cameras snapping away. Then we drove back down the road a bit and parked next to another man who had a video camera on a tripod and waited to watch the train we had just seen as it passed below us in the distance. Back up the road a bit we stopped below a small bridge and waited for a second train to go by.

Then it was back on the highway back to The Loop. The Tehachapi Loop is a very well known (to railfans anyways) spot where trains coming through the mountains go through a horseshoe and then around a loop and pass under themselves. The whole area looks like a giant model train layout!

After parking the car and walking (ok, running) across a dirt path we arrived at a spot where we could see the whole loop. The sun was shining and it was a fantastic sight! Unfortunately we could see a back-hoe and some workmen just outside the tunnel entrance working on the tracks. Apparently they had started a "maintenance window" to take care of some of the effects of the previous day's storms... we didn't know how long it would last.

We watched for a while, then went back to the car to sit and wait. We talked with a man and his two sons who arrived to watch the trains as well; we were all just going to have to wait. After about two hours we saw the maintenance equipment moving onto a siding so we walked back to the hilltop overlooking everything. About 20 minutes later we could see a train moving in the distance! It took it about another 20 minutes to reach us but it was worth it. The sight of a long train with 5 engines pulling it going around a loop and crossing over itself was pretty cool. Then it passed through a tunnel through the hill we were on and came out behind us.

We waited for one more train to get some pictures from different angles. It was about 12:30 and we decided that we had just enough time to race down to Pasadena for one more try at the Huntington Garden so we jumped in the car and drove (ok, flew) back to Pasadena, arriving just before 3pm...