BajaNomad

Where are these people?

tripledigitken - 4-15-2015 at 02:56 PM

They're looking at a train obviously, but precisely where are they? It's a very unusual location, and that's the only clue you get.





motoged - 4-15-2015 at 03:17 PM

Copper Canyon rail trip....

Oh, I guess not....as this is posted as "non-Baja travel".

New Mexico or Arizona is my next guess....

[Edited on 4-15-2015 by motoged]

tripledigitken - 4-15-2015 at 03:19 PM

motoged,

Wrong country......, not NM or AZ.

[Edited on 4-15-2015 by tripledigitken]

Howard - 4-15-2015 at 03:27 PM

It's obviously not in the U.S. and in a more civilized country.

Why do I know this?

The train cars are not full of graffiti. :biggrin:

tripledigitken - 4-15-2015 at 03:32 PM

Howard,

Wrong country was a response to ged's post. It is in US, but not AZ or NM. Point taken re grafitti.

mtgoat666 - 4-15-2015 at 03:34 PM

tehachapi

Taco de Baja - 4-15-2015 at 03:36 PM

Tehachapi

BornFisher - 4-15-2015 at 03:37 PM

North of San Luis Obispo?

durrelllrobert - 4-15-2015 at 03:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Taco de Baja  
Tehachapi
Yes, between Mojave and Bakersfield

tripledigitken - 4-15-2015 at 03:46 PM

Tehachapi it is. It's called The Loop, if you look closely the train enters the loop at "3 o'clock" and exits at "3 o'clock". Gaining the 77' in that short distance allows the trains to ascend the pass. Very interesting thing to see. It is between Mojave and Bakersfield on Highway 58.



[Edited on 4-15-2015 by tripledigitken]

StuckSucks - 4-15-2015 at 03:49 PM

It's called the Tehachapi Loop, a 0.73-mile long spiral, or helix, on the Union Pacific Railroad line through Tehachapi Pass, of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, south-central California.

Here's a map of the Loop.


[Edited on 4-16-2015 by StuckSucks]

Bob53 - 4-15-2015 at 04:00 PM

Very windy in Tehachapi.

durrelllrobert - 4-15-2015 at 04:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Bob53  
Very windy in Tehachapi.

Necessary because of the women's prison there :spingrin:

StuckSucks - 4-15-2015 at 04:49 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Bob53  
Very windy in Tehachapi.


I took this photo of the wind farm just west of Tehachapi, where the wind is actually made:

Bob53 - 4-15-2015 at 04:59 PM

Wind farmers. Producing the finest wind for decades.

Osprey - 4-15-2015 at 05:00 PM

Hemingway put a bullet in his brain when he just couldn't stand being on the planet one more minute (Kurt Vonnegut said he defined the literary period with that particular way out). I'm going over the wall into the Women's Correctional Facility at Tehachapi. I don't care about making a statement, coining a word -- just want to finish with the clan doing what got us here. (and this time, no competition)

StuckSucks - 4-15-2015 at 05:33 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Osprey  
Hemingway put a bullet in his brain when he just couldn't stand being on the planet one more minute (Kurt Vonnegut said he defined the literary period with that particular way out). I'm going over the wall into the Women's Correctional Facility at Tehachapi. I don't care about making a statement, coining a word -- just want to finish with the clan doing what got us here. (and this time, no competition)


Whoa ... deep!

TMW - 4-16-2015 at 05:26 PM

For the train to cross over it's self there must be at least 50+ RR cars.
52 was what I was told. I think that is with 4 engines. There is a side road that gets you a really good view from the SW side. However the gate is usually locked. The site from the two lane highway is OK but not as good.

Kgryfon - 4-16-2015 at 05:37 PM

My brother is a rail fan. I'll have to share this with him! Thanks!

Why the loop?

tripledigitken - 4-16-2015 at 09:44 PM


The reason for the loop was an economic decision at the time. In an effort to obtain an operable grade the engineer had to "make distance" to achieve a gradual grade slope. This design saved the company a huge amount of construction expense. The engineer designed a loop around one of the peaks near the summit, which gained 77 feet in .7 of a mile. At the time (1875) it was a new technique that saved a great amount of excavating cuts and fills.