21 photos included after text.

The Loop Area is so interesting that it has made it on the list of Historical Markers at #508.  This is where a train, if long enough, can actually loop over itself as it either decends or climbs the mountain side.  Of the four loops that I can think of in North America, this is the most easily photographable.

The loop itself is between Woodford/Tehachapi Road and Route 58 just south of the town of Keene, CA.  It is .75 miles long and helps the track rise in elevation by 77 feet.  It is also a siding for the railroad and is called Walong and the place where the tracks go over themselves is tunnel #9.

GENERAL INFORMATION

What I call The Loop Area, is the track from tunnel 14, Marcel Siding, tunnel #10, the Loop itself, and the fifth and fourth crossings of Tehachapi Creek up to the beginning of Woodford Siding.

There are no amenities in this area so get everything you will need before you leave Tehachapi or Bakersfield, CA.

Route 58 is still the main roadway through the area but there is also the Woodford/Tehachapi Road that provides a curvy shortcut to the town of Tehachapi, CA.  The only exit for this area off of Route 58 is at Keene at exit #139 for the Woodford/Tehachapi Road.   

ROUTE 58

You can easily see the Loop from Route 58, although it is not as dramatic as from Woodford/Tehachapi Road.  There are a couple of photograph locations though as it travels between the Broome exit and the Keene exit.

I need to mention that even though the Broome Road looks like it is a good way to the Loop, it is not.  There are large gates that restrict your travel along this dirt road that goes to the ranch that is all around the loop.  Even though you could climb over those gates and walk in there don't there are easier ways.

Starting at the Broome exit #142, driving downhill from there for only .3 miles will take you to a good location to see trains from Route 58 as they circle the Loop.  You could get an early morning summer photo from here if you wished, just don't park and wait for a train.  If one is there, or coming soon, get it.

About another 2.2 miles is the overpass for Route 58 over the tracks.  There are nice curves here but I do not recomend you park and wait at all.  Continue another .5 miles to exit #139 for Keene.  There is another place to go from the other side of Route 58 so use the Keene exit as a place to turn around.

Travel back uphill toward the Broome exit and after 2 miles there is a dirt road that you can park in and climb over two gates to get to the tracks.  Photos of uphill trains between the fourth and fifth Tehachapi Creek crossings are great in the early morning of summer only.

You can walk along the dirt road toward the fifth crossing for early morning or late afternoon photos of downhill trains as they cross the bridge.  Note however that there are a lot of obstructions you will have to contend with though, but the photo is dramatic.

WOODFORD/TEHACHAPI ROAD

Lets start this explanation of the photo possibilities from Woodford/Tehachapi Road by starting back in the town of Tehachapi.

From the intersection of Tehachapi Blvd and Route 202, travel .5 miles south on what is now Tucker Road to W. Valley Blvd.  Turn right and travel another 1.5 miles to Woodford/Tehachapi Road where you will again turn right.

The Woodford/Tehachapi Road will start as a nice country road but will soon become a very curvy road with very steep cliffsides and few guardrails.  When it starts to get curvy, slow way down and drive very careful.  Also, if I do not mention a road to you, dirt or otherwise, do not travel or explore on it because it doesn't go to the tracks and is quite possibly a driveway to a private residence.

From the W. Valley Blvd intersection, begin on the Woodford/Tehachapi Road and for the first 3.2 miles, it is rather straight and passes the planned community of Golden Hills.  After that it gets curvy.

Travel another .6 miles and there is a dirt cutout that is no good for you.  Just .1 mile later is the cutout for "Mousehold Health" and is a good place to view upper Marcel Siding from way up the mountainside.  You can see the tracks down in the canyon below you.

For the next 2 miles, before you reach the dirt road for Lower Marcel Drive, you will pass four more cutouts that really have no value to you.  Nice view, but no trains.

At the dirt road for Lower Marcel Drive, that road will take you to Marcel Siding and another great photo location.  Turn on that road but please drive slow.  The tracks are just .3 miles away but after .2 mile you will reach another dirt road to the left. 

Take it and follow it around the hill to a great place for early to mid morning photos in the summer of trains as they exit tunnel #10 and go through a couple of reverse curves.  Parking is very easy and you can easily turn around in there also.

Continuing past this road and going to the tracks will get you to Marcel Siding.  Turning left takes you really nowhere and going right will take yoou to several places you can get photos of the trains as they progress through Marcel.  These photos though are more of the "Power Shot" variety because with the various curves along the siding, it is difficult to get more than just the engines in a photo.

Travel another .6 miles to the location of fantastic photos of uphill trains as they exit tunnel #10.  Park in the cutout and walk past the fence to a path that will take you to a large tree where you can get those early morning in winter, or late morning in summer photos.

The next dirt road is my favorite.  Just .3 miles later is the road to your right that you can drive on that will take you to a great place to park and watch trains in the Loop all morning or early afternoon.

There are several paths that you can walk along to the many different angles and photo locations near here of the Loop.  Enjoy this area!  From here you can get photos of the entire train in the Loop, downhill trains as they approach tunnle #10, trains as they cross Tehachapi Creek at the fifth crossing bridge, and trains as they negociate the loop.  Many different photos are possible of the same train.

Just another .1 mile down Woodford/Tehachapi Road iare the Loop Monuments that were erected so people could read about the loop.  The view is ok, but through the years the trees are growing to the point that it is getting harder to actually see the Loop!

From this location, you could crawl under a fence on the other side of the road and climb up the hillside about 100 feet to a better place for photos that is next to a fenced off old well.  Place to stand is obvious.  Just be careful as you climb...it is very steep.

The intersection for Broome Road is another .7 miles along the road.  Broome Road is the road that will take you to the grade crossing at the Loop.  I will explain that area in its own section.

Another .1 mile is where you can get good afternoon photos of uphill trains as they approach the Loop.  After that the Woodford/Tehachapi Road goes another 2.4 miles to the intersection with exit #139 in Keene.  Those locations will be covered in the next section so I will not go into detail here.

THE LOOP "WALONG"

From Woodford/Tehachapi Road turn onto Broome Road where I described and follow it just .3 miles to the grade crossing at the Loop.  From here you can get to several great photo locations around the Loop.

Some things you need to remember as you are in this vacinity.  You are now on railroad property.  As you walk to the several places around the Loop remember that.  If you are approached and asked to leave please do so without a scene.  There are other places  to go.

The railroad uses this siding called Walong frequently.  If a train stops...DO NOT ever try to climb over or through it.  Just wait.  Under no circumstances be unsafe or careless.

The old photo locations for the fifth crossing over Tehachapi Creek on the other side of the Loop from the grade crossing are really not that good anymore.  I recomend that you not even try.

The cross at the top of the hill on the inside of the Loop was erected in memory of the two crewmen Conductor Everett S. Crown and Brakeman Allen R. Riess killed in the derailment of a Southern Pacific train in Cajon Pass on 5/12/89.  There is a small monument next to a bench on the inside of the Loop near tunnel #9.

From the grade crossing, if you walked .1 mile to the left, soon you would come to the end of a small siding and a small hill that you could stand on for great photos of trains in either direction.  There is a dirt road that goes toward the lower track as it approaches tunnel #9 and if you were to walk down that road you could climb over a gate to the location of stunning late afternoon summer or winter photos of downhill trains as they exit the tunnel.

If the train is long enough, you will also get it on top of itself, and if you are really lucky, you will get its own helpers on top of the tunnel.  I have several times.

From the upper track, you can get photos of trains as they enter or approach tunnel #9 from either direction.  This location is just another .1 mile from the small hillside I mentioned earlier.

From the grade crossing to the right are great locations for photos of downhill trains as they exoit tunnel #10 and begin their journey around the Loop.  You can't go wrong in the Loop just work your sun angles and you can literally take photos all day long in any season.

Just remember to stay as far away from the tracks as you can and be safe.  This area is one of the Union Pacific's biggest security sensitive areas in Tehachapi Pass so do not do anything stupid, and be polite if approached.