12 photos included after text.

Tehachapi Pass is named after the town of Tehachapi, CA which happens to be located almost in the middle of its namesake mountain pass with the summit for Tehachapi Pass actualy just east of town near exit #151 for Tehachapi Blvd off of Route 58.  Tehachapi is a medium sized town of around 70,00 people and at an altitude of 3970 Feet. 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Route 58 still is the main roadway in the area and has Tehachapi served by three exits.   First exit is #151 east of town for Tehachapi Blvd, then exit #149 for Mill Street and finally exit #148 for the other side of Tehachapi Blvd aka Tucker Road or Route 202.

There are plenty of better choices for traveling amenities in Tehachapi, CA however they are slightly more expensive.  Gas is about 25 cents higher than surrounding towns and hotel rooms are in the $100.00 a night range.  Tehachapi has a couple of better quality chain hotels and a couple of good local hotels.

Route 58 has gas and hotels at exits #151 and #149.  The Tucker Road Route 202 exit #148 doesn't have anything unless you travel away from Route 58 into town.

Tehachapi, CA has a small town appeal but has a lot of activities to do.  There are no malls or Super Walmarts, but there is a K-Mart and regular shopping centers.  For more on Tehachapi's activities and accomadations you could visit their website at www.tehachapi.com. 

In the Tehachapi Area I will cover the railroad trackage from the overpass for Route 58 at Tehachapi Blvd exit #151, through town, Cable Siding, and the tunnels 14, 15, 16, and 17.

SUMMIT

The actual summit of Tehachapi Pass is just east of downtown Tehachapi and is 4028 feet.  Exit Route 58 at exit #151 for Tehachapi Blvd and you will see the tracks immediately north of the road.  Follow Tehachapi Blvd into town and after .2 mile you will see Steuber Road with the old grade for the long dismantled wye just .2 miles after it.  Summit crest is another .2 miles and anywhere in here you can get photos.

Compared to other places these photos are somewhat dull but do carry historical significance so trains goingh away from town are best in the mornings and trains going toward town are best in the afternoons.  Work your sun angle for the season.

TEHACHAPI, CA

Continue along Tehachapi Blvd to arrive in downtown Tehachapi.  There are no real great photo locations near downtown except off of Green Street where the depot is and the old water tank.  Photos with these structures would only be good in the early morning or late afternoon in summer only.

While in downtown you could visit the model railroading store at 114 Tehachapi Blvd across the street from the depot.  They have a nice selection of items in many scales.

A couple of blocks farther down Tehachapi Blvd you will find The Mountain Crossing Restaurant next to a Best Western "Country Park" Hotel.  This restaurant has a demonstration layout of the Loop and for .25 cents you can watch a train complete a trip around the layout.  This layout is really nice and is maintained by a local model railroad club so if you feel like it, a donation in their box would be appreciated and go to a great cause.

Two more nice hotels are next door to the Best Western and the K-Mart is just past them.  After the K-Mart is the "T" intersection for Tucker Road or Route 202.

ROUTE 202 OVERPASS

This overpass is directly between the Route 58 exit #148 for Route 202 and the intersection of Tehachapi Blvd with Route 202 or Tucker Road.  From the intersection of Tehachapi Blvd and Route 202, the overpass is only 1/4 mile away but there are no sidewalks to safely stand in for photos.  Your best bet is to get to the embankments and photograph from there.

To do that, find the dirt road that is only 250 feet north of the intersection of Tehachapi Blvd and Route 202.  It is to the west of the road and climbs a small hill before it curves to the right and goes toward the overpass and the tracks.  (This is also the same road that will get you to Cable Siding.)

Follow this road .1 mile to where there is another road going to the left.  Right now go to the right and the overpass is right there.  Park nearby and set up for your photos.  Uphill trains are best in the early morning in winter and those downhill trains are better in the afternoons also in winter.

CABLE SIDING FROM A SERVICE ROAD

From the road toward the overpass, now go to the left and follow this portion of the dirt road for another .2 miles.  Along the way you will see another split in the road but either way will get you there.  After another .2 miles you will be right next to the tracks. 

Make positivly sure that there is not a train coming when you travel the next .1 mile because you are almost driving on the ties.  Be very careful.  Only another 1/4 mile you will arrive at a great curve where you could spend alot of the day photographing trains.

There are several hillsides here that you can climb up on for better angles.  Work the sun angles for your location.

There is a picnic bench on a paved path on top of one of these hills and you can get to it easily without driving down the dirt road if you don't want to.  This path leads from Meadowood Park and that park is easy to get to.

From the intersection of Tehachapi Blvd and Route 202, Tehachapi Blvd turns into Red Apple Ave.  Follow Red Apple Ave for .8 miles to the "T" intersection for Westwood Road.  Turn right and then immediately right again into the park.  Park and then follow the path that is near the entrance of the park as it curves around the baseball fields and continues toward the tracks.

A short time later, you will arrive at a "T".  Go to the right and then take the next left to the picnic table.

Back in Cable on the dirt road, that road will follow the curve to a set of signals and a crossover.  It will continue past those signals and go all the way to the other side of Cable Siding but you will be on Union Pacific property and I don't recomend that travel.  Photos are better from the several locations off of Route 58 in my opinion anyway.

CABLE SIDING FROM ROUTE 58

Route 58 continues along Cable Siding from exit #148 in Tehachapi to the Broome Road exit #142 which is the only way you can turn around for other photos. 

Begin at exit #148 and travel downhill 2.4 miles to an opening that you can park in that is near tunnel #17.  Walk back uphill to a hill that you can climb up to get a better view of uphill trains as they exit the tunnel.  From that angle, you will be able to shoot over the traffic on Route 58 so don't worry.

Traveling another .5 miles downhill on Route 58 will bring you to places that you will see the other tunnels.  Photos are only ok here because of short lived sun angles, the obstructions you would have to work around and the fact that you can't park on the roadway and wait for a train. 

If one shows up while you are here get it, but don't wait.  I would continue another 2.9 miles to the Broome Road exit #142.  Turn around and return toward Tehachapi on Route 58.  There are more photo locations on this side of the roadway.

Just 2.1 miles from the Broome Road exit is a dirt road that will go down an incline that you can park on.  Don't go any farther because the road becomes very steep and should be used by off-road vehicles only.  You could follow this road as it parallels the creek and travels in front of tunnels 14-16, but there really aren't great photos that close to the tracks.

The next photo location is another mile along Route 58 to a open area just past tunnel 17.  This is opposite the location on the other side of the road.  You could take great photos here if you wanted.

The first good dirt road to the tracks is .5 miles farther and it is at the north turnout for Cable Siding.  There is another smaller siding there that the railroad uses for MOW equipment and setouts.  This is a great location for late afternoon in summer photos of downhill trains in Cable.

This road will also go down the hill to the tracks and you could drive on it all the way to the other side of Cable but again, I do not recomend that.

Another road that yields good photos is another 1/2 mile away.  From there you could go to the edge of the hillside and get photos of trains in either direction.  Work your sun angles so uphill trains are good in the morning more in winter, and downhill trains are better in the late afternoon in summer.   

The last road from Route 58 that goes downhill to the tracks in Cable is 1.1 miles farther and is not a really good road unless you have a 4x4 and love life extreme.  It is very steep and rough.  There are some places for photos at the top of the hillside again near the edge but you will have to work around some trees.

The other way to more photo locations is off of the Woodford/Tehachapi Road and I will explain that way in the next section covering the Loop itself.