K.P, thanks for the updates.
Ken G Price My N-Scale Layout
Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR
N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.
TEHACHAPI: Two-Tracking Updates
Purpose of this Thread
Part II (of I-II)
The environmental impact report had several drawings in its Part II section that would be of interest to many railroaders and railfans. K.P. took cropped photos of some of those very wide illustrations, and they are shown below.
Tunnel 10 before and after:
Tunnel 2 before and after:
Sometime soon, photo based posts will be forthcoming from the December 7, 2012 limited visit to Tehachapi Pass. That visit documented some of the signaling upgrades that have and are currently taking place there, and that will be connected to the two-tracking. A broad overview is hoped to be presented also, with material from the “Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates” and “Cajon Pass Triple-Tracking Updates” threads inserted for comparisons and thread viewers’ enlightenment.
Since this is an open forum, pertinent news contributions, photos, and discussion are welcome.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
Part I (of I-II)
The purpose of this thread is for railroaders and railfans alike that desire awareness of news developments about two-tracking Tehachapi Pass (west slope) and related matters to find that awareness short of actually being there.
In August 2012 the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) issued an excellent environmental impact report (EIR) on the two-tracking of Tehachapi Pass, and it gives much official insight on the project. The 24.48 MB document (270 pages) can be downloaded for viewing, or saved to your computer.
LINK: An Official Government Document (August 2012) on Two-Tracking Tehachapi Pass*
In the above document, pages 1-16 will be of special interest to the average railroader or railfan.
The environmental impact report shows the project encompasses a territory of 25.23 miles, mostly of single-track (Ilmon-Caliente was already two-tracked under Southern Pacific a couple of decades ago), BUT ONLY 8.34 MILES will actually see new two-tracking in the two-tracking project.
The EIR that references BNSF material gives the following technical data and sequence information:
FIRST: Connect the Walong (M.P. 352.07) and Marcel (353.08) sidings -- 1.01 miles (2013-2014). For those unfamiliar with Tehachapi Pass, the circular Walong main and siding is the famed Tehachapi Loop. The Walong siding is only 4800 feet long and hardly practical for meets in today’s 8000-feet or more double-stack era. When the Walong-Marcel track is bridged, it will be like a miracle for Dispatchers. With two-tracks, though, unless modifications are planned, BOTH the north (west) end and south (east) end will have right handed switches, which certainly is untraditional for sure … and safety questionable on a steep grade.
SECOND: An extension of the south end of the Cliff siding (M.P. 343.30-343.64) -- 0.34 miles (2015)
THIRD: Connect the Rowen (M.P. 346.40) and Woodford (M.P. 348.15) sidings -- 1.55 miles (2015-2016)
FOURTH: Connect Caliente (M.P. 335.29) and Bealville (M.P. 338.04) – 2.75 miles (2017-2018)
FIFTH: Connect Bena (M.P. 327.85) and Ilmon (M.P. 327.85) – 2.69 miles (2019-2020)
So, the limited two-tracking project could encompass a lengthy, prolonged 7-8 years!
This forum contributor was on Tehachapi Pass Friday, December 7, 2012 (from the Cajon Pass area) and shares the following photos for those unfamiliar with the area:
The downtown park’s railroad water tower: How about that black widow painted F-unit drawing above the word Tehachapi!
The town of Tehachapi is kind of quaint … but more and more cars are passing through it.
K.P. has eaten at Kelcy’s Restaurant many times over the decades …
… but not this trip! The clock didn’t favor it, but did favor bringing a sack lunch that could be eaten on the fly …
As with the above photos, posts in this thread with photos will generally be limited to three or four 640 x 480 email sized ones each (at least posts from THIS contributor) because many more images and image sizes bigger than that tend to severely bog down thread loading.
Tehachapi Pass for all practical purposes can be divided into three sections: (1) the west slope, railroad north, the main focus of this thread; (2) the top of the mountain, the town of Tehachapi; and (3) the east slope, railroad south.
Continued in Part II
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* The document itself goes by the title: “BNSF Railway/UPRR Mojave Subdivision Tehachapi Rail Improvement Project.”
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