The Tehachapi Loop

The Tehachapi Loop is a spiral loop through the Tehachapi Pass in the Tehachapi Mountains. More specifically it is located in southern California. The line connects Mojave in the Antelope Valley to Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley on the other side of the mountains. The purpose of the loop is to reduce the grade of line. Once on the loop a train loses (or gains – depending on the direction of travel) 77 feet of elevation over almost three quarters of a mile. This makes it a safe 2% grade. Construction of the line and the loop began on November 8, 1874 and finished on September 5, 1876. The first train to use the brand new loop arrived at Los Angeles from San Francisco. It has been in heavy use ever since. In the summer of 1952 an earthquake shut down the Tehachapi Loop until repairs could be made. Today, the Union Pacific does not allow passenger trains to use the Tehachapi Loop.

The fun part of the loop is that the track crosses over itself, so that if a train in long enough, about 3,900 feet, it one can see the engine and the end of the train at the same time, one on top of the other. If you would like to experience this phenomenon yourself the Tehachapi Loop is at co-ordinates Latitude: 35°12′03″N and Longitude: 118°32′13″. This is a partial quote from the commemorative plaque at a stop where you can watch the trains go round: “In front of you is the world famous Tehachapi Loop which is about halfway upgrade to the Tehachapi Pass. This steep line averages 2.2% in gradient in its 28 miles of length. This feat of civil engineering genius was the crowning achievement of civil engineer William Hood of the Southern Pacific Railway Company. It is one of the seven wonders of the railroad world.” Many post cards have been made of this event. I have this older post card and a much more modern card. This post card has a train drawn in on the loop. It is the orange streak in the middle of the card. I am not sure who printed the card, but it was published by the M. Kashower Co. of Los Angeles, CA. It is from the white border era (1915 – 1930). I blogged about a card last month: also from M. Kashower, also from southern California. It was the train passing through orange groves.

Their company logo was on the back of that card as it is on the back of this post card. BUT, the logo has changed. This is the earlier logo, because the previous card was from the linen card (1930 – 1945) era. That logo was a bear (California symbol) in a circle with an M on our left and a K on our right hand side. This is an angel (symbol of Los Angeles) in the circle facing to our left and holding something (maybe a torch) in its right hand. The words M. Kashower Company are on the top, inside of the circle and Los Angeles, Cal are on the bottom, inside of the circle.