Following train through Tehachapi Loop

[a425couple]

"Following train through Tehachapi Loop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLb_99f_JSE
Published on Apr 26, 2013
A very cool aerial view of a 4 engine 1.3 mile long BNSF train passing
through the world famous Tehachapi Loop 25 miles outside of Bakersfield
California.
The loop is about 3/4 mile around, and from information in the video, and
using Google Earth I can set the train's length at 1.3 miles. It took about
10 minutes from the moment I took off, for the train to clear the loop and
disappear into the exit tunnel.

Might enjoy some of my other train and railroad related vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra6myR...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fymf0M...
http://vimeo.com/33512219
http://vimeo.com/19649298 "

I saw the Tehachapi Loop a couple of weeks ago.
Seems like a wonderful area to model a track after.

[Christopher A. Lee]

I drove from Missouri to the Bay Area via the I-40 route a couple of
years ago. Going from I-40 to I-5 via Bakersfield takes you by the
loop, so I stopped off there to watch the trains - it's an amazing
sight. I'd obviously heard about it and seen video, but I'd never been
there.

On the way back, I stopped off at the giant meteor crater in Arizona.

[a425couple]

"Christopher A. Lee" <c....@fairpoint.net> wrote in message...

> "a425couple" <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>"Following train through Tehachapi Loop
>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLb_99f_JSE
>>Published on Apr 26, 2013
>>A very cool aerial view of a 4 engine 1.3 mile long BNSF train passing
>>through the world famous Tehachapi Loop 25 miles outside of Bakersfield
>>California.

>>I saw the Tehachapi Loop a couple of weeks ago.
>>Seems like a wonderful area to model a track after.
>
> I drove from Missouri to the Bay Area via the I-40 route a couple of
> years ago. Going from I-40 to I-5 via Bakersfield takes you by the
> loop, so I stopped off there to watch the trains -

Cool!! I'd of liked to have stopped, but my daughter was
driving, and we had a long way yet to go to get to Phoenix.
If it had not of been raining (Yes, yes it was!) I might of
asked to stop for a few minutes, but -----.

> On the way back, I stopped off at the giant meteor crater in Arizona.

Cool. A couple years ago on a car trip, we skipped
Meteor Crater, but did the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon.

How impressive did you think Meteor Canyon was?

Have you ever seen the Berkley Pit? - that's a big deep hole!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit
1,780 feet deep, about 7,000 feet wide!

Meanwhile, as I said above

>>Seems like a wonderful area to model a track after.

There are indeed model train tracks built with it in mind:

Tehachapi Pass - HO Scale - Part 1 6:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meZQFqTe27k
This is an HO scale layout at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.
The layout models Tehachapi Pass. See Part 1 for Caliente and Ilmon.
Filmed on 7/31/2010
Part 1 ends as the train is about to enter the tunnel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLE1_pI-EG8

Tehachapi Layout June Modern Operating Session 2013 HD 14:58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX3W5gwCKVc

Tehachapi Layout January Modern Operating Session HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8wQkwPY4F8

NS HO scale looping on the Tehachapi Loop GGMR 2:12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh6-kwGZHdk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OGnW_8vLcA
Tehachapi Layout 3 Way Meet HD

[Christopher A. Lee]

I've never been to Montana.

I lived my first 40-something years in Britain before moving to the US
to work in Silly Cone Valley.

>Meanwhile, as I said above
>>>Seems like a wonderful area to model a track after.
>There are indeed model train tracks built with it in mind:
>
>Tehachapi Pass - HO Scale - Part 1 6:36
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meZQFqTe27k
>This is an HO scale layout at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.
>The layout models Tehachapi Pass. See Part 1 for Caliente and Ilmon.
>Filmed on 7/31/2010
>Part 1 ends as the train is about to enter the tunnel.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLE1_pI-EG8
>
>Tehachapi Layout June Modern Operating Session 2013 HD 14:58
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX3W5gwCKVc
>
>Tehachapi Layout January Modern Operating Session HD
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8wQkwPY4F8
>
>NS HO scale looping on the Tehachapi Loop GGMR 2:12
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh6-kwGZHdk
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OGnW_8vLcA
>Tehachapi Layout 3 Way Meet HD

That layout was on my list to see, but I never made it. When I lived
in California I never went further South than Dana Point where a
fellow British expatriate and fellow British O-scale modeller lived.

Britain has its own Tehachapi-like loop on the 2' gauge Festiniog
Railway. This is the oldest surviving railway company in the world.

The Northern end was severed when the Llyn (Welsh for "lake") Ystradau
reservoir was built as part of a pumped hydro-electric storage scheme
for the now closed Trawsfynydd nuclear power station, flooding the
original trackbed North of Dduallt as well as the Moelwyn tunnel.

So for many years, the tourist service terminated at Ddualt.

But one of the major achievements of the British volunteer-run railway
preservation movement, was a new trackbed above the reservoir, which
was 35' higher than the old one.

So a loop was built at Dduallt staion, and a new 300 yard tunnel built
through the Moelwyns. Almost entirely by volunteers.

https://goo.gl/maps/sWrRdFTHeHN2

[a425couple]

Amazing all!
I've just spend a hour about that all area on Google maps & google.
A thousand questions to ask, but,,,,,,,,,
By any chance is that where Thomas the tank engine runs?

Thomas the Tank Engine - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_the_Tank_Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The
Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son,
Christopher. He became the ...

Thomas & Friends New Theme Song 1:16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soBZw6LwjXY

Thomas & Friends: Discover the Latest News and Activities
www.thomasandfriends.com/
Spend a Day Out With Thomas! Take a train ride with your child's
favorite No. 1 Engine, meet Sir Topham Hatt, and enjoy more fun
activities-coming soon to a ...

Thomas & Friends | PBS KIDS
pbskids.org/thomasandfriends/
Be a really useful engine with online games, videos, and printable
activities with Thomas & Friends.

Thomas the the tank engine full episode - YouTube
Video for Thomas the tank engine 9:55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iGoWBrJpk4
Feb 29, 2012 - Uploaded by mattman978
Thomas the Train! Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends' Fill-Up
Pit Stop Trackmaster Set Playtime - Duration ...

There´s two, there´s four, there´s six, there´s eight,
Shunting trucks and hauling freight.
Red and green and brown and blue,
they're the Really Useful Crew.
All with different roles to play,
round Tidmouth Sheds or far away.
Down the hills and round the bends,
Thomas and his friends.
Thomas, he's the cheeky one.
James is vain but lots of fun.
Percy pulls the mail on time.
Gordon thunders down the line.
Emily really knows her stuff.
Henry toots and huffs and puffs.
Edward wants to help and share.
Toby, well let's say, he's square!
They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight,
shunting trucks and hauling freight.
Red and green and brown and blue,
they're the Really Useful Crew.
All with different roles to play,
round Tidmouth Sheds or far away.
Down the hills and round the bends,
Thomas and his friends.
They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight,
shunting trucks and hauling freight.
Red and green and brown and blue,
they're the Really Useful Crew.
All with different roles to play,
round Tidmouth Sheds or far away.
Down the hills and round the bends,
Thomas and his friends!

[Charles Ellson]

On Tue, 28 Feb 2017 20:15:09 -0800, "a425couple"

<snip>
The original is a fictional character; the ones that you see running
around are using the appearance under licence; there are quite a few
of them.

The fictional island in the books is Sodor.
"Sodor and Man" is a diocese of the Church of England which includes
the (real) Isle of Man (not part of England).
The author of the TTTE books was the Reverend W Awdry (1911-1997), a
CoE cleric - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbert_Awdry who had an
interest in railways (and worked on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales in
the 1950s).
Add that lot together and you have the ingredients which lead to "The
Three Railway Engines" (originating from stories invented to entertain
his son while he was ill with measles) and the following Thomas the
Tank engine books.

The closest to a "real" locomotive associated with the books is Gordon
rather than Thomas :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMR_600_Gordon but
that is named after General Charles Gordon. It was built in Glasgow in
1943 and spent its working life on the Longmoor Military Railway in
Hampshire; at that time W Awdry was in Birmingham. The names thus
appear to be a coincidence while the army locomotive probably didn't
match colour until after the war when most locomotives (military or
otherwise) were simply painted black.
http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/12/postscripts_to_longmoor.htm
refers to _some_ LMR locomotives being painted blue rather than the
usual green in the post-war period so you might again have a simple
coincidence. The LMR Gordon is a 2-10-0 while the one in the book is a
4-6-2.

[a425couple]

"Christopher A. Lee" <c....@fairpoint.net> wrote in message...
> "a425couple" <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>"Christopher A. Lee" <c....@fairpoint.net> wrote in message...
>>> "a425couple" <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>>"Following train through Tehachapi Loop
>>>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLb_99f_JSE

>>> I drove from Missouri to the Bay Area via the I-40 route a couple of
>>> years ago. Going from I-40 to I-5 via Bakersfield takes you by the
>>> loop, so I stopped off there to watch the trains -
>>Cool!! I'd of liked to have stopped, but my daughter was
>>driving, and we had a long way yet to go to get to Phoenix.
>>If it had not of been raining (Yes, yes it was!) I might of
>>asked to stop for a few minutes, but -----.
>>
>>> On the way back, I stopped off at the giant meteor crater in Arizona.
>>

>>How impressive did you think Meteor Canyon was?

> -----

> I've never been to Montana.
>
> I lived my first 40-something years in Britain before moving to the US
> to work in Silly Cone Valley.

Are you still in California?
I would suggest that you really ought to some time
tour Yellowstone Park. It is very interesting and unique.

[Christopher A. Lee]

On Thu, 2 Mar 2017 06:10:41 -0800, "a425couple"

<a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>"Christopher A. Lee" <c....@fairpoint.net> wrote in message...
>> "a425couple" <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>"Christopher A. Lee" <c....@fairpoint.net> wrote in message...
>>>> "a425couple" <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>"Following train through Tehachapi Loop
>>>>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLb_99f_JSE
>>>> I drove from Missouri to the Bay Area via the I-40 route a couple of
>>>> years ago. Going from I-40 to I-5 via Bakersfield takes you by the
>>>> loop, so I stopped off there to watch the trains -
>>>Cool!! I'd of liked to have stopped, but my daughter was
>>>driving, and we had a long way yet to go to get to Phoenix.
>>>If it had not of been raining (Yes, yes it was!) I might of
>>>asked to stop for a few minutes, but -----.
>>>
>>>> On the way back, I stopped off at the giant meteor crater in Arizona.
>>>
>>>How impressive did you think Meteor Canyon was?

It was amazing.

>> I've never been to Montana.
>>
>> I lived my first 40-something years in Britain before moving to the US
>> to work in Silly Cone Valley.
>
>Are you still in California?
>I would suggest that you really ought to some time
>tour Yellowstone Park. It is very interesting and unique.

As the piece of string said, I'm a frayed knot.

I did get to Yosemite quite a few times. Coming into it from the
South, gives one of the most spectacular views I've seen on both sides
of the Atlantic as you comeout of the tunnel at Inspiration Point,
park the car and look down and along the valley towards Half Dome.

I'm now in small-town Missouri but there is plenty of action. I'm
close to an extremely busy North-South freight line and there is
another just over the river.

It's pretty flat around here. I don't often drive down to Kansas City
but there's an excellent model train store (Doc's Caboose) and there's
plenty of action with huge rail yards as well as Amtrak, not to
mention the Airline History Museum and the TWA Museum, both at the
downtown airport - there are a Constellation and a 1011.

[a425couple]

"Christopher A. Lee" <c....@fairpoint.net> wrote in message ...
> <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>"Christopher A. Lee" <c....@fairpoint.net> wrote in message...
>>> "a425couple" <a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>>"Following train through Tehachapi Loop
>>>>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLb_99f_JSE
>>>>Published on Apr 26, 2013
>>>>A very cool aerial view of a 4 engine 1.3 mile long BNSF train passing
>>>>through the world famous Tehachapi Loop 25 miles outside of Bakersfield
>>>>California.
>>>>I saw the Tehachapi Loop a couple of weeks ago.
>>>>Seems like a wonderful area to model a track after.
>>> I drove from Missouri to the Bay Area via the I-40 route a couple of
>>> years ago. Going from I-40 to I-5 via Bakersfield takes you by the
>>> loop, so I stopped off there to watch the trains -
>>Cool!! I'd of liked to have stopped, but my daughter was
>>driving, and we had a long way yet to go to get to Phoenix.
>>If it had not of been raining (Yes, yes it was!) I might of
>>asked to stop for a few minutes, but -----.
>>

> I've never been to Montana.
> I lived my first 40-something years in Britain before moving to the US

> to work in Silly Cone Valley. ----

>
>>Meanwhile, as I said above
>>>>Seems like a wonderful area to model a track after.

------------------------------

>
> That layout was on my list to see, but I never made it. When I lived
> in California I never went further South than Dana Point where a
> fellow British expatriate and fellow British O-scale modeller lived.
>
> Britain has its own Tehachapi-like loop on the 2' gauge Festiniog
> Railway. This is the oldest surviving railway company in the world.

Very interesting & lovely!!!!
http://www.festrail.co.uk/about.htm
"Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways
About Us
Train travel as it should be done
Outstanding scenery, comfortable carriages and historic steam engines
await you here in the heart of Snowdonia. Glorious coastlines, ancient
oak woodlands, mountains, rivers and castles, all beckon as you embark
on your journey on our award winning railways.
With some of the most comfortable carriages on any preserved railway
- standard or narrow gauge - you can step back in time to a more civilised
age.

Relax and enjoy the stunning scenery of Snowdonia in comfort, with
at-seat buffet service, snacks, refreshments and a fully-licenced bar
featuring locally-brewed award-winning beers.
As the oldest railway company in the world still operating trains,
we know a bit about what makes a journey special. Even a short trip on
our railways will help you unwind - so much so, we think you'll want to
do it all over again...
The Ffestiniog Railway is the world's oldest narrow gauge railway with
almost 200 years of history, taking you on a 13½-mile journey from the
harbour in Porthmadog to the slate-quarrying town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

We still operate three of our original locomotives - over 150 years old--
Our historic trains climb over 700 feet from sea level into the mountains
through tranquil pastures and magnificent forests, past lakes and
waterfalls,
round tight bends (even a complete spiral) "

> The Northern end was severed when the Llyn (Welsh for "lake") Ystradau
> reservoir

As I view things, Google maps was not very helpful.
It called that lake "Tanygrisiau Reservoir".

> But one of the major achievements of the British volunteer-run railway
> preservation movement, was a new trackbed above the reservoir, which
> was 35' higher than the old one.
> So a loop was built at Dduallt staion, and a new 300 yard tunnel built
> through the Moelwyns. Almost entirely by volunteers.
> https://goo.gl/maps/sWrRdFTHeHN2

Sounds neat.
Up in my area, we have a similar, runs from town of
Snoqualmie Washington (actually tracks go just NW
of Snoqualmie Falls) to North Bend.
Northwest Railway Museum
https://www.trainmuseum.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Railway_Museum

[Christopher A. Lee]

On Thu, 2 Mar 2017 11:52:33 -0800, "a425couple"

I've ridden it a few times, before I emigrated to the US. British Rail
used to do weekday circular trip tickets from where I lived
(Manchester, as in the Manchester United soccer team). There were a
lot of changes of train - Crewe, Shrewsbury, Dovey Junction and
Porthmadog onto the Ffestiniog.

Then the ride up the valley to Blaenau Ffestiniog with drinks service
at every seat - there were diaphragms between the cars - on the 2'
gauge. Pulled by one the Double Fairlies.

Change to British Rail again for another train down the Conwy Valley
to change at Llandudno Junction for the express along the North Wales
coast back to Manchester.

I also used to drive there, across the National Park,

The Ffestiniog is now connected to the re-opened Welsh Highland
Railway which operates 2' gauge Beyer Garratts repatriated from South
Africa, While these are too large to operate on the Ffestiniog,
there are through trains.

On special occasions, there is an 80 mile round trip covering both
lines.

But in that area, there are so many narrow gauge lines. There's
Britain's only cog railway up Snowdon and the nearby Padarn Lake
Railway, the Tallyllyn railway and the Vale of Rheidol plus a few
smaller ones.

Most of these were built to carry slate from quarries in the mountains
down to the sea before the main line railway arrived,

I looked at those web sites.

Is the 2-6-6-2 one of the logging articulated Baldwins?

They have a tank engine version at the Niles Canyon Railway, near
where I used to live after I moved to the US.

http://www.ncry.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=541047&module_id=137687&actr=4

Unfortunately, it is awaiting restoration.