Tehachapi Loop

The problem was not the mountain but the gradient: an 1870s locomotive could not pull much more than two percent, and the pass demanded more. William Hood's answer was to add track rather than steepen it. A 3,779-foot spiral wraps a conical knoll and gains 77 feet in a single circle, the lower leg running through Tunnel 9 beneath the upper. Any train longer than about 3,800 feet crosses above its own rear cars. The geometry has not been altered since 1876, and Union Pacific still sends about thirty-six freight trains a day around it.

What the plaque says

CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL LANDMARK TEHACHAPI LOOP FROM THIS SPOT MAY BE SEEN A PORTION OF THE WORLD-RENOWNED "LOOP." IT WAS COMPLETED IN 1876 UNDER THE DIRECTION OF WILLIAM HOOD, SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD ENGINEER. IN GAINING ELEVATION AROUND CENTRAL HILL OF LOOP A 4000-FOOT TRAIN WILL CROSS 77 FEET ABOVE ITS REAR CARS IN TUNNEL BELOW. DEDICATED OCTOBER 25, 1953 MARKER PLACED BY KERN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BAKERSFIELD PARLOR NO. 42 N.S.G.W. EL TEJON PARLOR NO. 239 N.D.G.W. KERN COUNTY MUSEUM SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD STATE REGISTERED LANDMARK NO. 508

Where it stands

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