Amtrak in Tehachapi

[sweatytoes15]

Thanks for a great video! This route between Mojave and Bakersfield, shared by UP and BNSF, was once the pre_Amtrak route of the great SP train, "The San Joaquin Daylight" and the great ATSF passenger train, "San Francisco Chief"!

[AxeBrand1]

Splendid upload.

Very well done - You have quite nicely and perfectly recorded while following the train.

Thanks for sharing.

[huskinsonjr]

I love trains but traveling on Amtrak Trains sucks.

[nashgallo]

There's 2 Coast Starlights? O.O

[Yellownealy]

@nashgallo One northbound, one southbound

[papoocanada]

Marvellous ! so well done! tks



[JohnnyNCindy]

Oh Wow, I live not too far from the Tehachapi Loop and I completely missed it. This is actually the first I’ve heard of this and I have no idea what I was doing at the time to miss such a grand event like this. In fact I would have missed work for this.

[eddog6666]

I only count eight on google Earth. are you sure that the Tracks at Tehachapi Loop is a tunnle instead of a bridge?

[cchan006]

@eddog6666: Tunnel numbers are historic. Might want to read up on Tehachapi history as some of the tunnels no longer exist.

[eddog6666]

@cchan006 Where are the tunnels that no longer exist? I looked everywhere for imformation but no luck.

[cchan006]

@eddog6666: Tunnels 4, 6, 11, 12, and 13 are gone. The information is out there. Not difficult to find by Google.

[TrainDr101]

@eddog6666: Tunnels that still exist: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15. Tunel's 1/2, 4, & 6 were daylighted after the 1952 earthquake, & 11-12 were daylighted at some point. More tunnels could be daylighted in a long range plan by UP to increase double trackage on the hill.

[cchan006]

@NateSmall22: Yeah, I used a vintage 1998 camcoder to take the footage.

[jeffdarga100]

Any idea how fast he's moving at the beginning of the vid ?

[cchan006]

@jeffdarga100: Track speed for freights is 60 mph there. My guess is he was going at least that fast, maybe a little faster.

[joseGT22]

muy bueno

[Ischaue]

Irgendwann sitze ich auch in einen solchen Zug. Am liebsten per Schiff über den Ozean ;-))

[MungoPoPo]

Amtrak rocks and soon it will become the elite of all rail travel! Great food and great service, who could ask for more? T.C. 4-18-2010

[driver702]

Damn your good, hope you caught it!!! LOL.

[sparks1504]

i was on this train 06/22/08 , LA to Seattle thru the Tehachapi, it was a railfans dream :)

[sparks1504]

ohh pardon me, i was on #14 headed north , but it was the same date :)

[SaberTanker22]

The japan high speed 500 series would smoke am track in the dirt.

[sideslide23]

good luck trying to keep up with this train, alghough you did pretty well keeping up with this train this was a nice one, in 10 years from now, you should try keeping up with the California High speed train, umm no you can't it will travel 220 MPH.

[pecosvalleychief]

Great stuff! I was aboard Silver Solarium that day, you caught me in the vestibule door at Caliente.

[voiceonthehill]

Nice video--thank you for not making it HD--I could actually watch it without my computer starting and stopping the action (it's an older computer...).

Wish you could still travel over Tehachapi by train...sigh.

[Coastergeekperson04]

That's what they should do on the San Joaquins once a day. Just set the schedule so delays won't be a problem.

[ThomasRivette]

I heard Union Pacific made rail fanning in Tehachapi illegal.

[cchan006]

Depends on where, and how you railfan. If you are away from the ROW and are on public street, you should be OK. The trackside access to the Loop is no longer allowed, which is where many old timers used to hang out.

[ThomasRivette]

What's the ROW?

[cchan006]

ROW = Right Of Way, usually the tracks themselves and the surrounding property owned by the railroad.

[SuperScratch1]

Wow wish I had been there - sad story!! Self plus wife on holiday from Ireland went to The Loop early morning three years ago - nothing, absolutely nothing!!! after several hours a track maintainance machine (Ballast Tamper) trundeled past - PW maint for about 6 hours!! Oh well Maybe on our next holiday to U.S.

[cchan006]

Make sure to avoid Mondays, usually the slowest day of the week due to maintenance. Other railfans, as well as locals have consistently told me this, and I learned it firsthand, too.

[BNforever2009]

Thats a nice video. Like to hear those GE's work hard on those stiff grades. You're the luckiest man alive to capture all that. I never been there but plan on going there next summer and riding the SW Chief from Chicago.

[dpohunter]

Oh man! How I envy you. Been to the Loop a few times...would have loved to have done this route through Mojave as well. Each time in area I book the LaQuinta in Tehachapi and request a highway/trackside room and throw open the window. Don't get good sleep but it's a blast! Thanks so much for posting.

[bossyman15]

say... how do you know what number that train is? like #11 and #14?

[cchan006]

That information is printed on Amtrak schedules and can be found on Amtrak's web site. Engineers, conductors, and dispatchers will use the train numbers when they communicate on radio, and that can be picked up listening to the scanner.

[2TEG]

woooooooooooooooow amtrak crossover. awsome catch. im big fan from uk. amtrak genesises are awsome

[ibook133]

How fast was she goin?  Those gennies can really haul ass.

[cchan006]

I was driving around 60 mph on Edison Highway.

[ibook133]

Imagine real high speed rail vs that 60 mph. :)

[Aobasakura]

I really hope you, Americans, Canadians, to buy Shinkansens, Japanese super bullet trains.

[lisdoddestraat]

why? i found the amtrak a lote more nicer:)

[Comwhiz2002]

Great video! 5*

[SSCexpert]

Definately 5*! Awesome!

[HighwayHank1]

What do you meen "Thanks for watching"

Thanks for posting!!! Great video!!

[195017000]

GENIAL AND MARVELS VIDEO THANK YOU 5*

[choirboyfromhell1]

Lovely footage but it proves how slow the direct route is SF-LA, suspect the high speed rail line will not be close to here.

And glad Dean McCormick got his wish to run his car over this mountain.

[sparks1504]

I was on this train all the way to Seattle, i'll never forget the ride as long as i live. I live in NYC , when i booked my itinerary i had no idea that on this particular day the railfan gods were smiling down upon me , that it would be rerouted through the Tehachapi. At Union Station LA when i was told of this i was shocked. I had no idea :)

[eccentriceric]

i wish to see this in high quality!!! this is heavy!!!!

[Pup1234567]

Great Scot! This is heavy doc....

[andrewbnsf]

he sure did haul ass over sandcut

[OboeShoes]

The new paint scheme is nice and all, but i do miss the original AMD103 paintjob. Some exellent footage anyway :P

[gaycowboy31]

WOW private car Scottish Thistle on train 11 and private car Silver Solarium on train 14 very nice

[web123456788]

my friend was in the tigoa pass private rail car

[gaycowboy31]

unless tioga pass got repainted I believe that PV was the scottish thistle

[tonyrobts]

Hellfire thrash - cheers mate!

[duxberry1958]

must do that line one day

[benharrer]

Great job! Really enjoyed your video.

[ROADTRAIN23]

MAN I HAVE YET 2 SHOOT A TRAIN FROM THIS POINT OF VIEW!!Where exactly did u video from?Was it somewhere above Tunnel 10?

[cchan006]

I posted another video of my riding the Amtrak through Tehachapi recently. In that video, the subtitle says where the hill is relative to the train.

[gaycowboy31]

cool video it figures they would reroute the damn thing over tehachapi loop while I was in Russia I was on the Trans Siberian Railway when they did this it would have been cool to go around the loop

[sparks1504]

what makes it even more of a treat is that i live in NYC, this was meant to be i guess...i flew to LA on the 20th, stayed 2 days and took the starlight.....I went all the way to Seattle, visited friends, and flew back to NY on the 25th :)

[sparks1504]

i stand corrected , i was on the 14 headed north, you were chasing the 11 going south, my bad .....i was in the observation car of the #14 though, i still have the ticket from the excursion, guess i'll always save it, it was a real treat going through the Tehachapi Loop. Originally i thought i would be going over the coast sub but when i was told by some passengers at Union Station LA about the Tehachapi my jaw almost dropped to the floor :)

[cchan006]

Yeah, that makes more sense!

I watched your train descend Cliff, caught up to it at Tunnel 2, then watched the meet with #11 at Caliente. Of course save the ticket stub!

[gaycowboy31]

interesting the private car Scottish Thistle was on the back luckey them

[pdwman]

Kick ASS!

[Davie1954]

I missed the show of 2008. The Bakersfield and Mojave subdivisions of SP San Joaquin Division are my favorite part of railroading. I rode SP 51 in 1966; and SP 52 in 1967, 1969, and 1970 through this area. Each time Harry Albright was the Conductor. I grew up in Glendale. I would go see the trains at the station many times almost from birth.  I am a train nut/fan because my Dad took me to see trains. My cousins--Family Joham--live near the Tehachapi Loop.

[sparks1504]

we remarked about you chasing us. I was in the observation car , center of the train :)

[singwith]

Pretty good!!

[SF3751]

Great job!!!

[CoastStarlight11]

Hard core! 5 stars!

[TrainDr101]

Nice! I couldn't see you above tunnel 10, but I remember seeing you above tunnel 2! What car were you driving?

[cchan006]

The green Honda Element parked on top of Tunnel 2 wasn't mine. I actually ran up the hill from Cal-Bodfish Road. I was the car ahead of the Honda Element on Edison Highway. I broke away at the stop sign to give him a chance for a clear view.

[karldotcom]

Ha, I am on your video.

[cchan006]

After seeing your video, I see you in there, too! Would you agree it was a great day for railfanning?

Thanks for watching!

[BNSFBJ]

WOW Charles,

This Is Like The Most Incredibly Hardcore To The Bone Video On The Face Of The Earth Man - Awesome Awesome Awesome Footage - 5* Production And A Favorite For Sure My Friend!!!!!;-)ROCK ON.

Bryan "BJ" Johnson

[cchan006]

Bryan, thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I had to edit out about 4 to 5 minutes of more stuff, which I plan to post later on.

[mafarnz]

Awesome catch of a rare event! Looks like railfans were on this like stink on a monkey.

[cchan006]

Lots of people at Caliente and Walong, but not so bad elsewhere. Thanks for watching!