[Val] interesting

[Mike Mercury]

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26/37551480358851.jpg

is this to allow for higher speed turns ?

[snide]

My guess is easements and geography necessitated that curve. Doubt the engineer would want to take that at high speed.

[DAB]

lots of elevation to gain in a short space. trains don't do switch backs very well.

[Loco Vette]

lots of elevation to gain in a short space. trains don't do switch backs very well.

:iagree:

[snide]

lots of elevation to gain in a short space. trains don't do switch backs very well.

That train looks like it's going downhill...

[DAB]

That train looks like it's going downhill...

to quote our esteemed resident lawyer:

"you can't tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks"

[99 pewtercoupe]

Horseshoe Curve in western PA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Curve_(Pennsylvania)

[snide]

to quote our esteemed resident lawyer:

"you can't tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks"

True, but I can tell which way the train in the photo posted is going... And it's going downhill. :D

[OddBall]

Is that HO scale?

[erickpl]

That's the Tehachapi Loop, just off Hwy 58 in soCal just east of Bakersfield in California. I assure it's real. :)

The terrain rises nearly 4000' in a short span, so to get trains over the elevation, they did this and made the grade more gradual in this steep part.

Lived not too far from there until we moved to Alabama (NASA move from Dryden to Marshall).

Tehachapi Loop in real time 4K (August 31, 2015) - YouTube

In this video, the train is going uphill towards Tehachapi and Mojave. Tehachapi Pass is about 4000'. Bakersfield is about 200' I think and is to the west (right in the screen). Mojave is at about 2200' (high desert).

Hwy 58 is essentially under the drone that is filming this.
Tehachapi Loop - Wikipedia

[Ol Timer]

Cars have roundabouts. Why should they have all the fun?

[Jasper711]

That's the Tehachapi Loop, just off Hwy 58 in soCal just east of Bakersfield in California. I assure it's real. :)

The terrain rises nearly 4000' in a short span, so to get trains over the elevation, they did this and made the grade more gradual in this steep part.

Lived not too far from there until we moved to Alabama (NASA move from Dryden to Marshall).

Tehachapi Loop in real time 4K (August 31, 2015) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZCYhP1D4O4)

In this video, the train is going uphill towards Tehachapi and Mojave. Tehachapi Pass is about 4000'. Bakersfield is about 200' I think and is to the west (right in the screen). Mojave is at about 2200' (high desert).

Hwy 58 is essentially under the drone that is filming this.
Tehachapi Loop - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehachapi_Loop)

Not wishing to miss all the fun, Canada did something similar. But being Canadians, they hid the loops within two mountains.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hill

[mrvette]

What a loopy way to run a railroad.......:issues::rofl:

[Jobaka]

Tehachapi Loop in real time 4K (August 31, 2015) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZCYhP1D4O4)





That was oddly mesmerizing.

[mrvette]

That's the Tehachapi Loop, just off Hwy 58 in soCal just east of Bakersfield in California. I assure it's real. :)

The terrain rises nearly 4000' in a short span, so to get trains over the elevation, they did this and made the grade more gradual in this steep part.

Lived not too far from there until we moved to Alabama (NASA move from Dryden to Marshall).

Tehachapi Loop in real time 4K (August 31, 2015) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZCYhP1D4O4)

In this video, the train is going uphill towards Tehachapi and Mojave. Tehachapi Pass is about 4000'. Bakersfield is about 200' I think and is to the west (right in the screen). Mojave is at about 2200' (high desert).

Hwy 58 is essentially under the drone that is filming this.
Tehachapi Loop - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehachapi_Loop)

I guess drilling through the Appalachians in Pa. is a hell of a lot easier, for some geo-logical reason......as I remember the birth of the interstate highway system, the Pennsey Turnpike from when I was rather short....and the folks going to Cleveland Ohio/regions west for summer vacations....long drive 8 hours in them daze.....maybe more.....and all the tunnels the pike cut through the mountains......I suppose they not solid granite like out west.....

:dance::shots:

[Datawiz]

Cool vid and all, but that circle is not a 4,000 foot elevation change. Not even sure if it's a 400 foot change.

[Datawiz]

Cool vid and all, but that circle is not a 4,000 foot elevation change. Not even sure if it's a 400 foot change.

Correct!

Rising at a steady 2% grade, the track gains 77 feet (23 m) in elevation in the Loop.[4] A train more than 4,000 feet (1,200 m) long passes over itself going around the loop. At the bottom of the loop, the track passes through Tunnel 9, the ninth tunnel built as the railroad worked from Bakersfield.

[erickpl]

Correct!

Correct, the elevation gain I mentioned was the elevation change from Bakersfield to Tehachapi. The Loop is in one of the steeper areas between the two to help the trains handle the grade.

Sorry if I wasn't clear in that.