Tehachapi Pass?


quakers1

quakers1

The Blue Man
I was looking into a line in the west that is not modeled often. I came up the BNSF/UP joint line through the Tehachapi Pass in California. Doing that line in N Scale would be pretty cool. But is the famous Tehachapi Loop easy to model?

-quakers1
 
The loop has been done on a few layouts but it's not easy at all. I think the only rival is the Horseshoe Curve in terms of making it look right. You need a lot of space. Use Google Earth and have a look at the prototype. It takes about 10 square miles of scenery for every mile of track to give the locale a believable look. There are also a lot of elevation changes, both in the track and surrounding countryside. The loop has two season, late winter and spring, when it's as green as Ireland, and the rest of the year, when it's the golden brown that gave the Golden State its name. Both are not easy to get right and you need to really study the terrain to get trees, fences, and rock outcroppings in just the right places. Also, if you want to convince railfans that you've modeled the loop, you need to have places that aren't even near the loop, like Caliente Store, a favorite stop for snacks and cold drinks.

Like I wrote, the Loop has been done on a number of a layouts. A few have been really excellent and the rest were OK to terrible. But your question was if the Loop is easy to model. I'll have to give you a resounding NO on that! :)
 
en book from Kalmbach > "Classic Railroads You Can Model" > side 52 to 57 ;)

for N-Skala : space horizion. = 14 ft. / space vertic. = 7,6 ft. / minimum radius = 15.00 in.
 
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I think its workable. They've pulled it off very well at the model railroad museum here in San Diego. The loop is not quite done yet, but.
 
I never thought that the loop was hard. But it sounds like it! I'll need alot of space for the Tehachapi Loop in N scale?:confused: It never seemed like it to me. And I thought I would need the most space for the 2 yards and several industries in Bakersfield!?

-quakers1
 
The loop is actually quite huge! Unless you steepen the grade it take up a considerable amount of space.
 
I realize I'm more than a little late here but thought I'd comment anyways.

I think "hard" is a matter of your design & what you want to achieve. I've built a Loop layout in N scale with just the Loop itself (Tunnels 9 & 10) that takes up only 4'x6' plus a small extension. Min. radius on the Loop is 19" and the grades are a mix of 2% & 3%. My staging tables are not efficiently situated, so they do add considerably to the footprint (more than the actual layout).

It wasn't particularly hard to build -- there are few structures, the trackwork is pretty simple, and not a ton of trees. I had few scratchbuilt items (the tunnel portals, one turnout, and a few very small outbuildings) and I kitbashed the Walong signal bridge from the NSN kit.

There are lots of online photos available, so getting info is straightforward.

If anyone is still interested, I can post a pic or two.

Regards,
Ed
 
Ed, I'd love to see what you've done. I think your approach is proabably the best. Tunnels 9 and 10 are what most people think of when they say "The Loop" and modeling that smaller portion of the the Loop makes for a believable scene without taking up a four car garage. I used to spend a lot of time up there railfanning when I lived in southern California and I really miss it sometimes.
 
I've seen it done several times in N scale and HO......The smallest radius I would use is 20"-22"R! that would keep your grade at or close to 2.5%. Your going to need at least a 5'x5' area to model it too. do a Google search and you'll find a few in N and HO. You won't be able to model is as is so your going to have to make some trade offs! George Town loop as been done to! that's another neat loop too! Good luck!
 
 
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I want to see a pic of how you put the staging and a over view of the whole thing! your Idea is great..........
 
That's some really nice modeling. Is this just a diorama, or does the layout continue behind the scenes?
 
Duh, thanks, Chris, I get it now. Walong, that's a great job on getting the Loop look down. Certainly one of the best jobs I've seen in a relatively small space.
 
Thanks all, glad you've enjoyed it.

I guess it's as much a diorama as it is a layout. There aren't any other scenes (yet), tho I did want to make something that could easily be expanded or built into a larger layout. One main goal was to fit it onto a 4x6 so that it could be moved out of the basement in one piece, if ever necessary. But if I had it to do over, I'd make it maybe 20%-30% or so larger, in two pieces, and base the trackplan upon the satellite photo. (See http://maps.live.com/?v=2&where1=Walong, CA&encType=1 Click on "Aerial" & zoom in)

The staging is downright cheesy -- just a pair of 3x8 tabletops, each with a quick-and-dirty 3-track return loop (the staging is inefficient, in that it eats up more space than the layout). It's basically a railfanning/dispatching design, no switching (like the prototype).

If I were to expand, I'd probably go northbound/downhill from the other end of Tunnel 9 to the 5th Crossing bridge toward Woodford. Southbound/uphill, I'd perhaps add something depicting Tunnels 14-17.

Originally, I had wanted to do a full-scale sized Loop which would be a 43" radius in N scale. I actually have the space to fit it, but then I realized I would need several 100 car trains for it to look right (too hard with truck-mount couplers and 2.2% grades). I also did a quick mockup, and noted that to my eye the trains started to look "lost" when the curves got over 32" radius or so.

Regards,
Ed
 
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walong said:
Thanks all, glad you've enjoyed it.

I guess it's as much a diorama as it is a layout. There aren't any other scenes (yet), tho I did want to make something that could easily be expanded or built into a larger layout. One main goal was to fit it onto a 4x6 so that it could be moved out of the basement in one piece, if ever necessary. But if I had it to do over, I'd make it maybe 20%-30% or so larger, in two pieces, and base the trackplan upon the satellite photo. (See http://maps.live.com/?v=2&where1=Walong, CA&encType=1 Click on "Aerial" & zoom in)

The staging is downright cheesy -- just a pair of 3x8 tabletops, each with a quick-and-dirty 3-track return loop (the staging is inefficient, in that it eats up more space than the layout). It's basically a railfanning/dispatching design, no switching (like the prototype).

If I were to expand, I'd probably go northbound/downhill from the other end of Tunnel 9 to the 5th Crossing bridge toward Woodford. Southbound/uphill, I'd perhaps add something depicting Tunnels 14-17.

Originally, I had wanted to do a full-scale sized Loop which would be a 43" radius in N scale. I actually have the space to fit it, but then I realized I would need several 100 car trains for it to look right (too hard with truck-mount couplers and 2.2% grades). I also did a quick mockup, and noted that to my eye the trains started to look "lost" when the curves got over 32" radius or so.

Regards,
Ed
Click to expand...

Ed, when it comes to n scale it really shines as a mainline modeling scale and less of a switching scale!JMO My next layout depending on which one I decide to go with will be more or less more mainline heavy than switching:) If one were to want switching layout HO would be a better choice.......... I would still like a pic of your staging yards! anyways Kudos on a great layout and taking full advantage of the N scale:D
 
Ed, the trains really do get lost in the landscape on the real Loop, which is what makes you scene look more believable. N scale real allows you to use large radius curves and still have the landscape dominate the railroad. As you know, a lot of the Loop is actually pretty boring so modeling the section from Tunnel 9 up to about Tunnel 15 and the tunnel that got daylighted after the '52 quake (I always forget the number of that tunnel) would encompass most of the interesting parts of the Loop.
 
I love the Tehachapi Loop. I'm in awe of the modeling job you've done Ed. A little self-indulgence here, but I used to fly from George AFB(Victorville) in the 80's and would run up into the Sierra's north of the loop. I'd often take time on the way back to run an 'attack' on the bridge at Tehachapi Loop. One day popping out of a low-level for the attack, there was a train in there. What a fun day! But I digress.
 
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