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Amtrak to detour Coast Starlight over Tehachapi Loop
The detour of the Starlight mentioned above is made periodically. It is unfortunate because as you all know it knocks out the prettiest part of the whole journey of the train.
Took the northbound detour trip last February on #14 and it was great. The loop by rail, sitting in the Pacific Parlor Car, what a ride. If you can make the trip, do it, don’t wait for “someday”.
Even thom the San Jouquine is highly successful on the old Santa Fe,with bus over the Tehatchapi from Bakersfield to LA.It would be very much better to run the old SP route that goes all the way by rail and more importantly it runs thru the middle of most vally cities because those cities started out as railroad towns.Modesto uses the old SP dopot as its main bus transit center and there are no trains to connect to.Someday an ACE(altamont comuter express) type may use this depot too.I belive that a change to this route might even be worthy of 2 trains a day.
Maybe you will see something like this
The southbound Starlight is normally scheduled to reach SLO at 3:20 PM. Since SLO is about even with Bakersfield, hopefully this means that passage over Tehachapi will happen during daylight.
Cool! Must make a reservation on the Starlight—want a ride thru the Loop. Are the Pacific Parlour Cars from the old, El Capitan, back on the Starlight, and working? I always see one being repaired in the L.A. yards.
I plan on booking a trip southbound from Oakland to L.A. on March 23, as this a unique opportunity to experience the world famed Tehachapi loop. It’s a wonder they haven’t extended atleast one San Joaquin past Bakersfield, as the only time in the past was the '84 World’s fair Daylight, and occasional reroute of the Amtrak Coast Starlight. It’s been like the old Hogans Heroes Sgt. Schultz I see nothing nothing, and if Gov. Brown didn’t go on all of those rondevious with Ronstadt, maybe he could have intervened and got atleast one San Joaquin past Caliente
Any idea of the schedule? would like to get some pics. as it comes through Modesto
Only southbound?
Makes sense if the “window” for the work is near the Bay Area to about 120 miles south…the SP in me needs to say east instead of south.
I wonder how they’re going to route it; to get to the Sacto’ to Tehachapi line would require a reverse move from Sac. to Elvas, about 4 miles. Or from Roseville, turn left at Elvas…highball Sacramento, and any chance of Oakland/San Francisco/Emeryville. Go into the Bay Area and logically access the WP over the Altamont to its crossing of the Sac-Tehach line, 'cept ain’t no way to go south, said “south” again, without running around the train at Lathrop.
Oscar weekend: the line from “The King and I,”
Is a puzzlement!
are we going to see any pv’s running on these trips? contect pvridertoo@verizon.net
Great! My friend and I will have to make it a point to catch this rare bird as she traverses Tehachapi.
the Tehatchapi Loop is NOT somethingto be missed! if not a passenger, go tothe site-there is a great siteto see the loop and the trains in action. It is well worth any trip to get there and see the Loop.
Last passenger train would have been train #1, the San Francisco Chief of May 2…
Train will detour from Oakland to Los Angeles via Lathrop and Bakersfield due to Union Pacific track work south of San Jose. Train 14 operates outside the work period and will operate on the normal Coast route.
Beg your collective pardons, folks!
During the detour, if the train can go down the Mulford side from Oakland and turn left on the Centerville ‘line at Newark, then take WP over the Altamont to the WP Lathrop crossing of the SP Sacto to Tehachapi maintrack, the inconveniences can be skipped by adding one.
At the crossing a connection constructed when the UP took the WP, turning left got you to SP’ Lathrop, where the San Joaquin- and Sact Daylights exchanged cars and later just passengers.
SP Lathrop is (was) a big wye. One leg continued the main’ from Tehachapi to Sacto and points north east and west from Elvas tower. The adjacent leg bent trains toward the Bay Area via Tracy, the San Joaquin delta and Sacto river. The third connected the 'line to Tracy and the 'line from Tehachapi.
Wye the train there…Thus Oakland is served and no awkward runaround needed.
And if the Mulford side (the Oakl. to San Jose 'line nearest the Bay) can’t be used, the Hayward 'line junction at Niles Tower could wye the train to aim it up the WP mainline and eastward to Lathrop.
If you can, take the ride; I’ve fired or run trains over all of it…dang it…forgot about that Lathrop WP-SP connection, but then I haven’t run over it…'cept the WP side switch…
one more ride…way out there…'Pioneers.
If anybody goes, please post your photos!
Nos. 11 should wye at Haggin after the Sacramento station stop, then scoot down through Lodi, Stockton to Lathrop the way No. 54 did prior to Amtrak. No. 14 should do just the opposite.
Nos. 11 should wye at Haggin after the Sacramento station stop, then scoot down through Lodi, Stockton to Lathrop the way No. 54 did prior to Amtrak. No. 14 should do just the opposite.
I would hope that UP would address the problem with the five or seven RR crossing gates north of Salinas. Nos 14 and 11 has to flag each one those crossings which sabotages the Coast Starlight’s on time performance. Although the track is better than it was, there are some spots that are pretty gnarly.