The Tehachapi Loop

Above, The Beast at the Keene Ranch last year. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Platrix Chapter No. 2, E Clampus Vitus will be heading back for its Fall Clampout at the Keene Ranch, which is a few miles away from the famous Tehachapi Loop.

The Tehachapi Loop is called "one of the seven wonders of the railroad world." Construction began on the Loop in 1874 and opened in 1876.

Here's a video of the Tehachapi Loop:



According to Visit Tehachapi.com:

The Tehachapi Loop is a .73 miles (1.17 km) long 'spiral' or helix on the railroad main line through Tehachapi Pass, in south central California. The loop derives its name from the circuitous route it takes, in which the track passes over itself, a design which lessens the angle of the grade. A train more than 4,000 feet (1.2 km) long (about 85 boxcars) will thus pass over itself going around the loop. In 1998 it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

To read more, go here.