4K: MOJAVE to BAKERSFIELD, CA. - Amtrak Coast Starlight #14 detour (4-28-2018) over Tehachapi Pass.

4K: Mojave to Bakersfield- Amtrak Coast Starlight #14 detour (4-28-2018) over Tehachapi Pass from the back porch of the Tioga Pass private rail car. 2+ hours non-stop. (CHECK OUT THE REVERSED VERSION ON MY KZbin CHANNEL TOO!!)
I used an EQ filter in post-production to cut out the lower frequency range to drastically reduce the wind noise sounds.
THE REVERSED VERSION OF THIS VIDEO ON MY KZbin CHANNEL SIMULATES THE FRONT PORCH VIEW OF A LOCOMOTIVE GOING FROM BAKERSFIELD TO MOJAVE!!!! .....IT HAS NO SOUND......
• 4K: BAKERSFIELD to MOJ...
Filmed entirely with my Sony FDR-AX100 4K camcorder.
It's very minor but.... there are a few times over the course of the video when my camera was bumped a little off center. I re-positioned it on the fly as best I could as soon as I noticed it.
Watch from 33:15-33:45 and you can hear a railfan blowing a train horn at us from his house up on the hill at Cable.
The biggest concentration of railfans on the route was from 27:05-27:22 at Tehachapi where you can hear us and the railfans cheering to each other.
The other spots on the video with lots of railfans is at Cameron, Woodford/Rowen, Bealville, Tunnel #2, Caliente and at Sandcut.
0:00 Title Screen
0:29 Mojave
10:16 Warren
16:54 Cameron
21:53 Monolith
24:26 Summit
27:09 Tehachapi
32:08 Cable Crossover
37:14 Cable
38:16 Tunnel #17
38:33 Tunnel #16
38:54 Tunnel #15
39:47 Tunnel #14
42:27 Marcel
47:20 Tunnel #10
50:37 Walong (Tehachapi Loop)
50:52 Tunnel #9
54:10 Woodford
1:05:46 Rowen
1:08:13 Tunnel #8
1:09:32 Tunnel #7
1:14:21 Cliff
1:15:05 Tunnel #5
1:17:06 Tunnel #3
1:17:37 Bealville
1:25:06 Tunnel #2
1:27:27 Tunnel #1
1:31:28 Caliente
1:41:17 Ilmon
1:44:14 Bena
1:49:07 Sandcut
1:54:20 Edison
1:58:10 Magunden
2:02:38 Kern Junction
2:03:41 Bakersfield
2:04:30 End

[@tacticalfall4505]

Nice that someone managed to get footage of something that may never happen again! The lay of the land was beautiful and interesting there

[@ElCapitan1718]

Thank you for sharing this video. In 1970, I rode the San Francisco Chief over this territory. So much has changed. The SP searchlight signals are gone, there are large segments of double track, and I am amazed at the amount of concrete ties and heavy rail along the route. UP has made some major capital improvements. I wish Amtrak and UP could reach an agreement to restore LA-SFO through service again. On the surface it seems the line now has sufficient capacity between Bakersfield and Mojave. Great video. Brought back a lot of memories.

[@GSkid2000]

UP would have little incentive to allow that even with it's increase in capacity over the pass. Amtrak's Coast Starlight and Surfliner help pay for UP's Coast Line route. It's a line that doesn't have a lot of freight going over it since they acquired it from SP. Usually oil cans, some local freight runs, empty cars/bare tables and a manifest train now and then. It also acts as a north-south detour in a pinch for BNSF/UP when the valley gets jammed up or a major derailment halts everything through there. Plus the majority of people prefer the scenic ocean views between Pismo Beach and Ventura over the scenery of Tehachapi Pass and the San Joaquin valley. It's why tourists who had booked the Coast Starlight well in advance are very disappointed when they find out they won't get to ride along the coast. Mainly only railfans like the route over the pass.

[@ElCapitan1718]

GSkid2000 I agree with your assessment. I was thinking more of extending one of the Bakersfield trains south to LAX. The Coast Starlight would remain on the Coast Line. The new train would run the Inland route and provide a second daily departure from LAX. It would also eliminate the bus connection. Am I correct: the SP ran the Daylight on the Coast Line and the Lark on the inland route. I cannot remember.

[@butthurt8]

They no longer allow service between LA and Bakersfield due to High traffic of freight trains.

[@spikespa5208]

Freight is much more lucrative.

[@Alek_FilmsTravel]

Absolutely spectacular views. Wow!! Now, this was quite a journey, I believe!! :) I would loooove to take such a "detour" trip one day.... /sigh/ Kudos to the videographer, for having enough patience - to make such an awesome video, with high-quality picture and sound! P.S. Pleasantly surprised to see the track consisting of concrete (not wooden) ties for most of the way!

[@jameshowat1396]

Great video! I really appreciate your effort The perspective is excellent and it was captured at a beautiful time of year on a beautiful day. Two thumbs way up!

[@hcrun]

The landscape looks just like that in Run 8. :)

[@donnaspreat8796]

Love it all the way

[@HGM19922]

Thank you for sharing this, your video is very helpful in assessing how the loop can be fully double-tracked; if that can happen, the San Joaquins could potentially be extended all the way down to Los Angeles and, potentially, be the train service that could serve the San Gorgonio, Indio, and Coachella regions.

[@GSkid2000]

Even if they double tracked the entire Tehachapi Pass, they still wouldn’t run passenger trains over it. It would still cause too much congestion to a very busy North-South freight route used by two Class I railroads. That’s why Union Pacific only allows Amtrak Coast Starlights over it when the UP Coastline route is getting major track work done to it. Freight railroads hate having passenger trains on their tracks and only allow it if they are forced to. Amtrak/Surfliner trains essentially pay for the entire UP Coastline route. Other than the Guad Turn local and the Lompoc local…. There is no scheduled mainline long haul freight or even bare table trains down the route anymore. They removed the Cuesta Grade helper engines from San Luis Obispo as a result. It will only see the rare detour train if the Tehachapi Pass route is closed for an extended period of time. That almost never happens. I don’t want them to ever double track Tehachapi Pass. I want single track choke points so I never miss seeing a train due to another train passing in front of my view. It forces trains to stop and have to startup again when clear. A freight train having to pull all that weight from a dead standstill on a 2+% grade is a struggle and my favorite thing to watch. Just browse through my other videos and you will see plenty of those instances.

[@HGM19922]

I can understand your argument, but TBH (and this isn't toward you), there are only 5 San Joaquin trains a day, and I would only recommend 2 a day traveling through the Tehachapi Loop on a fully double-tracked to and from LA, the trains are no more than 4-5 cars in length, they'd be able to run a bit faster without causing significant delays, and if Amtrak and the state are willing to support it financially, I don't see why it couldn't happen. I like seeing freight trains too, but they have to still make their destinations on time to pick up and drop off goods. @@GSkid2000

[@SeanMurrellRTS]

Very nice

[@danielstober6249]

Techachapi Loop: Minute 49-51

[@johnmoore2592]

Nice to meet you at Hill 582 yesterday! You did a great job on the video too!

[@huschenge8759]

looks like a really good simulator ...

[@Narpets2112]

"How many tunnels do we go in and out of?" Hopefully, all of them.

[@zanelelong9912]

Desert,forest,savanna all in less then 50 miles

[@Tom_239]

Pacific DC Intertie at 6:30.

[@divox9pqr]

Just curious......What was the reason for the detour?

[@GSkid2000]

Since the detour was known about 3 weeks in advance, it was certainly because of scheduled track work on the coast line.

[@dannywilliamson3340]

What does it cost to have your railcar hauled by Amtrak?

[@GSkid2000]

I'm not sure. I was only a passenger. The Tioga Pass rail car is owned by a guy named Norm Orfall and you can currently find it on the LA Rails website. In the past, he would run the car from LA to Oakland and return back the next day on the #11. Then the new Amtrak president started requiring private railcars to travel an entire route due to the cost and logistics of doing it mid-route. Little did we know that only a few weeks after this trip, he also banned all riding on the back porch (it's best selling point) of private railcars system wide due to safety concerns. I was told this was a bogus excuse since no one has had any accidents on a back porch since the early 1980s. So our trip was the last time you could ride on the back porch of this car or any other. We just didn't realize how lucky we were until weeks later. Thank goodness the car had an AC electrical outlet on the porch so I didn't have to risk my camcorder's battery running out mid-trip over the pass. He charged us $300 to go one way from LA to Oakland. There was about 15 passengers in addition to the car's owner and the chef. A couple passengers were going all the way to Seattle, which I was told was around the $1200 range each way. They provided us beer, wine and soda. The female chef onboard was great! She prepared a huge meat, cheese and cracker platter for lunch and a nice full course dinner towards sunset in the dining room. Well worth every penny!

[@hectora7479]

0:24 am I tripping or is this exact scene in GTA 5?

[@andrewcrumb8027]

I didn't know that Amtrak's Coast Starlight takes a detour over Tehachapi Pass.

[@GSkid2000]

It only happens if the coastal route is having serious enough track work done between Los Angeles and Oakland that doesn't allow passage of the train. Most track work only requires a speed restriction in the work zone. That's why these detours don't happen that often and why they garner so much attention from railfans when they do.

[@thememeking9771]

How long did it take to go from LA to Bakersfield on the train?

[@GSkid2000]

If my memory serves me right, it took us just over 4 1/2 hours. We left Union Station around 10:10am, stopped at a red light in Burbank for about 5-10 minutes and stopped again near Palmdale Airport for about 10 minutes to let a UP high priority "Z" train to pass us. We hit Mojave around 12:35pm and arrived in Bakersfield about 2:40pm.

[@thememeking9771]

4 1/2 Hours! I thought it would be close to around 2 or so hours but 4! I did the math and it takes around 6 hours to ride the San Joaquins from Oakland to Bakersfield and around 5 hours from Sacramento to Bakersfield. so that means if the San Joaquin was extended to Los Angeles, it would take 9 to 10 hours to go from Oakland/Sacramento to Los Angeles. I hope they can get the High Speed rail up and running soon.

[@AmtrakandAWVRFan]

@@thememeking9771 That's not happening anytime soon. Did you hear the news when the governor annulled the project south of BAK? Also don't forget the it takes about 2 hours for a Metrolink to travel the entire Antelope Valley Line, which the detour train also used to get to Tehachapi.

[@thememeking9771]

Amtrak and AWVR Fan, yes I'm aware of what happened with the governor cutting the project to Bakersfield, but I think they should just focus on the San Joaquin section and once that is completed, start construction on the San Francisco/San Jose and Los Angeles/Anaheim sections.

[@rockbasso]

I saw me - little tiny me - at Mojave ... :-)

[@GSkid2000]

Watch from 33:15-33:45 and you can hear a railfan blowing a train horn at us from his house on the hill at Cable. From 55:14-55:40 you can hear a guy in our group calling out YOUR position at Woodford. The biggest concentration of railfans on the route was from 27:05-27:22 at Tehachapi where you can hear us and the railfans cheering to each other. The other spots on the video with lots of railfans is at Cameron, Woodford/Rowen, Bealville, Tunnel #2, Caliente and at Sandcut.

[@UncleKenable]

You know, with Amtrak's new rule on no passengers on open platforms on private cars, you can count yourself lucky to have done that trip whe nyou did. I used to ride "Virginia City" a lot and now with no access to back platforms it takes the fun out of riding.

[@GSkid2000]

Wow...I was not aware of that new rule. I was only aware of the new rule that made our private rail car have to go the entire length of the route instead of just turning around at Oakland like it used to. It's the whole route now or nothing. They don't want the delays and the logistics issues of train transfers on shorter trips. Tehachapi Pass is my favorite section of track in the world {check out my other Tehachapi Pass videos on my KZbin channel including ones of Mullan Pass, Soldier Summit, Cima Sub, Needles Sub, Cajon Pass, Feather River, Donner Pass and my local Lompoc/Surf Beach trains). I had always wanted to go over the pass on an Amtrak since I was a kid, but never got a chance to since they happen rarely and usually occur on such short notice. I was not only lucky enough to scratch one off my bucket list by taking this trip, but even luckier to have done it in pampered style on a private railcar, on it's open back porch and to have gotten the entire pass on video. This is currently the only 4K train video of Mojave to Bakersfield non-stop from the back of a train on KZbin that I am aware of. So I feel honored to be able to let others experience such a rare treat along with me. Please get the word out about it if the video {and the REVERSED version of it} inspires you to. My channel is a labor of love and isn't monetized. So I just don't want such a rare gem to get lost in the sea of train videos out there and really hope people share it with as many other railfans as they can.

[@rockbasso]

Yes, this latest edict just came out a week or two ago. Sad.

[@GSkid2000]

I looked on TrainOrders and saw some clarification from the owner of the Tioga Pass rail car I was riding on. He said.... "The rules quoted were apparently sent to AAPRCO and RPCA for comment. They are NOT in effect yet. Those organizations and others are actively pressing Amtrak to back off on imposing these rules, because there have been almost no reported injuries in the past few years by passengers on private cars. IN short these rules are not needed, but perhaps intended to accomplish a bigger purpose....." So they haven't stuck a knife in it yet, but they are sure trying to.

[@gorillainthamyst]

i have this route on my trainz simulator its called mohave sub division!!!!!!

[@JP-dj2ro]

Why was it on detour? Nice video

[@GSkid2000]

I don't know the precise details of why in this particular instance, but it usually involves some type of track work on the coast. The majority of the time the public only knows about the detour a few days in advance.... or even less if it's an emergency situation. That's why so few railfans are able to ride it because it's usually too short of notice logistically for most people . In this rare case it was known 3 weeks in advance. I personally only found out 5 days in advance from my railfan friend I met up with at Cajon Pass at the end of my railfaning trip (check out my channel for Mullan Pass/Soldier Summit/Cima Sub/Needles Sub/Cajon Pass to see videos of that particular trip). I also have this same video REVERSED w/NO SOUND to simulate riding on the front porch of a locomotive going east up the pass. Yes there is no sound, but it feels more natural with the scenery coming towards us rather than away from us when riding on vehicles. That's why I made it. You can also see my Coast Starlight #11 detour return video on my channel from inside Amtrak's observation car. This was because I got off at Oakland and the private car continued on to Seattle. The detour only lasted 3 days, so the private car returned to Los Angeles on the normal coastal route. The weather was cloudy and gloomy on my return trip, but I still got some fairly decent shots considering I was stuck behind view-limiting glass windows this time around.

[@EvanEscher]

Wow lucky. Did it stop anywhere between LA and Bakersfield?

[@GSkid2000]

Evan Escher I only took the private rail car from LA to Oakland (it went all the way to Seattle) and we stopped only 4 times.... at the Palmdale airport we stopped on the main and a westbound UP Z-train passed us on the siding..... at Bakersfield for a crew change...... at the Lathrop Wye for another crew change and transfer to the tracks over Altamont Pass..... and at the wye in Newark when we transferred to UP’s Coast Line route to Oakland.

[@EvanEscher]

GSkid2000 but no stops for passengers?

[@GSkid2000]

Not between LA and Oakland. The Coast Starlight only stops at stations that are on it's normal route. Since that doesn't include any of the San Joaquin Valley, the next station you can get on and off at after leaving LA is Oakland. That's where I got off at and took the #11 back over Tehachapi Pass the next day in business class while the Tioga Pass private rail car continued on the rest of the route to Seattle. Also....Amtrak only has stations in the valley for it's San Joaquin train that travels from Bakersfield to Oakland or Sacramento on BNSF's tracks. We were on UP's tracks. The only stations we encountered are for Metrolink's Antelop Valley line from LA to Lancaster, the Altamont Corridor Express from Lathrop to Newark and Amtrak's Capitol Corridor train from Newark to Oakland.

[@EvanEscher]

GSkid2000 I know the route and the stations. I just think it's a lost opportunity not to stop in Lancaster, Bakersfield, or Fresno. But I'm not involved so I don't know the whole situation

[@rockbasso]

That would be impractical. Only a few railfans knew about it, not enough to ride and make stops worthwhile.

[@EM-iq1bz]

Me, taking a picture of you in Tehachapi at 27:47. I'll email it if you'd like!

[@olafmichelson8017]

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