Tehachapi Pass coming to TS2021

[Antwerp]

They didn't answer.

[trev123]

No, I wasn't really expecting them to.

[Antwerp]

No, I wasn't really expecting them to.

I know, but the fact you gave an update on the expected no response was incredible.

[Trainman21]

Their live stream schedule this week suggests a release this Thursday, which shouldn't come as a shocker either giving the usual timeframe between announcement and release of content.

[GSkid]

I'm strangely late to this thread. I've been busy editing 130GB of video from... oddly enough... my recent 3 week trip to Tehachapi Pass that included the 4-day California Railfan group yearly meet up there.

Since this route is my favorite section of track in the world, of course it's a must buy for me! It's shocking it took this long for an official version of this route to come to Train Simulator. I have the route for MSTS, Trainz, Run 8 and Marc's version for TS. Looking past some of the flaws (for example.. the water tank at Tehachapi is missing), this route otherwise looks pretty darn good!

Tehachapi Pass has it all.... It's very busy, has steep grades (up to 2.9% at times... 2.2% is just the average of the pass), a total of 12 tunnels, the loop, a decent amount of single track choke points ( so you don't miss anything), great access to most of the route and not much foliage blocking your camera shots.

It easily has the most derailments than any other mountain pass grade in California. That's due to it's sharp, snaking S-curves. Originally the rated speed limit on the concrete ties was 25mph, but UP wanted only 22mph to reduce derailments. BNSF complained and UP compromised at it's current 23mph. BNSF sends more trains over the pass than UP does by a factor of 4 to 1. So you can see why they would complain.

I think the inclusion of a GP40-2 with this route is very odd. Southern Pacific owned them and they have long since left road service over the pass. Not that many were used over it in the first place. The San Joaquin Valley railroad has GP40-2s on the roster, but there is no indication that SJVR has been licensed for this route. They stick around the Bakersfield UP yard and don't venture anywhere near the pass.

I'm curious as to when the route is exactly modeled. Does it include things like the CP Cliff siding extension and the double tracking of CP Walong through CP Marcel from about 6 years ago? Either way... I'm getting it.

Had a great time up at the pass. The Cal Railfan group is the only one with inside loop access from the Loop Ranch. The ranch manager has been there since 1967 and we have a good relationship with him. We repaired the vandalized railroad memorial monument the best we could and landscaped the area. Of course we watched and filmed hours of trains there.

Highlights of the trip for me....

#1: A BNSF grain train with 4x4x2 power. Normally they are 3x3x2.

#2: A BNSF grain train with a Canadian Pacific leader.

#3: A very unusual 50/50 UP manifest train with all UP power upfront (2x SD70ACEs and an SD60) and all BNSF DPU power at the back (ES44DC & ES44C4).

#4: Saw two Progress Rail SD70ACe-T4 lease units (one yellow, one black).

#5: A BNSF train with CP and CN units on it.

#6: A BNSF scale car at the back of the train with an EOT on it.

There was slow orders for awhile at Bealville that had trains creeping through Tunnel #5 (the longest on the route). This kept the engines in the tunnel an extra long time and created massive amounts of smoke when they exited. Hadn't seen those levels of black smoke out of that tunnel since the 1970-80s era. A real treat!

Also had a sun kinked rail at Bealville horseshoe curve that stopped traffic for hours until it was fixed. It was 100°F+ on the pass for a few of the days.

Talked to an old Santa Fe road engineer (1970-2006) in Bakersfield. Said they used to drink beer on the job regularly in the 70s. It was only a matter of who's turn it was to buy the brew on each shift for the cooler. Those days are long gone!

[ElphabaWS]

I think the inclusion of a GP40-2 with this route is very odd. Southern Pacific owned them and they have long since left road service over the pass. Not that many were used over it in the first place. The San Joaquin Valley railroad has GP40-2s on the roster, but there is no indication that SJVR has been licensed for this route. They stick around the Bakersfield UP yard and don't venture anywhere near the pass.

The GP40-2 was included for the purpose of yard switching at Kern (per below), working Edison, etc.

[GSkid]

Thanks. Forgot about those. They rotate power out at Bakersfield yard and I missed them. I've seen old Dash 9s and SD70Ms service the ethanol plant on the branch lines. Honestly I mainly stick between Sandcut and Cameron. Not a lot of yard action anymore to watch. I see SJVR using the yard more than UP does.

[jmslakings]

Thanks. Forgot about those. They rotate power out at Bakersfield yard and I missed them. I've seen old Dash 9s and SD70Ms service the ethanol plant on the branch lines. Honestly I mainly stick between Sandcut and Cameron. Not a lot of yard action anymore to watch. I see SJVR using the yard more than UP does.

That's correct "G". UP only has two local customers in Bakersfield. One just west of Edison that receives a few covered hoppers, and one customer west of Baker St. at Kern Jct. The rest of UP's current customers are about twenty miles west of Bakersfield near the towns of Shafter, Wasco(Famoso), Delano and Earlimart.

BNSF has one customer in Edison, an old grain silo. they occasionally receive a few cars every now and again. Other then that the rest of Edison has been shut down and abandoned. BNSF also has one customer right behind the Amtrak station in Bakersfield.

The Arvin branch line(Not featured) only has three customers left on it. Two of which are only about a mile off the UP main. There is still one customer in Lamont(12miles) that gets a few tank cars every couple months.

[CN2899]

[quote="GSkid"]

#1: A BNSF grain train with 4x4x2 power. Normally they are 3x3x2.
dont BNSF Run 4X3X2 grainers as well ??

[GSkid]

#1: A BNSF grain train with 4x4x2 power. Normally they are 3x3x2.
dont BNSF Run 4X3X2 grainers as well ??

I'm sure they have. I've personally not seen them, but I only visit the pass a few weeks a year and may have missed them. 3x3x2 is standard on the loaded WB grain trains. What was weird is the 4x4x2 train was on an EB. All EB grain trains are empty as far as I've known, but recall all it's engines were on and pulling. I got that particular train on video at the loop and will upload it in the next few weeks after I'm done with all my editing.

Another first for me was seeing split EB grain trains. Meaning instead of the normal single long train with DPUs, these were running two smaller trains with power only upfront. Meaning they had to pay two crews instead of one. I only witnessed this the first two days I was there and never saw another small one the rest of the trip.

From my Oct. 2020 trip, here is a loaded WB cotton seed train snaking through the steep and curvy section between Rowen and Tunnel #8. It's condensed down for time. It's also 3x3x2 on the power. There is a NS unit on the mid-DPUs.

https://youtu.be/AQbvOnjeBbU

This video on the other hand shows an entire WB grain train at speed past Bena and climbing up the speed bump hill known as Sandcut. Notice at the 1:40 mark the train is coming down the pass coasting. Then after the head end is up the hill, he guns the throttle. You can hear the throttled up mid-DPUs at the 2:52 mark. Then at the 3:46 mark you can hear throttled down DPUs preparing for dynamics again. It's coasting with momentum over the hill at this point.

https://youtu.be/_5BNv04AfrE

Another new thing I noticed was after being gone for many years, Tehachapi Pass now has manned helpers again from both UP and BNSF. They only use them once in awhile and only on certain trains. BNSF has them based at Sanborn about 5 miles east of Mojave for WB trains. What was really weird was the WB train I saw with them on it stopped at Monolith. That's about 2.5 miles short (about 4 miles short for the helpers) of the summit where manned helpers have traditionally been dropped off the train at the summit switch siding track. The two manned helpers were pushing against the single rear DPU. I'm guessing they put the rear DPU in isolation for the climb because you are only allowed 2 powered DPUs on the back of a train. I was told that's UP's policy and I'm guessing BNSF is the same.

[BNSFdude]

Rated Powered Axle restrictions depend on the units in question, train make up, and territory specific rules. My guess without dragging out the book is for there, on average, they don't want more than 24 RPA. Two AC whatevers puts you at 16.

[pjduplooy]

Out now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1560 ... ute_AddOn/

[Boss1]

Excellent! Thanks for the heads up.

[cnbalasub]

I just got mine now and already run one of the scenario but show me that I have missing locomotives -- ES44DC BNSF x1 and ES44C BNSFnd x 3 also broken consists and tracks.bin too. So where are the locomotives from? Other route like Cajon Pass or Marias Pass or The Racetrack? Let me know what is the name of route so I can look up to see the right Assets Folder for these locomotives.

John

[Kevin]

the water tank at Tehachapi is missing

Do you mean this one?

20210624093923_1.jpg