| Tehachapi Loop Layout |
| Host Chris Chianelli visits the San Diego Model Railroad Museum and its Tehachapi layout. |
From "Workin' On the Railroad"
episode DWRR-211L |
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The San Diego Model Railroad Museum is home to four different model railroad clubs and five different layouts running at one time. The largest layout is 8,000 square feet long and covers two stories of continuous track—modeled after the Tehachapi Loop.The Le Mesa Club, which has been in existence for more than 40 years, takes great pride in the Tehachapi layout. It's 60-percent to the actual scale size.
Workin' On the Railroad host, Chris Chianelli, explores the world of model train rolling stock this week.
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Boxcars are the backbone of the rolling stock industry, and this "real" one can carry a payload of 50 tons.
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Tehachapi LookThe Tehachapi Loop is probably the most famous railroad landmark in California, and the San Diego Model Railroad Museum has replicated the legendary loop with its impressive layout:
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San Diego Model Railroad Museum Tehachapi Layout
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The topography of the Tehachapi layout is based on the year 1952, after an earthquake changed the landscape.
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Tehachapi is the major freight route from the central California area south and to the routes going east. The rail line that runs through the Tehachapi Pass is an important one that has seen its share of rolling stock over the years. The land transitions from a lush valley to desert.Le Mesa Club members drive up to the Tehachapi Pass once or twice a year to photograph the terrain and line to make sure their impressive layout is true to life. The San Diego Model Railroad Museum has approximately 28,000 square feet, and the largest of the five layouts is the Tehachapi Loop at more than 8,000 square feet. When completed it will be eight scale-miles in length and will take a train 25 to 30 minutes (at 25 miles per hour) to navigate the entire loop. The Le Mesa Club has gone to painstaking lengths to make sure the Tehachapi Loop is as realistic as possible, and the group actually commissioned a survey of the route in order to get the rivers and creeks exactly to scale. And the era choice—the early '50s—was an extremely important decision. That was the end of the steam engine era and overlap of the diesel era.
Check out some of the Tehachapi Loop rolling stock:
One of the most impressive aspects of this particular layout is that the scenery is compressed to look at real as possible—and it does. Where most model railroads will have a lot more track per square foot of layout area, the Le Mesa Club's layout has more actual scenery.
RESOURCES :
Magazines and Books on Railroading
Kalmbach Publishing Co.
Website: www.modelrailroaderbooks.com
Trains and Accessories (All Scales)
Bachmann Industries, Inc.
Website: www.bachmanntrains.com
Model Railroader magazine
Website: www.kalmbach.com
National Model Railroad Association
Website: www.mnra.org
Couplers for Model Trains
Kadee Quality Products Co.
Website: www.kadee.com
Trains and Kits
Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc.
Website: www.atlasrr.com
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