Depot Friends propose Loop viewing platform

The Friends of the Tehachapi Depot (FOTD), a volunteer non-profit group that manages the Tehachapi railroad depot and museum, has proposed the construction of a viewing platform overlooking the railroad Loop.

The proposed platform would be built adjacent to the two historical markers that stand on a curve of Tehachapi Woodford Road, five miles from Keene and seven miles west of Tehachapi.

"It's such a beautiful site," Keith Sackewitz, vice president of the Friends of the Tehachapi Depot and education chairman, said. "But it's not safe.

"It is such a magnet. We get people from all over the world."

The Southern Pacific Railroad built the Loop in 1876 to tame the steep grade up the canyon. A famous civil engineering feat, the Loop offers the intriguing vision of a mile-long freight train curving around a small mountain, looping over and under itself like a snake. On any given day, one might encounter railfans from England, Germany, Canada, Japan and other countries, waiting patiently by the monuments for the freight trains to appear, cameras in hand.

The depot, Sackewitz said, hosts four thousand visitors a year, many of whom are seniors who come on tour buses, and they want to see the Loop. The platform would accommodate handicapped visitors. While there is room for large tour buses to pull off on the far side of the road, visitors must walk across the road to get to the view site.

"A lot of railfans are interested in history. Europeans will rent RVs and they want places to go," Sackewitz said.

Friends of the Depot board member and archivist Nick Smirnoff said that the depot docents act as tour guides on the private tour buses during excursions to the Loop. The buses return from the Loop via Tehachapi Woodford Road and, when back in the city, drive by Tehachapi's murals as the docents explain what those art works are all about.

The land on which the Friends of the Depot would like to build the platform is in a Kern County road and utility easement. Sackewitz said the Friends of the Depot are planning to approach Second District Supervisor Zack Scrivner with the idea.

Smirnoff said that it is 30 feet from the center line of Woodford Tehachapi Road to the historical monuments, and another 30 feet from the monuments to the fence marking the boundary of the privately owned Loop Ranch. (The train track runs through Loop Ranch property). Kern County owns that 60-foot right-of-way.

Smirnoff said the proposed platform would be 20 feet long and 15 feet wide. The depot volunteers are looking at various design ideas, and planning is in the early stages, as so much depends on permission from Kern County.

The Tehachapi Depot Railroad Museum is at 101 West Tehachapi Boulevard in downtown Tehachapi. The building is a replica of the original 100-year-old depot that burned to the ground in 2008, just as it was about to open as a museum following extensive renovation. The city and Friends of the Depot rebuilt the structure true to the old design, with added benefit of modern safety factors.

Entrance to the museum is free. It is wonderful place to watch – and feel – the massive freight trains go by, just feet away from the museum deck. The railroad track that passes over the Tehachapi summit, which connects northern and southern California, is owned by Union Pacific and leased by Warren Buffet's BNSF. It is the busiest freight track in the United States, with up to 40 trains a day passing through – and they all go around the Loop.

The museum grounds include a collection of working retired railroad track signals, picnic tables, a gift shop, a play lot for children and a big viewing deck. Hours are 11-4, Thur. through Mon.