On Track to Make History Looping Around A Challenge, A Second Landmark Was Created

On September 5, 1876, crowds gathered in quiet canyon next to the Santa Clara River for a special ceremony that would put not Canyon Country, but Los Angeles, on the map. That day, a golden spike, driven by railroad magnate Charles Crocker, united the railroad tracks from north and south, connecting San Francisco to the sleepy hamlet of Los Angeles and changing its future forever. The SCV Historical Society invites rail fans and history buffs alike to come to Lang Station at 10 a.m. Sept. 5 to commemorate the event.

Making this happen wasn’t an easy task, but one that Crocker met by hiring thousands of Chinese laborers who would work in both directions. But each team faced a formidable geographic challenge in their quest to lay rail. To facilitate the “wedding of the rails” and acknowledge Lang’s status in history, another landmark was created.

Bringing the tracks through the Central Valley, the southbound crew had to get through the Tehachapi mountains. Southern Pacific Railroad Chief Civil Engineer William Hood designed a 3,779-foot spiral track to maintain a safe 2.2% grade; without it, the mountain slope was too steep and trains lacked the power to make a straight ascent. Hood designed a helix-shaped spiral where the track loops over itself, gaining 77 feet of elevation in a 0.72 mile circle, creating the Tehachapi Loop.

Two thousand Chinese workers set to work using hand tools like picks and shovels, hand-drawn carts, and explosives like black powder and nitroglycerin. More than 300 laborers died from the blasting disasters, rockslides, and cave-ins, causing 500 Chinese workers to walk off the job out of fear for their lives. The construction chief began assigning secondary crews to immediately install timber shoring to support new tunnels.

The Tehachapi Loop was completed in 1876, allowing trains to travel south and meet at Lang Station that September. Because of its uniqueness and historic origin, the Loop was named as California Historical Landmark 508 in 1958 and recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1998. In 2021, the Tehachapi Loop Scenic Overlook was created, providing wide turnouts and safe vantage points for viewing and photography. If you go, stay off the tracks: it’s illegal, unsafe, and getting caught there carries a hefty fine. While you’re there, drop in and visit the volunteers at the Tehachapi Depot, a reconstructed 1904 Southern Pacific depot, located at 101 W. Tehachapi Blvd. and open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays (www.TehachapiDepot.com).

Friends of the Tehachapi Depot will be one of the railroad organizations celebrating the 150th anniversary of the driving of the golden spike at Lang Station on September 5 with the SCV Historical Society. Come to Lang Station at 10 am for the ceremonies, which are free. Try your hand at driving a railroad spike with an authentic railroad maul and check out the rolling stock from Union Pacific. Speakers from the Chinese Historical Society will also be there, along with several others. At 11 am, the festivities will move to River’s End Pub and BBQ, for a day-long fundraiser benefiting the SCV Historical Society, featuring booths from railroad and historical societies where you can see models of the Lang Stations (there were four), paint a model train car, and enjoy the afternoon helping the SCVHS raise funds for future projects.

On Track to Make History Looping Around A Challenge, A Second Landmark Was Created

Comments