Tehachapi ’88

Producer: WB Video

Timeframe: 1988

Locations: Mohave to Bakersfield

Length: 3 1/2 hours

Source: Bill Brown

Tehachapi Loop is the feature in this 2 DVD set. Southern Pacific owned the track. Santa Fe ran via trackage rights. WB Video shot video for ten days in the fall of 1988.

Let’s take a look at specifics. No Chapter Menu. No maps. No extras.. Narration.

The script and accompanying narrative are basic. Overall, natural audio becomes dominate. Good levels.

To the Trains… 👉

First disc covers five days and the runtime is two hours. Disc two, obviously gets the balance.

Kodachrome units are all over the place in 1988. Beautifully shot, and color balance retains it’s fine character. Traffic is largely TOFC. Some COFC too. General freight, oil and coal trains. Many trains have a caboose.

Oil can trains are common here.

EMD GP60 models were some of the newest locomotives.

Even older locomotives were repainted. This GP35 for example. The show is organized by the day of the shoot. Not in a location order.

Exterior view of the Hill.

The classic shot. Famous Tehachapi Loop. Tunnel with a train, crossing over itself.

SP Kodachrome SD40T-2 in the lash-up. When the merger was not approved as expected. The Railfan slogan for the SPSF became, Shouldn’t Paint So Fast.

Three Santa Fe repaints, upfront on this ten unit set.

At Cliff, smoke pours out from the tunnel.

Helpers get the worst of the tunnel smoke.

An awesome view from Cliff Siding.

The lengthy set is an excellent visit to a specific point in Tehachapi Pass history. While it may run long, chasing some trains. They hit the nail on the head. Recording an interesting time with Kodachrome Southern Pacific and Santa Fe repaints.

Tehachapi ’88

Recommended for any Railfans and Model Railroaders with aligned interests. The sparse narrative will probably leave less serious types wondering, what the excitement is about. Nevermind them, if it has your name, you will know it.

Receives a high rating, on the strength of being, well filmed and the matching audio. Plus, the historical value of this clear show.

Rating: 5 Stars