Tehachapi Pass Sub-Division Main

The Tehachapi Sub-Division is in the southern division of Pacific & American Railroad and runs from Mojave to Bakersfield going north. The Tehachapi Sub-Division features several major yards. There is a variety of industries along the route including Bakersfield Oil Equipment, Shell Refinery, lumber companies, fertilizer companies, winery, fruit & meat packing plants and a power plant to mention a few. BNSF rules apply to this route. Liveries include P&A, BNSF, ATSF, Union Pacific and Southern Pacific.

The Tehachapi Sub-Division connects to the Cajon Sub-Division at Mojave and to the north is the Hoodoo Pass Sub-Division at ST. Maries and the Clinton Sub-Division at Belle Plain. These connections can be viewed on the main route map and are further illustrated on the Tehachapi Sub-Division map. These interchange points allow for the transfer of responsibility to these other roads to provide for inter-vr work orders.

Several add ons and patches have been released for the Tehachapi Pass Route. All of these add ons and patches can be purchased or obtained from the 3D TrainStuff web site.

Pacific & American work orders will use the Tehachapi Pass Route equipment as well as the available add on equipment. The actual requirements will be noted in the work order readme files. Be sure to check the requirements of a work order before you attempt to install it. If you are missing any equipment you will have problems and may not be able to install the activity.

Pacific & American will be using equipment and activities for Tehachapi Sub-Division work orders from:

· The Tehachapi Pass II - California Gateway Edition Route

· ESPEE over The Tehachapi Pass add on (AO1)

· Santa Fe over The Tehachapi Pass add on (AO2)

· Vintage Trains over The Tehachapi Pass add on (AO3)

· Cajon Pass Route and add ons

· Cascade Crossing equipment

· The P&A Fleet

You will not have to download trains from any place other than Pacific & American. We host our own trains which use our physics to make them compatible with 3D TrainStuff equipment and to make them as real as we can make them and still be fun to use. They can be found on the P&A Fleet pages. However, you will have to purchase the routes and other add ons to run work orders that require them.

The Tehachapi Pass Route II - California Gateway Edition is an add-on route for Microsoft Train Simulator, developed inhouse, and includes the world famous "Tehachapi Loop" at Walong. The add-on features over 100 Miles of accurate route covering two different railroad subdivisions, and two branchline operations.

The Southern Pacific railroad originally built the line over the Tehachapi Mountains back in the late 1800s in order to gain access into Los Angeles and the greater southern California area. The mainline makes a climb of nearly 4,000 feet in elevation between Bakersfield which is at 600 feet, and Summit Switch located east of the small town of Tehachapi which is at 4,600 feet. The line then descends down the eastern side of the Tehachapi Mountain range, and into the small high desert community of Mojave.

map of add-on route project

Ruling grades over the pass roughly range between 2.4 and 2.8 percent. The steep mountainous grades, and countless mountain curves present quite a challenge to man and machine, and the route is still considered be one of the most challenging for crews in the USA.

Our version of this route was developed to represent the more modern 90s era of the line, and includes operations of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific (SP merged with the UP in the 90s), BNSF, and SJVRR. And we also included South Bakersfield, Oil Jct., and the Arvin Branch, all of which are now serviced by the SJVRR.

Helper service runs on both sides of the pass, from Mojave to Summit Switch on westward trains, and Edison to Summit Switch on eastward trains. Also, the helpers are usually cut in mid train or put on the rear of the train so they can shove. Its also interesting to note that nowadays they will leave locomotives on the rear of a train in order to assist with dynamic braking while descending the hill.