My favorite pic from Tehachapi

[Specter3]

I went to Tehachapi before I had kids and got to see it in person. SInce I am no photographer, and this is a well documented place I did not try and shoot any grand scenes of the loop. There are lots of those out there. But I did take a couple. This is my favorite.



This is from the working farm in the middle of the loop.

[jagged ben]

Very nice...

Are we supposed to respond with our favorites shots of Tehachapi?
Hmmm, so many to choose from....this might require some ground rules.
-Does it have to be a shot you took yourself?
-Does it have to include an animal like the one above?

[GaryHinshaw]

I'll play.  In keeping with the OP, how about making it a Tehachapi photo you took yourself, that does not include a train (but tracks are ok). 

The Land of Contrast:

[Philip H]

I can't post any of my Tehachapi pics - they are all prints and slides that are yet unscanned!

[James Costello]

East side vs west side

[jagged ben]

Hmmm... my favorite picture that fits the category features my fiance and I am not allowed to post it here.   

Will have to look for an alternative.  And set up a picture account of some sort.

[Bendtracker1]

From November of 2002.

[pedro]

This was about a 20-minute exposure on Fuji Provia 100F with a Canon full-frame fisheye lens. BNSF grain train going down the hill. The funny thing was that I didn't know you could see the stars that night. It was mostly cloudy and pitch-black dark! I got lucky. I do miss real film....

[GaryHinshaw]

Cool shots guys.  (Really well done Pedro.)

James, your shot reminds me of this Roger Snyder ariel shot, which clearly shows the north facing slopes hanging on to their green a little later into the dry season.  I love that road (Caliente-Bodfish Road, I believe).

-gfh

[C855B]

Yes, Cal-Bodfish Road.

Here's a fave from my hometown - yeah, has a train in it, but it's incidental to the shot:



And here's a slice o' life shot, Dave and Tom playing Rail Baron at Walong:



Pardon the dust and other crap, these were quickies. I have other stuff from when I lived there, but it would take going through a couple of thousand unsorted slides to find them. Not today.

[Specter3]

My wife puts up with a lot of crud for me but she really wasn't hearing about an entire day trip to some place she could not even pronounce just for trains. We were staying in Santa Clarita at the time. So I said we would drive out to to Isabelle Lake and zig north into the Sierra Nevadas for some sight seeing and then zig south to Tehachapi for a quick look at the loop. She said that was an acceptable plan. We get to the lake and it is nice and then we see the sign saying chains are mandatory on the road north into the mountains. Now this is late April and there hasnt been a cold day at home for months so we were both a little shocked about how much snow was still up in the higher mountains. So with that leg of the trip cut short I pulled out the trusty map and said "Look! Here is a road that goes from here to right where I want to be... says Caliente Bodfish rd. " Well, on the map we had it was a pretty straight looking road. Well with google maps on now to find the name of it I can tell you it is anything but a straight road. After driving for what seemed like forever and covering twice the straightline distance we got to Caliente. Couple of places that road is only 1.5 lanes. Kinda road where if you have an accident, someone finds your bones years later. Would do it again in a heartbeat knowing what to expect, but about halfway down it, was really questioning my navigating skills. Great adventure that day and if you get the chance it is a really neat drive.