In the 1980s and early ’90s I was visiting California’s Tehachapi Pass and its famous Loop every chance I got. I had chosen the pass as the prototype for my N scale layout, and during those years I saw many changes in traffic on the line. Among these was the rapidly increased use of enclosed auto racks. These were a boon to the auto makers because they greatly lessened damage to the autos, and a boon to modelers because it was tough to tell if they were loaded or empty, so you didn’t have to worry about it.
Lately I’ve been putting together four new Santa Fe trains I’ve added to my operating scheme. Two come into my Bakersfield yard from the east and two come in from the west. (If you look at a map you’ll see that my railroad really runs north and south, but because the line runs from Oakland to Chicago, its general or “railroad” dire