34. THE TEHACHAPI LOOP. (On the S. P. R. R. Elevation, 4025 ft.) This famous loop, without a parallel in railroad building, was one of the ingenious ways devised for crossing an exceedingly rebellious range of mountains, which seems to be a fusion of the Sierra and the coast ranges. It was for a time thought entirely impracticable to traverse these mountains by rail, but there was finally found a will and a way; but just why the road crosses itself, and how it all came about, and why they couldn't have managed it otherwise, are not quite clear to the average traveller, and cannot be easily explained.