Hello choo-choo-chums, and welcome to 8 miles west of Tehachapi, California, where you'll find the Tehachapi Loop. The loop is used to gain altitude and yet maintain the maximum permitted grade for the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads.

Way back in the 1870's, the Southern Pacific (Central Pacific) Railroad wanted to link their rails in central California to those in Southern California. Alas -- the path was blocked by the Tehachapi Mountain range, which acts as an east-west barrier between Bakersfield and Los Angeles, and wasn't all that willing to move out of the way for the trains.

So since they needed to go about 80 feet uphill, and because trains don't exactly have 4x4 abilities and all the "I think I can, I think I can..." positive thinking in the world won't pull a multi-ton locomotive and its boxcars up that kind of grade, they had to come up with a solution. Hence, the 3,800-foot long loop was born.

As many as 40 freight trains a day cruise the loop, making it the busiest single-track line in the United States. The beans thought about going for a spin on the loop, but the last time they did they got really dizzy, and believe me - you don't want to see a disoriented canned vegetable. It's not as funny as you might think.

The beans had a fantastic time watching the trains come and go, and were half tempted to stick out their little metal thumb and try to hitch a ride. Who knows - maybe the train stops at Disneyland? In the end the beans decided it was best to leave the engineers alone and let them continue on their way. But if they happen to see Butch and Sundance's gang waiting to rob the train on the hill, they'll be sure to join in the fracas.