 During the late 19th century, the corridor of modern Route 14 was also in use by the Southern Pacific Railroad for two lines. The first is a line to connect Los Angeles with the Central Valley, via Tehachapi Pass. While significantly longer than the more direct Ridge Route (east of modern Interstate 5), Tehachapi Pass is lower than Tejon Pass along the Ridge Route, with a longer, less steep grade on the descent into the Central Valley. This rail line remains the primary rail line to connect southern and northern California in use today, now owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. The second resulted when the Southern Pacific acquired the un-finished Carson and Colorado Railroad in 1900. The Southern Pacific built a standard gauge connector to the narrow gauge Carson and Colorado line from their main at Mojave. Although plans were to eventually convert this acquired line to standard gauge, most of the line was abandoned before the conversion was complete. However, the southern portion of this line is still active and used for connections to the Trona Railway.
