|
|
| PHOTOS: DONNER SUMMIT (316830) | |||
 |
|||
| Home > BusChat | |||
|
[ Read Responses | Post a New Response | Return to the Index ] |
|
||
|
PHOTOS: DONNER SUMMIT |
|
|
Posted by Jersey Mike on Thu Jul 28 09:26:53 2016 Last two times I have traveled through Reno, NV I used Amtrak's California Zephyr. This time I was going via I-80's, which provided a slightly different perspective on the whole journey including the opportunity to stop off at the pass itself for a little sightseeing. Later I was able to spend a few minutes at the west end of the Sparks, NV yard catching some UP action. I should also mention that before leaving the safe confines of sea level, I made a quick stop off in Sacramento to check out their light rail system.You can review the entire set of photos here. My swing by the Royal Oaks RT Station was actually motivated by the desire to get lunch from an authentic street-side taco stand on Arden Way. While they stood in line I crossed the street to snag a headway's worth of RT photos. First to arrive was a westbound two unit Blue Line train of CAF SRV-1's #208 and #238.   Next to arrive was an eastbound Blue Line train led by Siemens U2A #134. The U2A vehicles resemble the later SD100 LRVs, but are mechanically the same as the earlier U2's.  Driving up I-80 certainly provides a different perspective of the railroad.  The Donner Pass is where the Southern Pacific's "Overland Route" crosses the Sierra-Nevada mountains at an elevation of 7135 feet. Here we see the western portal of Tunnel #6 on the original Donner Pass alignment that was abandoned by Union Pacific in 1996 after their SP merger in favor of the Track 2 alignment through the mile long Tunnel 41 located to the south. Note the remaining snowpack from the somewhat average winter snows. The previous winter of 2014-15 actually left the Sierra-Nevada mountains with zero snowpack.  This alignment was actually part of the original Central Pacific transcontinental line starting from San Francisco and eventually meeting the Union Pacific in Promontory, UT. Unlike the generally flat UP route across the plains, this impressive feet of mountain railroad had to be cut and blasted by the hands of Chinese immigrants.  Because this is California the walls of a highway abutment had been covered in street art.  Beware falling rocks!  East of Tunnel 6 are Tunnels 7 and 8. Each were protected by snow sheds due to the extreme snowfall the pass typically sees (or typically saw, thanks to climate change). About once a decade snow on the pass can reach such an extreme that Union Pacific's fleet of rotary snow plows have to be called out to deal with it.  Before I-80, US 40 traversed the summit on a somewhat more austere alignment including this concrete arch bridge.  East of Tunnel 8 the snowshed continues on until the alignment disappears from sight. It is not surprising that UP would want to rid themselves of the maintenance headache, but since the Donner Pass route was single tracked congestion had remained a problem.  In this video I walk across the Sierra-Nevada drainage divide. Water to the east is flowing into the Great Basin via Tunnel 6, while water to the west is flowing into the Pacific Ocean. View of the historic Donner Lake from the Donner Pass viewing area off Old US 40.  Before Donald Trump the Chinese were the go to people for building walls. The upper and lower retaining walls pictured here were assembled by hand and continue to stand strong nearly 150 years later.  Heading down the east slope I caught a train descending the grade past Truckee. In the middle were a pair of DPU helpers, AC4400 #5277 and ES44AC #8144.   At Sparks interlocking I caught UP road SD70M #4657 flat switching the yard.   Shortly there after a BNSF manifest freight rolled through with BNSF ES44C4 #6611 in the lead.  In the middle of the consist was a string of ex-Amtrak Material Handling Cars, that used to be used in head end express service until they were banned by the freight railroads after a derailment gave them a pretext to eliminate potential competition in the express freight arena.  As if one 4000hp road unit wasn't enough, soon a pair of UP SD70Ms, #5116 and #5099, showed up for more flat switching.  Here is a short video montage of what was going down at Sparks Yard. Well that's everything. Tune in next time as we get nautical with a trip to the NS Savannah. |
|
|
|
