keddie wye and donner pass

[daveman]

Hi I am visiting California at the beginning of October and would like some advice about the best places to see Keddie  Wye and trains over Donner Pass bearing in mind at my age I'm not much of a hiker.

Thanks < david fron the UK

[Anonymous]

Keddie Wye: Here is a link to a satellite photo on Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/v5bFoykX4tr

The state highway 70/89 passes the bridges. To the north/west the highway goes to Oroville, to the south/east to Quincy and Portola. When I was there the last time (25 years ago) there was parking possible at the street side.

One can drive down into the valley and up again the other side to Keddie station.

Donner Pass: Here is a link to a satellite photo again. https://goo.gl/maps/jH5B4BGKzvk

It shows Norden and the UP. I suggest that you move along the rails to the left and look for roads crossing the rails.
- Soda Springs is such a location just of the Donner Pass Rd https://goo.gl/maps/Lfva7LqktDK2
- Yuba Pass exit of I80 is another place with parking at the side of exit ramp https://goo.gl/maps/9VAjN7BPHHp
- Here near Emigrant Gap might be another place: https://goo.gl/maps/pxXFqHCGceT2

If you move along as I did youl find other locations like Blue Canyon a few miles drive off I80 on Blue Canyon Rd.
Easy access is in Colfax with its Amtrak stop.

Most of the time the track is quite off the I80, but there are a number more exits with roads leading to the tracks.

There are a lot of places to choose from. I hope Google maps/satellite help choose those with easy access and give a hint about visibility.

On the east side of Donner Pass the access is very difficult until Truckee. From there the tracks follow largely I80 and other roads.
Regards, Volker

[K. P. Harrier]

Hey, old geezer from the U.K. (8-28):

I can talk that way because I’m an old geezer from the U.S.  (Sorry, if you are really only 10 years old …)  My wife visits the U.K. once and a while, and loves old British history, especially the castles and has visited a number of them, even up in Scotland.

It is assumed you’ve never visited both the Feather River Canyon and Donner Pass, in which case you have no idea what you are in for!  Seeing them in person is much, much different than in photos!  It is suggested you take a leisurely drive through both, and visit them again another time when you can spend a week or more there.  Just a two day drive through both will leave you in total awe! … An awe that will take much time to digest!

Access is much better in the Feather River Canyon as the highway follows much of the rail route.  Where the two lane Highway 70 bridge goes nearly over the track bridge in the Pulga area, that is spectacular.  Keddie Wye is unforgettable, but there is basically one overlook, but it is mesmerizing.  As I recall there is a road to the east side yard area, but I’ve never been on it.  Williams Loop is fascinating as trains seem to go in reverse by the highway, and Cleo Viaduct, a very high bridge away from the highway, is dramatic.  Portola is a crew change point, and a site of a popular railroad museum with a beautiful California Zephyr F-unit and a UP double engine (removed) DDA40X.  Unfortunately, from what I hear, UP sends few trains through the Feather River Canyon route nowadays.  Of course, if Donner has a train wreck on a double- or two-track section when you are visiting, the Feather River Canyon could be clogged with trains!  Train crews are qualified to go via either route, at least they were.

Donner Pass is great too, and much greener, but access is both good and bad.  If one knows the sites there and the passable dirt roads to many of them, it can be great.  If one doesn’t know, just driving through will be unforgettable!  You should know, however, here in America the Interstates (like the I-80 Freeway through Donner Pass) can NOT be stopped on to take pictures.  That is illegal, and unsafe!  Also, in America, we drive on the right side of the road, unlike you on the left side in the U.K.  It might be safer to have a relative or a friend in America do the driving.

If you will have a few weeks, time will be on your side.  If you will have just a few days, passing through is your best bet.  For your information, sadly, I haven’t been to either in over 25 years, but the memories are still vivid.  Maybe next year … Both routes were favorites since the 1970’s, but I visited them only every four or five years, as the northern part of California is a very long ways from the southern part of the state where I’m based.  You, undoubtedly, will want to return at a future time.  So, mentally prepare yourself for an irresistible urge for another trip to the U.S. from the U.K. to see the Feather River Canyon and Donner Pass again sometime in the future …

Have a wonderful visit to the U.S. (and stay on the RIGHT SIDE of the roadway when driving a car here),

K.P.

[daveman]

Thanks KP, I'll try !!! to bear in mind your advice about driving on the RIGHT ? side of the road.Did do quite a lot of driving 2 years ago in the Redding area of  California so should be Ok. Thanks for your helpfull comments and advice,just turned 69 so this may well be last trip your side of the pond so gonna make the most of it.

daveman

[kgbw49]

You won’t see one of these as they are extinct, but here are some of the beasts that were built specifically for the steady grade from Oroville to Portola.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/21421491211979487/filePointer/21421491214646882/fodoid/21421491214646873/imageType/LARGE/inlineImage/true/post-204-0-80583800-1357885202_thumb.jpg

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/21421491211979487/filePointer/21421491214646887/fodoid/21421491214646878/imageType/LARGE/inlineImage/true/WP254C.jpg

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/21421491211979487/filePointer/21421491214646883/fodoid/21421491214646874/imageType/LARGE/inlineImage/true/tr_wpr252.jpg

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

If I read Dan Ranger's article in TRAINS correctly, didn't WP management consider ordering those 2-8-8-2's as cab forwards?

[erikem]

According to the 1968 Trains article on Espee's cab-forwards, the WP indeed considered ordering their 2-8-8-2's as cab-forwards. WP's engineers apparently preferred the normal arrangement due to the frequency of rock slides along the WP's ROW, with the engine frame giving some degree of protection.

[K. P. Harrier]

daveman (8-31):  Drive and future pills

So, you are 69 … Got me beat by a few years!  And, you drove in Redding …

I stayed in Redding a few years ago on what is best described as a “beer” run.  The town was strange.  It was so flat, it was like Florida.  In Florida I couldn’t get my directional bearings, and that happened in Redding.  I could not even find my lodging, even though I had been to it several hours before.  Finally, I said it might be on the opposite side of the street.  Sure enough, my lodging was in plain sight on that other side of the street!  Was I relieved!  A thing about driving in Redding is that roads are straight.  In the Feather River Canyon and over Donner one is always turn the steering wheel.  One cannot keep an eye on the tracks for fear of running off the road and hitting the cliff, or worse, plunging into the river!   And, IF you forget you are not in England, going around a sharp blind curve on the left side of the roadway could be the last curve you round.  So, be super careful.  Curves are everywhere!

So, you are 69 … Hmmmm.  Hey, maybe in U.S. Present Trump’s tenure science will finally be able to make “Fountain of Youth pills.”  That way my wife could visit Brittan many times to come and you could see the Feather River Canyon and Donner Pass likewise many times in the future, with youthfulness too!   And, Kalmbach Publishing could start a new magazine, maybe called “Fountain of Youth Magazine.”  A benefit of subscribing would be a year’s supply of Fountain of Youth Pills.  OK, I got to stop letting my mind run wild …

Best,

K.P.

[daveman]

Hi ,just to say had a great time in the USA, didn't see many freights expect one on 89 near Indian Falls,just where there was nowhere to stop !!! very impressed to find the California Zepher at Truckee westbound on time. Driving from Redding via Qunicy, Truckee to Sacremento went fine. Driving on the old Donner Pass Road was truly amazing.Took the Capitol Corrider from Scaremento to Richmond again on time departure.

Thanks US hope to see you again,some day.Mandave

 

[caldreamer]

For Donner Pass, Go to Colfax.  The mainline passes right through the middle of town.  You can see all of the trains from the streets.  The Emigrant Gap exit off of  Interstate 80 is right next to the tracks.  Go over the summit  and stop in Truckee.  Again the tracks and yard are easilty visible.