Keddie Wye

[espeefoamer]

In 1994, for the Portola Railroad Museum's 10th annaversary,a UP domeliner ran through the Feather River canyon several times on Sat. and Sun.At the west end the train turned on Keddie wye.It was spectacular. The train ran to Reno Jct. on the east end to turn around.Keddie wye is very unusual in that two legs are on bridges and the third leg runs through a tunnel[:)].

[ericsp]

Trains had an article about the Feather River route in April 1991.

[ChuckCobleigh]

What about this little gem in the neighborhood. And I thought our Southern California curlicue was something!

http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=11&Z=10&X=1718&Y=11049&W=1&qs=%7ckeddie%7cca%7c

[SilentSandy]

You guys sure take me back. When I lived in Paradise I would hop an eastbound at the horseshoe curve near the bridge over the north fork of the Feather River. It was easy to hop off at Keddie, grab a burger and wait for a westbound to return home. Later, we moved to Reno and I would take the wife and kids to the old boy scout camp at Spanish Creek (the beach there was a local nudist beach). You're right about the lack of services: The old motel/cabin operation was closed down by the health department, taking the town's only remaining cafe.
One place along the route for great photo ops is down in dark canyon (the road comes off from Yankee Hill, used to go all the way to Oroville before the lake was created), where the trains rush out of one tunnel and immediately into another. I'm afraid my memory is gone and I can't remember the tunnel numbers.

[johncolley]

Ah, the good old days! FYI the reason for the "highline" or inside gateway, was the WP had an interchange with GN at Beiber. GN came down central/eastern Oregon to Klamath Falls and down to Beiber, CA

[zardoz]

And other info:
http://www.railfanswelcome.com/Maps/CA/KeddieCA1.htm

[zardoz]

Speaking of aerial photos:

http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=10&X=3371&Y=22158&W=1&qs=%7ckeddie%7cca%7c

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info.

[CShaveRR]

Actually, Mark, I've seen photographs showing the switch on the bridge(s) as being straight-railed, not spiked, back before the north leg became active again.

[Anonymous]

I just went and looked too and your right. I never paid any attention to that leg of it.

[Modelcar]

....I just now was over on Google and found an aerial photo of the site and it looks like there is actually two tunnels...One as you {Marty}, describe and one that makes up the third leg of the Wye...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

....Never knew there was a tunnel involved as well....All the pictures show the two bridges but can't ever recall of seeing a photo of the tunnel at that location.

The tunnel is located at the end where the two bridge ends come together at the switch. Most of the pics are taken from above the tunnel off of Ca. hwy. 70.

[VerMontanan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill
[After Keddie was run-through as a crew change, now the east leg of the wye fell into disuse and the north leg became active, because most of the traffic was north-south. That's the situation that maintains today.

Just to clarify, Keddie is no longer a crew change point for UP trains, which change crews to the east at Portola. It is, however, a crew change point for BNSF trains and is the away-from-home terminal for crews from Klamath Falls and Stockton. Also, UP runs a bit more traffic east-west through Keddie than does BNSF north-south.

It's true that the "east" leg of the wye is not used much, but your best chance of seeing a train on it would be when it's used by the tri-weekly local from Klamath Falls to Keddie, which will tie up in the UP yard.....well, except when it doesn't have enough time to even make it to Keddie, in which case the train will simply tie up on line someplace like Westwood or Greenville and the crew will be driven to Quincy. Quincy is the actual crew tie up point for BNSF crews....not much of a town at Keddie itself....no acceptable place to stay or eat, so BNSF crews are shuttled to and from the larger metropolitan area of Quincy, California where these services are available.

The BNSF crew change at Keddie is also somewhat unique in that it is one of the few places where this happens that there is no place to meet (or get passed by) another train. There is no siding at Keddie for use by BNSF trains, so if a train holds for a crew there, nothing gets by. Quite a unique situation, and sometimes it's a headache, especially considering the possibilities that there might not be a crew available in this area are quite good in the winter when excessive amounts of snow and rain still make railroading here a real challenge.

BNSF has trackage rights on UP also east of Keddie toward Salt Lake City (in addition to via Donner Pass) and sometimes through trains will will operate this way. A couple of times (at least) in 2004, BNSF ran military trains to and from Herlong, CA east of Portola to and from Klamath Falls, and these used the east leg of the Keddie Wye. When this is done, UP crews out of Portola run the BNSF trains.

[Modelcar]

....Never knew there was a tunnel involved as well....All the pictures show the two bridges but can't ever recall of seeing a photo of the tunnel at that location.

[PNWRMNM]

Mark,

Interesting info about Keddie operations. I had never thought about that detail.

Mac

[ericsp]

The last I heard it was a true wye. I doubt the the leg for the Highline to go east is used often though.

[Anonymous]

Is the Keddie Wye a true "Wye" (can you take the highline to Salt Lake City) or is this just where the 2 main lines meet for the trip down the Feather River Canyon?