Train frequency at the Keddie wye .

[PaulDannenberg]

Could anyone please tell me how many trains can be seen at the Keddie CA wye during daylight hours ( in june ) ? I guess the bridge itself and the single track that the 2 lines meet and run into is the best location for photos. Any suggestions for good photo locations would be appreciated.

[chad thomas]

In a 24 hour period you should see a dozen or so on the Inside Gateway and mabee 16-18 on the main route. It used to be common for a bunch of eastbounds to be fleeted through there in the early morning. That might have changed though.

You cam check out the PRM webcam to see the traffic to/from the east

http://www.wplives.org/PRM_Home/PRM_webcam/prm_webcam.html

There is a good webcam on Donner at Floriston to if you have a high speed connection

http://video.dot.ca.gov/

Scroll down and click on i-80 at Floriston

[PaulDannenberg]

Hi Chad , Lots more information , wonderful ! I'll start watching the webcam and get a rough idea of how many trains , particularly in the morning . I am planning on going to the museum there so asking staff should hopefully get me more information also. I'm also going to have a look at the " Cascade Crossing " up in Oregon so with any luck I can buy up and use all the film in town !!!!! Thanks again.

[chad thomas]

North of K Falls up to Chemault is pretty busy. Most all north south traffic on UP and BNSF (Amtrak too) all funnels over the line. There is good yard access to both yards in K Falls too. There are a couple of webcams on the Black Butte sub. One is on Trainorders.com the other is in Dorris (the Dorris cam doesn't always face the tracks though).

http://www.trainorders.com/cameras/dunsmuir/

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist2/cctv/dorris.shtml

You don't have to wait to ask the Portola guys. Go to there forum. Several operating guys over there.

http://wplives.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi

[Anonymous]

Paul,
The Keddie wye can be a real crap shoot. Sometimes there will be many trains and sometimes none for awhile. I have been vacationing up at Lake Almanor for the last four summers in a row, usually for a week. The BNSF "inside gateway" or "highline" seems to have around six to eight trains per day when I was there. Although the BNSF seems to run in the dark of the evening and very early in the morning as I can hear the horns from where I stay on the lake. I will sometimes get lucky if I go out right before sunset around Almanor. As for Keddie I have been told the weekends are pretty flat. You can usually find a BNSF southbound sitting at the signal up the hill from the wye around mid-morining 9 or 10ish. I have pridominately seen mostly westbound UP's around mid day and they seem to come a couple at a time. Usually a few double stackers rolling by. If you are going to the wye you can climb over the guard rail on the down hill side of highway 70 (two lane, fast logging trucks). Be real careful to pull way off of the road to the opposite side of the highway from the wye, there is a nice big dirt turn out as you round the corner right above the wye heading toward the town of Quincy. Be real careful crossing the highway on foot as the logging trucks come very fast around the sharp corner of the highway. You can get a pretty good shot from above the wye once you have climbed your body physically off of the highway and over the guard rail. You can also choose to carefully walk down the very steep trail to get a little closer to the action. Be very careful as loose rock and dirt are the trails surface, wear some good boots or shoes with vibram type soles. I went down all the way to the wye last year by the tracks, but was questioned by a track inspector as to what I was doing. Not a good idea to be too close to the wye or the tunnel that is to the west of the wye as it makes crews suspicious of foul play even though you are just interested in trains. If you do go to the wye you owe it to yourself to drive a few more miles past Quincy to see Williams Loop where the train actually loops over itself as it climbs the loop or descends. Williams Loop is located right by the Spring Garden overcrossing, this is where the highway crosses over the tracks. The loop is around 7.5 miles east of Quincy on Highway 70/89 and will be to your right side once you have gone over the overpass. It is hard to see from the road as it is hidden by the forest even though it is right next to the highway.

Have fun,
Brad

[PaulDannenberg]

Hi WP2006 and Chad ,

Excellent stuff ! I was going to ask about the loop up there and you've already answered my questions. I hope all this info helps other railfans too that are reading this . There is plenty of books on the subject but they don't normally go into detail like this and it is appreciated I've only been to Oregon once before and of course couldn't miss all the trees , , my next question is what is the visibility like at the Williams Loop during summer. I ask this because from experience mid to late summer Tehachapi Loop and Caliente have reduced visibility due to trees happily growing lots of leaves. Also please forgive me if this is a dumb questtion but are there bears up there ? Chances are because the line is close to the road wildlife will keep a distance away , , or will it ?. I did encounter a rattler at Tehachapi last september , after about 3 minutes of summing one another up we went our seperate ways ( myself at just below the speed of sound ).

Looking forward to Keddie , Paul

[chad thomas]

Don't forget to give us a trip report upon your return Paul.[;)]

[PaulDannenberg]

Hi Guys , No problem , look for a Forum titled " Train frequency at the Keddie wye trip report " on or about the second week of july --- About the same time Kodak shares will soar cause I'm getting all my photos processed.

Best regards to all , Paul

[chad thomas]

I feel ya. I still shoot 35mm too.

[fyrefyter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by PaulDannenberg

Hi Chad , Lots more information , wonderful ! I'll start watching the webcam and get a rough idea of how many trains , particularly in the morning . I am planning on going to the museum there so asking staff should hopefully get me more information also. I'm also going to have a look at the " Cascade Crossing " up in Oregon so with any luck I can buy up and use all the film in town !!!!! Thanks again.