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Neither train was trapped in the snow. They were halted because the line was blocked, somewhere west of downtown Truckee and east of Donner Pass. Amtrak posted this info at 9:30am, Saturday, 2/2/08: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Simple_Copy_Popup&c=am2Copy&cid=1178294106870 Here's what happened according to a story online from KTVU, Oakland: http://www.ktvu.com/news/15200710/detail.html A UP Caterpillar D9 bulldozer with a blade on the front was clearing snow between Reno and Truckee. It fell through the decking of a rail bridge above the east-west line damaging some rail and blocking the line. Westbound Train 5 was halted at Truckee on the east side of the bulldozer incident, and then pulled back to Reno where passengers were put up in hotels and then bussed over Donner Pass the next day. Eastbound Train 6 hadn't gotten too far into the mountains and was halted at Gold Run, quite a ways west of Donner Pass. Since there are no accommodations available near Gold Run (up hill a bit from Auburn and Colfax and about 60-70 miles from Sacramento), the train was refueled to keep heat and power available. Amtrak says it spoke to EACH passenger to see what they wanted to do. 60 wanted to be bussed back to the Bay Area. 100 others got a free dinner on the train and waited it out. UP had to bring in a crane to remove the dozer, then fix the rail and then clear off the snow that had accumulated. Story doesn't say whether that was just near where the dozer fell or all the way across Donner Pass. Once the line was clear, Train 6 resumed heading east. Train 5 was (being) turned in Reno and would become the Saturday eastbound train for Chicago. Passengers in the Bay Area (and other Zephyr stops like Sacramento??) were to be bussed over Donner Pass to Reno to meet Train 5 that's now 6. The KTVU story is the best I've seen on the matter. It explains what happened but it makes two errors: It has train 5 as heading east—Emeryville-Chicago and train 6 as heading west Chicago-Emeryville, and mistakenly puts Gold Run as "on the border of California and Nevada" when it is actually on the WEST side of the Sierra just up the hill from Auburn and Colfax. Hope this is helpful in clarifying just what happened. Unfortunately, the stories I read before getting to the KTVU version didn't make clear what was happening. Ted.
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