OKthePK - Sierra Nevada Overland Route

LINKS

On 25 Feb 2017 the rotary snow plows returned to Donner Pass to battle the heavy Sierra Snow along the UP Roseville Subdivision.

The rotaries are somewhat of a legend along the railroad. Only used every 10 years or so, the rotaries are rarely seen. Flangers and spreaders work tirelessly through the winter months to keep the tracks open. When they cannot keep up with Mother Nature, the railroad turns to the rotaries. "They were sometimes called War Wagons" said retired Southern Pacific superintendent Bill Lynch, "Going to war against Mother Nature."

It has been a difficult winter for the Union Pacific Roseville Division. Intense storms have dropped over 13 feet of snow in the mountains, making it difficult to move trains along the Donner Pass Route (Roseville to Sparks via Truckee). The Feather River Route, which can often alleviate rail traffic from Donner Pass, has been closed for weeks due to massive washouts near Portola.

Keeping the lifeblood of the American economy moving is the responsibility of the Truckee-based snow fighters. They are an elite group of railroad employees, often with decades of experience working on Donner Pass. A combination of their experience and the power of the rotary snow plow allows the railroad to contend with the worst of Mother Nature.

In this video, you watch as the rotaries work through Troy and Norden, California, with SPMW 207, SPMW 8207, UP 8661, UP 8972, SPMW 8209, SPMW 209, and WTKTKF 25.

Jake Miille

Here is an Union Pacific announcement regarding the use of the rotaries:

To Our Customers,

Union Pacific's most powerful snow removal machine, the rotary snow plow, was in full operation this past weekend during the third snowiest winter in the Sierras in recorded history. The plow cut through snow that reached depths of 13 feet, across 14 miles near the Donner Pass. The railroad's first and second lines of defense against snowstorms, flangers and spreaders, were unable to keep the tracks clear due to the depth of snow walls, so the rotary was required to clear large amounts of snow in a timely manner.

We have three one-of-a-kind rotary snow plows to use as needed during winter months. Union Pacific's plows were originally built in the 1920s and operated by steam, then overhauled and converted to diesel electric in the 1950s. In 2012, we made the first major makeover in more than 60 years to one rotary plow enhancing its productivity, reliability, and power. We plan to enhance another rotary plow in 2017.

Union Pacific is working diligently during the winter months to keep our lines cleared of snow and ready for your business.

⇧ Books

Donner Pass

John R. Signor.

1985

Golden West Books.

Hardcover.

290 pages, 9.2 x 11.8 inches, $128.19 (Amazon)

Southern Pacific's Sierra Crossing with 492 illustrations, maps, profiles, bibliography, and index. This volume presents all you ever wanted to know about Southern Pacific's rail passage over California's Donner Pass. At the summit, over 90 feet of snow falls annually. Everything about the Sierra crossing was monumental, the grade, the locomotives required to lift the trains over the Sierra, the helper locomotives, the tonnage handled, and those unique snowsheds that protected the tracks from the record snowfall and rock slides.

Diesels Over Donner

Richard Steinheimer and Dick Dorn.

1989

Interurban Press.

Hardcover.

104 pages, 9.1 x 6.6 inches, $218.88 (Amazon)

A lovely, lyrical, appreciation of what remains one of the toughest and busiest passes negotiated by rail. The 105 good color photos and their captions justify the book, but we find the description of the now departed mole people of Norden, traversing their tunnels under 20 feet of snow, to be of equal charm.

30 years over Donner

Bill Fisher.

1990

Trans-Anglo Books.

Hardcover.

198 pages, 7.4 x 10 inches, $54.89 (Amazon)

This is the sequel to "A Baggage Car With Lace Curtains" so if you enjoy railroad stories, you'll enjoy this book. Written by Bill Fisher who worked in the signals department for the Southern Pacific Railroad out in California. Having worked and retired in the signals department myself, it amazes me what the signal employees of the 1930's and 1940's were responsible for, and how they had performed their duties back then.

Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California Volume 1

David F. Myrick.

1992

University of Nevada Press.

Hardcover.

472 pages, 8.8 x 11.3 inches, $75.00 (Amazon)

Valuable as these volumes are in relation to railroad operations in Nevada and California, their usefulness as authoritative reference sources embraces a much broader scope. Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California is as much a history of the region as it is a study of the railroads. The principal mines and mills and their production are scrupulously detailed, together with the personalities who created them. A map has been provided in Volume 1 to orient the reader to the locales described. It is an accurate and reliable travel aid for readers who choose to wander the region's historic railroad routes. In this volume, Myrick begins his history with coverage of the sprawling network of the northern railroads, including the Austin City Railway, Mid-Pacific Railroad, Nevada-California-Oregon Railway, and Sierra Nevada Wood and Lumber Company.

Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California Volume 2

David F. Myrick.

1992

University of Nevada Press.

Hardcover.

496 pages, 8.8 x 11.3 inches, $75.00 (Amazon)

The setting for Volume 2 is the varied and spectacular geography of southern Nevada and eastern California from Death Valley and the Mojave Desert to the hard rock tunnels of Goldfield and the isolated communities of Rhyolite and Pioche. This volume also contains an index and an updated locomotive roster.

Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California Volume 3

David F. Myrick.

2016

University of Nevada Press.

Hardcover.

376 pages, $75.00 (Amazon)

The final volume in the complete history of Nevada and Eastern California railroads David Myrick's monumental railroad histories have become essential reference works for railroaders, historians, and hobbyists. Volume 3 contains additional information about the northern roads, including some not covered in previous volumes, and about developments since the publication of the first two volumes in the railroads of the region. It provides new facts gleaned from the correspondence of Collis P. Huntington, one of the builders of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. It also covers roads connected with the lumber industry and the construction of electric power plants, and Southern Pacific branch lines, including some that never advanced beyond surveys.

Snowbound Streamliner

Robert J. Church.

1999

Signature Press.

Hardcover.

168 pages, 8.6 x 11.1 inches, $303.73 (Amazon)

For people interested in the story of a 1951 streamliner rescue, and also for those who want the complete details about how resources from east and west acted together to rescue the 300 plus passengers, and later the streamliner itself. The book first sets the scene for one of the more difficult routes in railroading, Donner Pass over the Sierra Nevada. The tracks then, as they do now, continue to follow the line of the original transcontinental railroad that successfully reached Promontory, Utah, on 19 May 1869. The book can be read in several difference ways. One is a summary of what happened and how it all turned out. Another is the hour by hour developments for the stranded passengers, the rescuers from the east, and how a collection of railroad employees, San Jose State ski bums, PGE linemen, the US Army, California Department of Transportation, and local citizens all worked together to effect the rescue. A final way to read the book is a management study about overestimating your strengths in the face of Mother Nature, and how the powers-that-be continued to throw resources in the face of one of the most severe show storms in California history. The train passengers, crew, and rescuers faced temperatures below zero, winds over 100 mph, and snow drifts of over 60 feet. Why should the train even attempted to cross the Sierras in the face of such a storm? What resources needed to be added? All and all, the book is a tour de force for railroad foamers, history buffs, and everyone who likes a real human drama with heroes and failures and unfortunately more than one death. The book is out of print but the author is still alive and living in the Sacramento area. At the California State Railroad Museum, he gave a sold out talk on the rescue. If you like railroads, this is a great book for you.

Sierra And Desert Rails

Fred Matthews.

2006

Xlibris.

Paperback.

96 pages, 8.5 x 11 inches, $24.69 (Amazon)

The photos are excellent and of great interest and historical value. Unfortunately, the printing and reproduction is very poor.

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