We took a memorable trip up the Feather River a few years ago and thought you might enjoy seeing some photos from the Keddie Wye. Unfortunately, no trains were running when the photos were taken.
Wayne
…Beautiful photos of a special place. Love all that green in pic. no. two.
Thanks for the pictures. I always wondered what a wye actually looked like. The tunnel picture is interesting. Do you know if it was made taller to accommodate double stacks or have locomotives gotten taller since it was constructed?
Thanks…there were a lot of clouds out that day and they broke up for just a few minutes allowing some brilliant sunshine to filter through during the early morning hours. I was also standing next to a tree in the shade so there was no direct sunlight on the camera lens.
Wayne
No I didn’t, thanks for the info. I was wondering why the portal was shaped that way and now I know.[:)]
Wayne
…I have no idea if double stacks are on that route but that sure looks like clearance was made for them.
Wayne,
Thanks for some very intersting pics! Not exactly your everyday, garden variety wye, is it? Fascinating, indeed![:D]
Quentin- Agreed on the tunnel. Someone or something definitely increased the clearance.[:P]
Mike
great shots I have always wanted to visit it Too bad the Western Pacifics California Zepher isnt in the shiot Larry
Thanks for all the nice comments. I actually rode the Zepher on that route as a youngster but didn’t have a camera at the time. What a shame.
This past October my wife and I had a great time on a 6 week road trip driving from San Francisoc to Cass, WV. This time I had a camera and took a lot of nice train photos across our beautiful country.
I’m really enjoying this forum and have learned a lot in just a few short months,
Wayne
In 1989 I hy-railed the Feather River Canyon with the UP Division Engineer and a contingent from the FRA. They were in the process then of using a piece of equipment that had a large cutting head on it. I believe the contractor was Kiewit. They had the machine tied down on a flatcar and a Difco side dump car in front to catch the spoils. And yes, they were “notching the crown” so that they could run double stacks.
I don’t visit this board very often and I can’t seem to figure out how to attach a photo from my computer…only from a URL site. [banghead]
I know what you mean, attaching a photo is an interesting procedure. What I do is first upload my photos to a photo web sharing site at photobucket.com. After this is done, I can copy a link from photobucket into my notebook, then the image icon from this forum is selected, it is the one immediately to the left of the ‘smiley face.’ Once this has been accomplished it is a simple matter of just pasting the photobucket link and select ‘insert.’ Apparently my Firefox browser does not allow a simple copy and paste…go figure!
Wayne
I was just looking at the photos again, and noticed the crumpled-up metal box(?) on the left side of the tunnel portal picture- has the Keddie Wye been the scene of a derailment at some point in the past?
With the help of a serious telephoto lens I wasn’t as close as it appears in the photos, but I didn’t notice any signs of a recent derailment. It is probably just an old beat up metal box, as any kind of derailment would have demolished it.
Actually it’s the instrument house for the Control Point (contains the signal equipment – batteries, relays, microprocessors, battery charger, etc), and it’s a fairly new one. It could have been whacked by any number of things – ballast regulator, spreader, derailed car, off-track machinery. Apparently it wasn’t bent enough to require replacement.
RWM
The Canyon Subdivision is a primary route for double-stacks between the Port of Oakland and the interior U.S. It is authorized for clearance of two high-cube containers (9’6" height) and the tallest autoracks, which measure out at 20’2"" above top of rail. There needs to be 2 to 3" above that for clearance, but most railroads try to have at least 6" above the top of equipment in case the track comes out of surface for whatever reason or there is something loose or broken on the car or container. Donner Pass, the parallel route, is at present not cleared for hi-cube double stacks.
Current standard clearance for new construction on western lines is 23’4" ATR.
RWM
Wouldn’t Donner Pass then require a lot of rebuilding to attain the clearences needed for hi-cube double stacks. Since a lot of the traffic coming east seems to be containers, and Donner Pass can’t do hi-cube containers, what is most of the traffic on that line?
Donner Pass has mixed freights, grain trains, and I believe auto trains (probably without the taller racks). I have also heard that there is a coal train for a concrete plant that still runs (although I am not sure about that), it may come over Donner.