A wander down Commercial Street
yielded interesting artwork and
inviting places to visit.
The below artwork was on the
old Masonic Temple, now the Feather River
Community Arts Center. Items such as old film cameras, paintings
and housewares were for sale inside.
Across the street was kenneth
Roller, Train Artist. He produced
the above artwork too.
On a visit a few months ago, I
had lunch at the Station Cafe. For
RR Days, there was supposed to be wine and beer tasting on the front
lawn of the
Pullman Inn, but none was noticed. I entered the house to inquire
about that but was
taken in by the interior decoration which is completely in train
oriented. I would definitely consider staying at this bed and
breakfast.
Western
Pacific Railroad Museum
No visit to Portola would
be complete without a visit to the
Western Pacific Railroad Museum. Even though I had done a whirlwind
visit in May, I had some
urgent business there. First was the
presence of UP 6936, the world's only working DD-40. A museum
volunteer was in the locomotive cab. Second was
to procure a nice WP shirt for the California Zephyr private car ride
through Western Nevada, Portola and the Feather River Canyon for
tomorrow.
Click here
for Western Pacific RR Museum photos from this trip.
The DD40, two locomotives on
one frame. Imagine that, 547,000
pounds of machine rides on 8 axles.
Another visitor was on
hand. The UP 1983 is a Western Pacific
heritage paint scheme engine.
I happened upon the old rotary
snowplow which was spinning her blades
and tooting her horn. I got some shots of gauges, round
windshield wiper, and its innerds.
Below, a different view of UP
6936 from
Silver Hostel, a CZ dome car whichis undergoing restoration The
project manager, Eugene Vicknair (above right), a design engineer, was
giving a tour
of Silver Hostel to a Porsche club. Mr. Vicknair gave our
group the museum tour on the prior trip in May 2008.
A speeder was taking visitors
on rides. The blue sky in Plumas
County was perfect.
Below is a view of museum
equipment set out for display. The photo was taken the next day
from the moving California Zephyr train on its westbound reroute
through the Feather River Canyon. There will be a complete report
of this journey .
Interested in visiting
Portola? There is a wealth of information online and in
print with many maps and brochures describing Plumas
County's various offerings ranging from nature and camping to
gofing, mountain and road biking, snowmachining, downhill and cross
country skiing, hiking, angling and hunting. There are many lakes
in the
area for fishing, canoeing, boating and waterskiing. Two major
lakes, Lake Davis and Frenchman Reservoir can be driven to.
History
buffs can visit a number of museums other than the Western Pacific RR
Museum. As far as flora and fauna, Plumas Counaty offers many
species of birds to view and seasonally, there are spring flowers and
fall tree colors. Depending where you are in Plumas County, summer can
be warm to hot while winter can bring snow, therefore, four
seasons. There are fun
and interesting events year round with ski racing, Portola RR Days,
arts and crafts fairs, Cowboy Poetry, July 4th celebrations and
fireworks, and just plain old railfanning. Services such as
accomodations, dining, entertainment, and shopping are available in
most Plumas County communities and towns.
Useful Links:
Trains Unlimited, Tours
Plumas
County Visitors Bureau
City
of Portola
Western
Pacific Railroad Museum
Richard
Elgenson RailNews Site
Email: Richard@trainweb.com
