I was
curious about the rail connections between the two former independent
rail lines around the CA/Nevada border. Chris Skow explained the
route conncections to me. Few passenger trains
traverse the Feather River Canyon while Donner gets Amtrak passenger
traffic
on a daily basis. They are two contrasting routes with the rail
line through the Feather River Canyon, installed just above river water
level and
the Donner, ex Central Pacific and Southern Pacific route having been
cut out
below ridge line. Many years ago, I had followed a UP train
westbound through the very
beautiful Feather River Canyon. Todays journey over Donner,
or
as staff William put it
"through Donner" had snow on the ground and warmth inside the historic
CZ cars.
While standing in the Silver
Lariat vestibule with Bert, I admitted that this trip is my first time
on a train over Donner Pass. He gave me an astonished look and
said "you, out of all people have never done this?" For my first
rail traverse over/through Donner, I was
starting on the top. What a way to go by private car? It
does not get any better than this. My comparison was going to my
first Long Beach Grand Prix car race by getting genreally unavailable
Pit Row Suite tickets,
again first class, starting on top. One can get used to this type
of treatment.
Later, I asked if there was beer
aboard. William told me that beer was "not a hot
seller." After the more domestic choices, I selected Sierra
Nevada Pale Ale. Being on the beautiful Silver
Lariat, I had to have a Sierra Nevada while crossing the mountains
north of Lake Tahoe. I know the guy who makes my beer at home, so
mass
produced national brand beers are not my favorite. There you go
BBC Blackwell.
I wandered back to the Lariat dome
and sat with a
pretty young blonde woman railfan. I had spotted her back at
Emeryville and knew from the red tag on her bag she was going to be on
the private cars. Chelsea, from San Francisco, was travelling
alone becasue her friend had become ill and could not attend the Domes
over Donner trip. We chatted most of the way over the pass during
lunch, which was comprised of salad, stuffed ravioli with a light cream
sauce and vegetables.
I noticed railroad snowsheds on the opposite side of the valley and
made plans to photograph them on the return trip. I was just too
busy enjoying company and lunch to take many photos
The Sierra Nevada weather cleared up slightly.
Truckee is another California Zephyr stop. It is a gateway to the north
shore of Lake Tahoe, a 14 mile drive to the south.
Above left, it looks cloudy towards Nevada and in California on
the right.
Amtrak picked up many passengers in Truckee.
Domes Through Donner Continued
