Now that you've been introduced to
the
train, which has just left
Sacramento and switched over to the old Western Pacific line towards
Marysville and Oroville, let's kick
back, enjoy the scenery and hear the rest of Chris Skow's Western
Pacific
story. "I took an early retirement with the Union Pacific
Railroad from my
conductors job in 1995 after spending 26 years running trains through
the Feather River Canyon and in fact over the entire Western Pacific
system. After spending many years as a trainman in the
Feather River Canyon I
want folks to enjoy the rugged landscapes from the train as much as I
have over the many years. Bringing a train load of
passengers to Portola for the Railroad
Days weekend will be a big boost to the local economy. But, much
more important is the fact that I have arranged to have 50% of the
proceeds donated to the Feather River Rail Society to use at the
Western Pacific
Railroad Museum to help prepare for Railroad Days and other museum
projects." Thank you Chris.
Below, the Sutter Buttes are in the
distance towards the west. They remained visible for over an hour
as we headed
northerly to the Feather River Canyons above Oroville.
Below Oroville dam are other structures. Thermalito Diversion
Pool
and its retention structure are show below. The installation of
the main dam necessitated rerouting the Western Pacific Railroad in the
late 1950's. From near this point until the large North Fork
concrete
arch bridge over the river, we are on the newer right-of-way.
The
original route went up the canyon mainly on the eastern side of the
Feather River. We will rejoin the original
route in approximately 27 miles. The reroute was an engineering
marvel, rising in elevation with numerous tunnels and bridges, views of
the
rapidly vanishing California central valley and Lake Oroville.
California has some extremely large water projects and Oroville is one
of them. This system, located in Butte County, and part of the CA
State Water Project, sends its water south to Central
and Southern California.
This spot is one of the more interesting locations engineering
wise. As on Lake Shasta, the railroad is on a bridge coincidental
with a highway.
Below left, houseboats lined up at moorings. Right, looking
southwesterly, arms of the lake are low.
The other side of Tunnel 8 (lower right) and across North Fork bridge
returns the
route to the original alignment.
Feather River Express continued
