Feather
River Express Private Varnish
Train, Emeryville to Portola CA
August
20, 2010
Photos By Richard Elgenson
What better way to tour a watershed
than by passenger train? For the next 90 miles or so, we will be
on one side of the river or the other.
Upon examination of a web
based map, name places such as Blinzing and Brush appear along the
abandoned right-of-way down the original route, below left. The
reroute opened
in 1962. Below right, notice the smoke venting from the tunnel.
The North Fork Bridge is 1,000 feet in length, and 200 feet high.
Upstream is this old bridge on the Poe Powerhouse road.
The railroad climbs each canyon in succession and gains
elevation. The Donner Pass route was built at high elevation on
the side of the mountains, the Feather River route seems to follow a
consistent gradient above the water course by a few tens of feet to
several hundred.
Below left, the mountainside is monitored by trip wires.
The Colonial Crafts gives a nice reflection of the bridges at Pulga.
Below left, the railfans are waiting for the Feather River Express.
