Nostalgia & History > 3 of SP 9142 and Train In Donner Pass, But Where

Roger Puta caught SP 9142 and train in August 1980.  He was shooting above Donner Lake just before these three.  How should I describe them in their captions?

I don't remember the soil being that red up there.  The slides had become bluish and this is what the soil looked like when I removed the blue tint.

Thanks,
Marty Bernard



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/17 00:16 by MartyBernard.

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Red soil is typical of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada around roughly 2000'-4000' elevation, or thereabouts.  A Donner Pass expert can identify the grade crossing, which I suspect is somewhere near Applegate.
- Doug Debs

Maybe eastbound at Alta?

Eastbound at Gold Run, CA.

Eastbound at ALTA, Ca., with lots of perishables--great to see.  Wish we could see that volume today.

My cousin was a State of California forester.  He told the "red band of dirt" ran from 2000 to 5000 ft., and was the best forest growing soil in the west.  "Trees grow like crazy in that zone", he told me.  Hence the intense logging interest by many companies due to great timber supplies, and good "re-grow" capabilities.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/17 01:44 by coach.

Other photos showing the red earth on that curve:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2023020,2023023#2023023
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1863487,1863499#1863499
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1665555,1665568#1665568

Yes, EB on #2 on curve between Alta and Towle. The grade crossing in the background is Alta-Bonny Nook road.(shed is gone now)
His tail end is passing my house- about 300' from where I'm writing this.
SR

RVNPP at Alta.

Best regards,

Rob L.

Yep, EB at Bonny Nook Lane. That red dirt is called a "laterite soil" and is good for growing trees (but not much else, particuarly in the way of crops). Its a result of the land making up the formation being leached of nutrients by rains when this part of N America was in the tropics. It's also the same formation of red soil you see between Gray Rocks and Lakehead on the Shasta line.