Western Railroad Discussion > SP Altamont Alignment

I was just looking at a 1938 photo of a WP mixed freight rolling westbound just past Altamont, CA. The photo was shot at the west end of the WP Altamont siding. The SP tracks appear in the background. But... it appears the SP ROW was up on the side of the hill, where Altamont Road is now. The roadway appears in the bottom of the canyon (where the old SP ROW was when removed.) Does anyone know if this was the case? Were the SP ROW and Altamont Road swapped in later years in some sort of realignment?

The only major change that I remember was shortly after abandonment in 1987 (or so). The old concrete road bridge that was near the western side of the pass was removed. This took road traffic over the SP ROW. It was a popular spot for rail photographers too.