Western Railroad Discussion > Sacramento: Railfan guide or advice?

A friend will be visiting Sacramento for the SPH&TS convention from out of state and asked me for advice to spend a free day before catching the Starlight about midnight.
He particularly asked if there were any copies of the California Zephyr passenger guide as he is leaning toward driving up the Feather River.
SPHTS will have plenty of exposure to the California State museum so we need suggestions a bit further away.
He and his wife will have a rental car, and he credits her as an excellent photographer; they team up with one shooting stills and one doing movies.
I suggested he could not go wrong aiming for Portola and the WP museum, with time to watch and photograph trains along the way (but it will make for a very full day).
Any other suggestions?

If they have never been up the canyon, it is a "must see" as you probably know. I am obviously biased, but most peoples reaction the first time they see the equipment at our museum is "HOLY $&#@" ! Enjoy the convention, yet another one I am not going to get to! 

I really enjoy the WP museum, allot of neat stuff and they seem to be ok with just wandering around... 

Having said that, keep in mind that it will take you longer to get anywhere then what GPS/Distance/Maps tell you. Mountain roads with allot of turns being the reason. 

wpdude Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If they have never been up the canyon, it is a
> "must see" as you probably know. I am obviously
> biased, but most peoples reaction the first time
> they see the equipment at our museum is "HOLY
> $&#@" ! Enjoy the convention, yet another one I am
> not going to get to! 

what do you mean by " up the canyon".  I just returned from Sac,
went to the museum after we spent a week in Yosemite.  If there is
a must see " up the canyon" I for one would like to know what the
hedk you are referring to.

Portola seems a bit far if you have a train to catch at midnight. I would be looking for Rio Vista or Niles Canyon.

Portola and the FRC are worth a full day or two by themselves. They can be traveled, perhaps reconnoitered, in a day, but not much would be seen.

Driving from Sac to Portola via Hwy99/Hwy70 via the FRC without stopping is a 4 hour + drive each direction. You can do a round trip in a day but you mentioned shooting trains and stopping at the Portola musuem. You probably should pick one or the other or else it will be a very long day.

UP *typically* send only 1-4 westbounds daily through the FRC and BNSF sends another 2-4 either direction during daylight. Monday and Tuesday are the deadest and will likely have MOW windows in the morning/early afternoon hours.

Another alternative is to head up Donner Pass (I-80) in the morning and shoot some trains along the way then (at Truckee) head up Hwy 89 to Portola. You'll cut about 1 hour (each way) off your trip. Donner's higher elevation will be cooler than the FRC this time of year. Bring a scanner so you know where trains are. During the weekdays you can follow the early (pre 7am) morning Z train up the hill from Roseville into the rising sun.  Unless there are MOW windows on the Donner you'll see more daylight trains then the FRC.

Thank you all for the thoughtful advice.  We can give them a menu depending upon their energy level after the convention.

From  a friend who has lived in the Sacramento area for 55 years comes the following:

I have done a trip with friends where we chased a train eastbound over Donner, spent the night in Portola, checked out the museum for a few hours, then followed a westbound train down the canyon. Chasing a freight through the Feather River Canyon is a very enjoyable way to spend several hours as there are many photo opportunities and the railway is a lot slower than the road. Trying to do both ways in the canyon in one day will be a marathon from Sacramento as it is 1 to 2 hours to Oroville and then another few hours to Portola depending on how much railfanning you do on the drive.  The Portola museum is well worth a visit. If someone wants a quicker trip to Portola, I80 to Truckee and SR 89 north from there will get you to the museum.

per Mike Tisdale
posted by
Bryce Lee
Burington Ontario
Am Many many miles and a foreign country from the area
with no desire to ever visit the geographic location.

 

Ot at least a trip up to Pulga to see the over under bridge shot. Then back to James and back to Sac.

I agree with Donner Dude's suggestion.

Also, recommend you make a stop at the Colfax Amtrak station on the way to Truckee.

Its a good location to catch the California Zephyr 5 and 6 as well as UP Freight Activity and there is a small History Museum inside the station.

D. J. Cooley"s Feather River Route: Union Pacific's Canyon Subdivision is a good  guide to the Feather River Canyon.

It is published by Sonrisa Publications.

Perhaps your friend could acquire a copy before he goes to the convention and do some advance planning.

OCV

WrongWayMurphy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wpdude Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If they have never been up the canyon, it is a
> > "must see" as you probably know. I am obviously
> > biased, but most peoples reaction the first
> time
> > they see the equipment at our museum is "HOLY
> > $&#@" ! Enjoy the convention, yet another one I
> am
> > not going to get to! 
>
> what do you mean by " up the canyon".  I just
> returned from Sac,
> went to the museum after we spent a week in
> Yosemite.  If there is
> a must see " up the canyon" I for one would like
> to know what the
> hedk you are referring to.


He was referring to Feather River Canyon and the Museum at Portola.

Ha! Feather River Canyon is impressive (at least to me), but after a trip to Yosemite, it might not have looked that great... :-)