Western Railroad Discussion > A Donner Balloon Stroll (Not for the ADD Crowd)

This is as titled: A (painfully tedious) walk around the Balloon Track at Fulda, CA.  This was a kind of request from TO member 5 Chime.  Bare with me- this is going to take time to post.
First, a bit of background:  The Balloon at Fulda (Between Blue Canon & Emigrant Gap) is used to turn Flangers during snow fighting operations.  The flangers are rather light and tend to derail easily if backed into deep snow, so a wye doesn't really work well- a balloon was the solution.  There is another balloon in Truckee at the East end of the territory where the flangers generally are needed.
SR

Photos 1-3.  Here are some aerials of The Balloon for reference.  I took these back in the mid-80's, but I don't think there have been any real changes. I'm going to walk around the Balloon counter-clockwise.

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The East end of The Balloon has a crossover and is accessable to/from both the 1&2 Track.
Photos 2&3 are looking back over my shoulder.

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Photo 8 is a fisheye view of 6&7

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Photo 12.  Is this bear scat?  God, I hope not- that would be one mean bear!!  Better keep moving...

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Photo 13.  You can see the mainline approaching on the far right.
Photo 14.  Lots of dings from derailments along the way.  BTW:  The entire Balloon is jointed rail.

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Done!  I;m not sure exactly what the steel plates are protecting.  Some sort of track heating, I would guess.  But I couldn't figure out how it works (no obvious burners)- anyond know?
Thanks
SR

Jim, is this what you wanted?

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Nah - this is bearscat.

http://www.bearscatbakehouse.com/gallery.html

BB

Thanks for the post! Did you happen to catch a rail date stamp on the balloon trackage?

Oliver

Oh, no, I didn’t. That’s an interesting question. Hmmm..
maybe I’ll go back this afternoon and have at look.
Check back here for an answer.
SR

Here you go-  I found both 1945 and '46.  (But I didn't check the whole thing)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/18 16:40 by BoilingMan.

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Thanks SR. Great photos!

Never seen a photo of anything using it, although, back in the late 1960's, SP had offered the Pacific Locomotive Association the
opportunity to turn their annual Truckee Limited trains there if they got way off schedule. Was never necessary.

Regards, Jim Evans

You’re welcome. Yeah, I’m going to have to figure out a way in next Winter (no small task), it really is a nice, photogenic, spot.
SR

Some of the flanger in winter Videos have some footage from the balloon track. Pretty sure BA Productions 'Night of the Flanger' has some views, throwing the switch, going around, waiting at the switch, etc.

Here's a clip but not about the loops:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEdHlFzX0Xg
The Flanger Cab Ride

Those are electric switch heaters.

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> Oh, no, I didn’t. That’s an interesting
> question. Hmmm..
> maybe I’ll go back this afternoon and have at
> look.
> Check back here for an answer.
> SR

The Balloon looks very steep.  Understandable, since revenue trains would never run that way.  What would you estimate- twice as steep as the main line (2.1% at Fulda)?

mapboy

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> Photo 12.  Is this bear scat?  God, I hope not-
> that would be one mean bear!!  Better keep
> moving...

A few years back during the summer, I hiked down to the balloon from the 'Gap, during the hike back up, I saw bear scat along the ROW (I'm pretty sure it was from a bear, a rather large deposit, ladden with berries) It made me a bit uneasy out there by myself. Later during the winter, I stopped by the 'Gap & saw an inspector stationed there, his job was to "roll by" the trains and report any excessive snow build-up on the trains underside...anyway, I asked him about bears in the area, and he confirmed that during warmer months, sightings in the area weren't all that unusual. So yeah, if you're up there alone, bring a can of repellent, leave a box of doughnuts as a diversion, or bring someone who can't outrun you :)

Desmond Praetzel, "4451 Puff"

Yes, we have plenty of bears up here- I was late to work once because I couldn't shoo a bear away from my car.  When I'm out alone like this I clip my car keys to the outside of my camera pack.  The jingle kind of gives bears a "heads up"  which is a good thing  (supposedly they don't much like surprises).   On the other hand, I could see where it might actually attract mountain lions...
SR

mapboy Wrote:
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> The Balloon looks very steep.  Understandable,
> since revenue trains would never run that way.
>  What would you estimate- twice as steep as the
> main line (2.1% at Fulda)?
>
> mapboy

I dunno, 4 or 5%? Remember that with the main alongside, going the other way, to some degree exaggerates things.
SR

BoilingMan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, we have plenty of bears up here- I was late
> to work once because I couldn't shoo a bear away
> from my car.  When I'm out alone like this I clip
> my car keys to the outside of my camera pack. 
> The jingle kind of gives bears a "heads up" 
> which is a good thing  (supposedly they don't
> much like surprises).   On the other hand, I
> could see where it might actually attract mountain
> lions...
> SR

There are many berry vines around MP 159 Casa Loma and I've seen Bear Scat during summer.

Also saw a Mountain Lion climbing up the American River Canyon towards the tracks near the signals at MP 158.5. Scared the heck out of me. I moved to higher ground.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/18 18:39 by donner_dude1.

Yes.  I've seen bears at MP159.
SR

The Ballon was put in after the disastrous 1951-52 winter when the COSF was ran into a snow slide at Yuba gap. its principal use was to turn the rotaries.