Western Railroad Discussion > UP Feather River Canyon Facts & Speculation

As I type this, the BNSF south bound train at Almanor (been there since Friday) is busy putting a North facing loco from the front units onto the rear of the train. The current destination is Bieber,CA, I would think for a crew change.I would expect the RR to do the same with the south bound at Keddie,CA (using the yard at Keddie to do the swapping).
As far I can tell the fire is burning actively east of the Cresta Power House.
Without a doubt the UP will have its hands full reviving the RR when the fire is out (Nov.30?).

DaveL
in chilly Greenville

PS.  For those unfamiliar with the lower canyon around and west of Pulga, the north facing canyon wall (above the tracks) varies from 40 to maybe 60 degrees of slope.
Add fire to that and there will likely be plenty rocks & trees on the tracks.

They will be rerouted via UP-Dunsmuir.

Dispatcher just said train will be heading north, needs a second crew to get to KF.

The crew situation and the number of detour trains allowed on the UP nullifies any wild thoughts.

The UPrr 'water' train can be heard on the Chico feed. They're still putting out spot fires and cooling off the property.

I figured they would eventually turn around those southbounds at Almanor & Keddie. Although some progress has been made on the Camp Fire, one of the most active parts seems to be along the railroad in the lower Feather River Canyon. I am supposed  to go to Chico a week from Saturday and am hoping either Highway 70 or 32 will be open by then. What a mess!

TJY

Was just watching the Truckee cam and saw what looked like a detouring MNPRV go west through truckee at 840pm. About 110 cars and 4x2 configuration. Wonder how long the re-routes will last? Must be expensive to run double the number of locomotives for the trip over Summit.

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