Western Railroad Discussion > BoilingMan - what's it like on the hill tonight?

2 to 5 feet of snow is forecast for the Sierra tonight - only getting rain here in Reno.  Looks like CZ #6 sat for 3 hours short of Truckee before being allowed to proceed, and I-80 was closed in both directions during the same time.  Are you getting much snow or mostly rain?  The UP radio feed from Truckee/Norden has been quiet for a while now - is the hill open?

Really appreciate all the first hand reports and of course the great photos.  Stay warm and dry up there.

Wet & warm. Chain control is way up at Kingvale!
I-80 was closed earlier- spin outs and a jack knifed semi. (Sounds like Sierra Slop- REALLY wet snow!)
And it’s quite windy
Hopefully the snow level will make a dramatic drop... but I dunno
SR

Oh- there was an EB around 5 or 5:30. Nothing since. No WB’s. Very quiet.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/19 20:18 by BoilingMan.

Thanks for the scoop!  What's your approx altitude there?  5000'-ish?  Thanks again.

No, no- about 35-3600’.
SR

5000’ is more like Emigrant Gap.

Down in the balmy suburbs then.

Yes, but we have no bananas..
SR

We used to go sledding up the road from the CalTrans facility at Kingvale. Must be a Pineapple Express type storm then if you don’t need chains until that far up the hill. Enjoy the rain, hopefully it will turn to snow by the time it gets to Utah.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

11:30p and we’re getting thunder & lightning.
This a weird storm.
SR

Get out there and get those pictures of the rotary!

portlander Wrote:
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> Get out there and get those pictures of the
> rotary!

What rotary?

He probably means CalTrans. I’ll see what I can do....
SR

Last nights storm was near hurricane intensity.    I was in a hurricane in NYC years ago, and this was very similar...pounding gusts of wind, sheets of rain, lightning and thunder.   Not tropical hurricane intensity, but a lot for the west coast.  It was subtropical, so lots of warm air.  Colder w-nw air moving in behind the storm...

Location?  Wind gusts were forecasted for 100+ mph last night, looks like the NWS was right on this one.

All rain in Reno last night, windy (by Reno standards) as well.

Rotary set is sitting in Colfax.   I imagine they want to do more testing and training with it..  

sixaxlecentury Wrote:
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> Rotary set is sitting in Colfax.   I imagine
> they want to do more testing and training with
> it..  

Mmmmmm...   I don't think so.  I think they're just staging in case there's an avalanche.  (the reason 5&6 didn't run etc..)   If the snow behaves, then they really aren't needed.
SR

BoilingMan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> sixaxlecentury Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Rotary set is sitting in Colfax.   I imagine
> > they want to do more testing and training with
> > it..  
>
> Mmmmmm...   I don't think so.  I think they're
> just staging in case there's an avalanche.  (the
> reason 5&6 didn't run etc..)   If the snow
> behaves, then they really aren't needed.
> SR

I saw it leave town, then get promply stopped by a minor rockslide in Auburn. About 6 hours later it was approaching Colfax.  I assumed it was headed  up to be used, but precaustionary reasons could certainly have been the plan all along.

when a rockslide happens, does Union Pacific have the opportunity to go in and remediate the hillside, build slide fences, etc, or does it have to negotiate and EIS with the state / feds first?

This would seem to be a classic case of the railroad was there first, but some of the avalanches and rock slides may originate some distance away.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> when a rockslide happens, does Union Pacific have
> the opportunity to go in and remediate the
> hillside, build slide fences, etc, or does it have
> to negotiate and EIS with the state / feds first?
>
> This would seem to be a classic case of the
> railroad was there first, but some of the
> avalanches and rock slides may originate some
> distance away.

What do you think? Come on, let's use a little common sense here.
And for the record in case of a rock slide they can come in and clean up the mess.
Stuff like building a slide fence or remediate the hillside is going to require some engineering work first.
 

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > when a rockslide happens, does Union Pacific
> have
> > the opportunity to go in and remediate the
> > hillside, build slide fences, etc, or does it
> have
> > to negotiate and EIS with the state / feds
> first?
> >
> > This would seem to be a classic case of the
> > railroad was there first, but some of the
> > avalanches and rock slides may originate some
> > distance away.
>
> What do you think? Come on, let's use a little
> common sense here.
> And for the record in case of a rock slide they
> can come in and clean up the mess.
> Stuff like building a slide fence or remediate the
> hillside is going to require some engineering work
> first.
>  

No need for a snarky reply.  I know perfectly well they can clean up the mess on the tracks.

My question was more along the issues of an easement to maintain the integrity of the railroad.  But, you knew that...