Western Railroad Discussion > Truckee Traffic Woes (Part 1)

As someone who's visited Truckee frequently since moving to California nearly two decades ago, I can attest that it's a town that has somewhat outgrown itself over the past decade. (Truckee was actually the first place I stopped in California during my cross country drive on I-80 while moving here, of course!) There is a building boom and expenses that rival the Bay Area. There is also traffic which can be gridlocked at times. But the traffic I witnessed on the morning of June 22nd was of the railroad variety. Track work on the Roseville Sub on both the east and west side of Donner Pass has created additional challenges for getting the trains through.

I heard an eastbound coming over the summit from my place in Serene Lakes, so I grabbed the Camera and headed down to East Truckee to get a shot of it. When I got there I noticed that the train was running on the Number 2 Track, which is typically used by westbound trains through Truckee. The signals for westbound movement were dark as it slowed to a stop and dropped the ditch lights, and I knew it would be a wait. ATCS and radio chatter confirmed MoW crews were at work, and the railroad was effectively a single-track line from East Truckee (CP RV208) all the way to Sutro (CP RV242) in Reno.

Photo 1: UP 8940 has just stopped at the crossover at East Truckee around 8:13 am. The ridgeline above the train is the Pacific Crest as it runs between Anderson Peak and Mount Lincoln.

Photo 2: I walked the service roads on each side of the tracks for a closer look. (There is a Fish and Game crossing at East Truckee for accessing the river to fish.) I'm not certain, but it looks like the cars on the head of this train might be contaminated dirt cars out of San Francisco.

Photo 3: After about 45 minutes, the signals are lit for a westbound diverging clear move from Main 2 to Main 1, as UP 8940 continues to wait. Anderson Peak, the basaltic lava flow remnant of an ancient volcano, is seen dominating the ridgeline towards the center left of the image. Given UP's work on the signal systems on Donner Pass, I'm left to wonder how long these SP era tri-lights at East Truckee and West Truckee will remain.

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MoW is busy playing “Wack-a-Mole” with sun kinks in my neighborhood (Dutch Flat). I was out late last night fooling around w the drone and there were crews at Gold Run, Towle, and maybe a 3rd up higher.
SR

Yesterday morning I headed back to the Bay Area for the week, and they had a hi-rail excavator or something similar on Main 1 working about a quarter mile or so east of the Soda Springs grade crossing.

Sean

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> MoW is busy playing “Wack-a-Mole” with sun
> kinks in my neighborhood (Dutch Flat). I was out
> late last night fooling around w the drone and
> there were crews at Gold Run, Towle, and maybe a
> 3rd up higher.
> SR

The tri-color lights, having no moving parts, will probably be around a while. The searchlights with their moving parts are most likely the priority for replacement.

Nice shots!

RC Lundgren
Elgin, TX

Very nice..!!