Western Railroad Discussion > A Taste of Winter on Donner

While there happily is more snow around Donner Summit than there was this time last year, the storm that rolled through this past Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon came up a little short delivering the goods. It was on the warmer side, and it looked like the bulk of it might have missed the I-80 corridor. There was also some rain and sleet in the mix with the snow for a while on Monday evening at our place near 7,000 feet. So it goes.

I was excited to shoot my first couple of winter scenes of the season, so I headed over to Soda Springs knowing there was at least one eastbound train that I might catch making it's way over Donner Summit.

Photo 1: UP 5444 is leading what I'd guess is the AMICX auto train. (corrections welcome) There had been a manifest train in front of these autos through Colfax, and I thought that might be what I would be shooting when I heard the detector at MP 185.3 near Troy. It had taken the manifest over 8 hours to make it to Colfax from Roseville, so I don't know if I missed it or if the autos ran around it at some point. Tough to say what was ailing the manifest.
Photo 2: Going away shot of UP 7994, the DPU on the autoracks.
Photo 3: I heard the auto train mention they were going to be stopping at Norden. After hearing traffic in Truckee from an east-west meet (perhaps the manifest I was hoping to shoot), I decided to stick around to see what was coming west over the pass. UP 7931 showed up with what I believe is the MSPRV. (again, corrections welcome)

I heard the crew of UP 7931 speaking with another crew near Troy, and the detector went off for both mains. I waited long enough for an eastbound to show but was left empty handed. The shots above were already pushing the camera's capability with lighting, and with temperatures dropping I packed it in.

Cheers,
Sean

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Great work Sean... thanks for sharing. 

I no longer own a 4x4 and these old bones have become an indoor cat, I really appreciate you and the others that brave the cold, ice and snow of Donner and bring us those amazing shots.

Michael Mickens
Armchair Railfan
Placerville, CA

Wow, I love the first image!

texchief1

Sean,
Thanks for sharing a nice series and narrative.  I'll echo what Michael said above concerning the elements.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Love the snow still on the tree leaves and branches in the background. Thanks for sharing us Donner's winter freshness! 

Wow! These are really beautiful. Great job, Broken_Link! I like all of them. I particularly like the blue sky amid the snowy hillsides in pic 1. 
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/24 01:46 by phthithu.

Great shots, especially #1!

bobk Wrote:
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> Great shots, especially #1!

Yes, one is lovelyQ


Bob

Great pics!!

Calendar worthy images!

Image of the Day - Well deserved.
 

Thanks for going out there in the elements and capturing these fine images!
To think that about 30 years ago I could venture out in -20° with a video camera, 30 miles from home, to shoot trains in Idaho...is unthinkable now.

And thanks for the weather update up there in the Sierras, I was wondering how much they were hit up there, this go round.
I always watch the weather radar up in that area during winter storms.

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

Thanks all. Glad you enjoyed them, and I enjoy getting out to capture images like this. (I really love the snowshoes I'm currently using, and I'm looking at a back country ski touring setup to get even further out there in the future.)

Happy Thanksgiving to the TO community!

Cheers,
Sean

Good stuff!

I assume the Flanger was out, did the Spreaders make a pass?
SR

I’ll be back on The Hill in a few weeks- I hope we get a proper winter to shoot this year!

I'm not sure if the spreaders made it out. My son and I snowshoed up to the top of Soda Springs Mountain Resort from the Serene Lakes Side earlier in the day on the 26th. It was too snowy (blizzard conditions with about 50 to 100 yards of visibility) to see to the base of the mountain and the Soda Springs Road grade crossing, but I could tell snow removal equipment was going through by the sound of the prime movers. I assumed it was the flangers. When I was down shooting photos Tuesday evening (photos above) and Wednesday morning, the snow was cleared to a couple feet outside of the rails. I don't know if the flangers are capable of that, or if perhaps they ran the spreaders through without the side plows deployed.

BoilingMan Wrote:
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> I assume the Flanger was out, did the Spreaders
> make a pass?
> SR
>
> I’ll be back on The Hill in a few weeks- I hope
> we get a proper winter to shoot this year!