Western Railroad Discussion > His Name was Giuseppe Verdi, not Giuseppe Marroni (Donner Pass)

Verdi, NV, (allegedly named after Giuseppe Verdi) tends to live up to its name in the spring, when the snow melt coming out of the mountains makes the high desert town look like an oasis. By late November, things are pretty drab. Marroni, NV, anyone?

Photos 1 through 3: I was a little slow getting out of the house and missed this eastbound manifest, led by UP 9807, as it went over the Summit on the morning of Wednesday, November 26th. I caught up with it in Truckee, but without time to get in front of it before it descended into the Truckee River Canyon east of town, I decided to get some shots of it in Verdi. I don’t know for certain what symbol this is, but I’ve recently seen the MRVGR as the first manifest out of the barn pre-dawn in Roseville, so that might be a safe guess.

Continued…
 

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Photo 4: About a minute after the manifest passed on Main 1, westbound Amtrak Train 5, the California Zephyr, passed on Main 2 led by AMTK 163 with AMTK 50 second in line.
Video: I stitched both train clips together into a single movie. Amtrak didn’t show up as soon as it would seem from the video, though it was there soon enough that I didn’t stop recording, nor did I have time to reframe the scene after I walked back to my video rig.

Unfortunately these were the only Donner trains I was able to shoot this past week. The start to winter in the Sierra Nevada has been a bust for the ski resorts, so I had planned to spend the holiday break hiking a shooting photos. A small boulder rolling underfoot while rock-hopping back to the car resulted in a severe ankle sprain that still has me laid up this morning. So it goes.

Cheers,
Sean

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Nice catch. Didn't realize eastbounds blew the horn for that tiny crossing.
Regards, Jim Evans

Thanks Jim.

There is a gate blocking access off of US-40 to the small service road where the crossing is, but I believe that it is part of the Truckee Meadows Water Authority. There is a diversion dam just around the bend in the river behind the bridge on Main 1, and there are flumes that line both sides of the river at this location. I've seen anglers fishing the Truckee use the road to access the river. (I've also seen anglers crossing the rail bridge to access the south bank of the Truckee as well. Not a bridge I'd want to be on if an eastbound train showed up with little warning.)

FiveChime Wrote:
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> Nice catch. Didn't realize eastbounds blew the
> horn for that tiny crossing.
> Regards, Jim Evans

SR, sorry to hear about your injury but greagt effort and nice pics especially the 170 car eastman!

SR is still in Santa Barbara on the boat, a completely different poster.

Nice catches.  A good clean leader and I like the way you got the DPUs in #3.  Looks like a good curve to photo from.
Brian Stevens

Good stuff, went to the map and was stunned at the development. Clearly I haven't been in the area in a really long time.

Good luck with the ankle, very common injury.

t4p.

John Green.

The apartments that are the backdrop for Amtrak went up over the past one to two years. The entire hillside to the south of 80 and east of the railroad where it parallels Quilici Ranch Rd is in the process of being developed. Reno is pushing all the way into the Sierra.

TCnR Wrote:
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> Good stuff, went to the map and was stunned at the
> development. Clearly I haven't been in the area in
> a really long time.
>
> Good luck with the ankle, very common injury.
>
> t4p.

What amazing timing!  Beautifully done!  And probably not a bad idea having that UP and other trains blowing for that little crossing.  Amtrak has basically lost two Superliner trainsets at crossings like that over the past few years thanks to careless truck drivers.

"Ah yes, Giuseppe Verdi!  Joe Green to you!" - Victor Borge

TCnR Wrote:
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> Good stuff, went to the map and was stunned at the
> development. 

More wildfire fuel...

wp1801 Wrote:
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> John Green.

Actually it would be Joe Green.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/25 12:40 by colehour.

Nice video, hopefully the ankle heals up quick!

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

Joe Green to you......

sp3204 Wrote:
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> SR is still in Santa Barbara on the boat, a
> completely different poster.

True that. I’m afloat as I write this.
I’ll be heading back up The Hill in January, as my amphibious lifestyle takes its annual winter turn.
Hoping for a Whiter Winter Worth Foamin!
SR

BTW: I’ve been swept up in model building and also concentrating on a book project, so…. not dead.