Western Railroad Discussion > A Fool in the Snow on Donner: The MRVNP

My final train of the morning of Saturday, January 3, 2026, (technically just seconds past noon) was the eastbound MRVNP. (I welcome corrections if this was not the symbol for the train seen below, but I believe this is what I overheard the dispatcher referring to this train as when it was leaving Roseville.) After shooting the westbound California Zephyr at West Norden, I began the mile and a half snowshoe trek back to East Norden, figuring that I would grab a shot of the MRVNP wherever it caught me along the way. The snow had begun to fall heavily after the Amtrak passed me, and high, swirling winds were vehemently hurling it at me from all directions. My shell jacket and wind pants outer layers were wetting out from the snow melting on them, and my base-layers and mid-layers were wetting out from sweat. Snow was sticking to my camera backpack, and even with a Storm Jacket cover my camera and lens were tough to keep dry. Wet clothing and wet gear in the cold isn’t a wining situation, so it was time to pack it in.

I made it all the way back to East Norden and waited a bit before the MRVNP arrived.

Photos 1 and 2: This is the type of photo I left the house for. Visibility was reduced to a quarter of a mile, with snowfall rates pushing 1 to 2 inches per hour. Despite it being noon, you’d think it was dusk given the calculated exposure value of ~10-11EV based on my camera’s exposure settings. The head-end consist, led by UP 7758, was seen plastered with snow as it was about to enter the shed protecting the switch at CP RV193 East Norden. It was a true Donner winter experience in the middle of a two and a half day storm cycle that dropped over 4 feet of snow.
Photo 3: My parting shot of the day, the DPUs of the 5x2 manifest are about to receive respite from the storm in the confines of the snowshed at East Norden and Tunnel 41. It was snowing so hard at this point that even at the full resolution of the image, I couldn’t make out the locomotive numbers on the DPUs.

There were more eastbound trains climbing the west slope of Donner Pass, but without a solid idea of when they would arrive it was time to head back to the cabin for dry clothes and a warm cup of coffee.

Cheers,
Sean

---

---

---

Brrrrrrrrr!
Great stuff Sean. Enjoying you snow photos!

Rob

Nice series Sean.  Looks like you had fun in the snow, got some good exercise and came away with some nice photos.

Killer shots! You were well rewarded for your efforts. Thanks for the effort.

Great shots!   Especially the first one.

texchief1

Enjoyed your "Fool in the Snow..." Series very much!

With your Donner experience, no sympathy from me regarding the weather, since I'm confident you were prepared. :-)

Your MRVNP shots are a good reminder about what's really scary on Donner during the winter - whiteout conditions.

Totally worth it! Thanks for sharing these.

Awesome series. Thank you for the effort.

Awesome shots!

That's really cool to see the engine rimed with snow like that. Looks cold! I bet the hot coffee tasted great after braving the cold for these shots. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/26 17:58 by phthithu.

Greats shots Sean, one odf the masters of shots in heavy Nordsen snow!@

Great stuff under difficult conditions. Thanks for sharing. 

NICE work.....

Thanks all. I'm glad folks enjoyed the series. Getting out in weather like that is my idea of fun. As to why, I cannot say.