Nostalgia & History > Three for "Snowplow Saturday"...or Sunday.

  We were camped up on Donner Pass, and one morning in the summer of 2008, as I was monitoring the scanner, I heard the DS tell someone about a plow special that was coming up the hill.  This immediatedly piqued my interest, and we loaded up in the car and went in search of this plow special..  Subsequent chatter on the scanner indicated we could make it to Blue Canon to catch it.

1.  Sure enough, two SD70M's were towing this old former SP rotary plow.  Blue Canon.

2.  Yuba Gap.  As I drove down the access road to the tracks, there was a vehicle blocking the road.  I politely asked the driver to move so I could get by, and he did.  I got chatting with him and discovered he was the UP Director of Road Operations at Roseville.  He was formerly a mamager in Los Angeles, and recognized my name.  Instead of ordering me off the property, we exchanged emails so I could send him some of the shots I took.  Come to find out, the old rotary had been donated to the museum in Truckee for display.  He also mentioned there was nothing but junk inside,

3.  Just about to enter the 10,000 foot plus long Tunnel 41, the "Big Hole" at Norden.

Thanks for looking, and as always comments welcome.

Brian Black
Castle Rocl, CO.
 

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Nice catch and a great backstory.    Thanks!

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

To add to the story the Rotary and a large steam owered crane / big hook SPMW 7050 are on display at a roadside setting very near the tracks in Truckee, in the area where the Lumber Mill or had been, very near the snow equipment loop.

They had been temporarily stored nearby, the security fence had a good sized sign showing the many organizations that had contributed to the project. I have some photos from a snowy day in 2009 but the point and shoot technology left the wording kinda soupy. Google Maps also has streetview photos of them.

t4p