3 Special Units in One Weekend; Plus UP 7777, Donner Detours, & More!

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The weekend of March 19th, 2011 brought very stormy weather to northern California and the west coast; plenty of rain in the valley and snow in the mountains! As the snow quickly accumulated on Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Union Pacific acted quickly but could not efficiently keep the railroad clear of snow. The Feather River Canyon, 80 miles to the north, was receiving rain and moderate snow, but was nonetheless ready to handle rerouted trains coming west out of Nevada. Included were a few nice surprises.

19 MAR 2011
6:37 PM: Down on the Union Pacific Valley Subdivision in Richvale, California, the ZBRLC 18 premium intermodal train races past with trailers, intermodal containers, and empty well cars heading for Los Angeles. The honorary 2010 Boy Scouts of America locomotive is leading, numbered "UP 2010" for the 100th anniversary of the BSA.
UP 2010 (ES44AC)
UP 7761 (ES44AC)
UP 9807 (C44-9W)
+110 Cars

11:46 PM: UP 1988, "The Katy" heritage locomotive comes through Oroville late that night in a steady rain leading at detoured KG2LTD intermodal train bound for Lathrop, CA. I am aware that this shot is poorly lit, but this catch was essentially an after thought.
UP 1988 (SD70ACe)
UP 5518 (ES44AC)
UP 7695 (ES44AC)

20 MAR 2011
2:34 PM: UP 7777 "Lucky 7's" leads a 100-car ethanol train through Oroville. This train was most likely rerouted off of Donner Pass also.
UP 7777 (ES44AC)
UP 7441 (ES44AC)
UP 8528 (SD70ACe)

2:43 PM: Right behind the ethanol train, a Roseville, CA bound manifest train comes past.
UP 8202 (SD90/43MAC)
UP 4505 (SD70M)
+63 Cars
DPU:
UP 8212 (SD90/43MAC)

4:58 PM: Rerouted ZNPOA
UP 7784 (ES44AC)
UP 4941 (SD70M)
UP 4624 (SD70M)
+92 Wells

5:10 PM: Behind ZNPOA, a rerouted Global Two, Illinois to Lathrop, CA "Z" train includes one of two SD70Ms that received a special paint scheme for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics Torch train that toured the country in honor of the event over eight years ago.
UP 6029 (AC44CWCTE)
UP 4647 (SD70M)
UP 2002 (SD70M)
UP 4000 (SD70M)
+41 Cars

The overwhelming amount of train traffic being rerouted over the Feather River Route during this time period stood as a testament to the importance it has come to know. A week after I shot this footage, Donner Pass fell victim to yet another snow storm, this time completely crippling both mainlines for several days. A Union Pacific flanger set plowing the pass during the storm was buried by a massive avalanche the first night, in addition to several other smaller avalanches that covered the railroad in numerous places. A sink hole also plagued main track two on the western slope of the mountain. The Feather River Canyon was open to all westbound and some eastbound train traffic for many days to relieve the tension. Donner Pass can be very treacherous in the winter. I do give a nod of appreciation with admiration for those that brave the cold months in the Sierras each year in an effort to keep the pass open. Winter's Professionals.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• union
• pacific
• uprr
• railroad
• train
• trains
• reroute
• detours
• winter
• snow
• rain
• storm
• donner
• pass
• feather
• river
• canyon
• winters
• professionals
• flanger
• locomotive
• unit
• 2010
• bsa
• up
• 1988
• katy
• heritage
• 2002
• slc
• olympics
• es44ac
• c44-9w
• ac44cwcte
• sd70m
• sd70ace
• sd90/43mac
• intermodal
• containers
• zbrlc
• kg2ltd
• znpoa
• frc
• oroville
• railfan

[Amtrakdavis22]

Ah yes stacks through the FRC yet again! Gotta love seeing these detours!

[C60AC]

@Amtrakdavis22 Yup, and I'm very grateful to have caught Miss Katy...even if it was at midnight. Who knows when she'll be back through HERE again. (Sigh)

[bnsfgevoleon]

wow awesome nice catch good trains of union pacific yeaaaahh. grettings from mexico ¡¡¡¡¡5 catch ferromex in us

[Lightwolf333]

Awesome video dude!

[theUP844]

Damn George, you always get the good stuff man. a UP heritage unit, the BSA unit, and one of the Salt Lake 2002 unit's in one weekend. I've only managed to catch two of the Amtrak heritage unit's and just my luck, I don't have my camera when I see them so I can't videotape them, LOL! seriously though, great shots of the Unit's, the video is awsome.

[CaliforniaRailfan101]

Dang! UP 2010, UP 1988, and UP 2002?! Some very nice catches!

[pdwman]

@C60AC im still trying to hunt that one down.. It will probably be another months and months from being seen around norcal

[kearthfan101]

awesome video!

[trainboy94]

Crazy action there man

[trainz34]

virst coment!