A very grueling hike after a long day/night of snowfall yields this spectacular view high in the terrain west of Donner summit

An SD-40-2 closeup of the engineers control stand while it waits for a crew at Bakersfield, CA

This easbound z-train begins its climb towards Dragoon as it just dipped down and passed through Benson, AZ

Just before sunrise this westbound BNSF climbs towards Goff, CA on BNSF's Needles sub.

Repainted UP 9669( I believe a former SP unit) glides down the western slope of Donner in a fresh deep blanket of snow

A bright sunny day with a brilliant coat of snow highlights this eastbound auto train headed towards Donner summit

Eastbound UP train with solid NS power headed through Cienega Creek

Eastbound headed out of Yuba Pass towards Shed 10 on Donner Pass

Winding through Marcel BNSF exercises its trackage rights over the Tehachapi mountains

After a long days work clearing the rails over the summit, the spreader powered by two GP38-2's idles in the heavy snowfall

After just crossing the lower cascade bridge, the UP 4956 approaches the signal bridge and detector at Troy on Donner Pass

The conductor's lamp outlines his trail as he inspects his train before heading east out of Sparks.

From high above this southbound train is only moments away from reaching Mojave and transferring back over to BNSF rails

A night image of a soutbound train exiting tunnel #10

Not too many fall colors on Donner. But between Boca and Sparks you can find clusters of trees with their pre-winter coats