Whatever it takes. In the early 1960s, construction began on the Oroville Dam. Once the dam was completed, the resulting reservoir flooded the Western Pacific mainline east of Oroville. A new rout... (more)

The Sierra Nevada Mountains stand between California and the outside world. Within the 400 miles of these rugged, steep mountains, are two railroad routes. The southern route, Donner Pass, climbs ... (more)

The thunder rolls. On a cold stormy day in Northern California, Union Pacific 6662 guides a heavy MNPRVX around the Williams Loop, east of Quincy. At over 7,000' in length, this train easily has t... (more)

SPMW 209 ducks under the last remaining searchlight signal bridge on Donner Pass. Meanwhile, skiers enjoy perfect snow conditions at the nearby Sugar Bowl Ski Resort.

On a cold winter evening, the railroad has sprung to life. An eastbound grain train has pulled up to Switch 9 to wait for the passing MNPRV. Tucked in the middle of all this action is the rotary s... (more)

It can be difficult to comprehend the size of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Trains, massive in their own right, seem to to be dwarfed by the endless snow covered peaks of the Donner Pass Route. Uni... (more)

SPMW 207 passes under the last remaining searchlight signal bridge on Donner Pass as it clears the heavy "Sierra Cement" from track #1. The rotaries would plow snow all the way to the Bi... (more)

The legendary rotary snowplows have returned to Donner Pass. California has been hammered with numerous storms this winter. All of these storms have wreaked havoc across the Donner Pass Route. Fro... (more)

Union Pacific's Jordan Spreaders work around the balloon track at Truckee, California. Truckee is the headquarters for snow fighting operations on Donner Pass. The balloon track is a key component... (more)

A new crew is onboard and Union Pacific 7215 is departing Dunsmuir, California with a lengthy QPWRV in tow. This train will follow the Upper Sacramento River (pictured right) down to Lakehead. A c... (more)

The last rays of sunshine peak through the forest, illuminating the stainless steel superliner cars on Amtrak's California Zephyr. This train is running a couple hours late as it approaches... (more)

On a perfect morning along Donner Pass, Union Pacific 602 heads east through Cisco, California with a flanger set. Check out how much snow has built up from recent storms!

Imagine this. You're Dispatcher 74 and haven't been able to run trains between Shed 47 and Switch 9 all day. The spreaders just toned you up and gave back the #2 track between Norden and Shed 10, ... (more)

Union Pacific 8766 leads the five day old MNPRV out of Tunnel 39 at Cisco. Feet of Sierra Snow covering Tunnels 4 and 39 are evidence of recent winter storms. Those storms caused washouts along th... (more)

Railroading out here isn't easy. January 2017 brought much needed snow to the Sierra Nevada Mountains along with a variety of challenges for the Union Pacific Snow Fighters. In the days before thi... (more)