Winter on Donner Pass
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Published 2024-02-02
Journey high into California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains for a stunning look at winter operations over Donner Pass. As Pacific storms dump heavy snow, Union Pacific battles to keep trains rolling.
Get a taste of what it is like to be trackside in the midst of winter’s fury. Long stack trains, heavy manifests, and Amtrak’s California Zephyr share the rails with an army of snow fighting equipment including flangers, spreaders, and the mighty rotaries.
Beginning at Colfax, trains climb toward the snow zone at Blue Cañon, then on to Truckee on rails once covered almost completely by snow sheds. Extra time is spent near the summit at Soda Springs and Norden where man and machine are put to the test against the elements. This is mountain railroading and snow fighting rolled into one exciting presentation!
Shot over four separate winters including the big snow of 2011, this is your front-row seat to “Winter on Donner Pass!”
This program is available on DVD, Blu-ray, streaming and download with Vimeo on Demand by visiting 7ideaproductions.com. www.7ideaproductions.com/products/winter-on-donner…
0:00 Intro
2:12 Map
3:57 Colfax
8:25 The Leslie Type Rotary Snow Plow
10:51 Blue Canyon
15:22 Emigrant Gap
17:44 Switch 9
18:25 Yuba Pass
29:26 Tunnel 27
31:21 Crystal Lake
33:11 Shed 10
37:59 Cisco
41:15 Troy Cut
47:41 Troy
55:25 A "Herd of Dozers" Milepost 189
1:00:37 Soda Springs
1:12:34 Norden
1:26:07 Testing the SPMW 207 Rotary
1:37:08 Tunnel 41 "The Big Hole"
1:41:55 Shed 47
1:44:23 Andover
1:52:03 Truckee
1:59:53 Closing
All Comments (21)
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Who's watching from the comfort of their warm couches or beds, with their favorite blanket all warm?
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It's awesome that you guys are making the 'older' videos like this available on youtube, and you have my sincerest gratitude and thanks. 👍
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OOPS forgot to thank the “voice” that narrates these fine videos ❤️👍
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Man, I literally just got off my Flanger in Truckee after working the mountain and I open You Tube up to this, frickin awesome! For a little context on some things from the operation side, we have a DPU pool that specifically works only between Roseville and Sparks and back which are 100%DPU compliant both ways and have computer software that makes them wistand the heat in the tunnels. We call them 'Sierra Dups' and orginal they were the 5200 series c45s that you see in this video but since have become more open to other engine types but still have to comply. Manned helpers are still used out of Colfax and sometimes Truckee when the Canyon closes or other reroutes make more then normal amount of trains over the line, most of the time in the winter
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I lived in Trukee for about 5 years!! When I first arrived our first winter was about 18 feet of snow and we managed to get out duem to some wonerful snow plow drivers!! Trukee is very dear to my heart! I lived across from the train tracks but where I worked I could watch all the trains coming and going!! They were a wonderful sight to see!! There next stop for some would bee Reno, Nv. Then Sparks and then onto where ever!! I road the Amtark Train many times both nice and bad weather and the tracks were always plodded!! Such a beautiful trip!!!
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One of my great uncles, returning from a business trip, rode the train. It snowed so hard the train was halted for several days before the snow equipment could reach them. The tore wood from inside to feed fire heaters to keep warm. This happened in the late 1940s.
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I’ve yet to “drive U.S. 40 but was told by some old timers that it can be an adventure . Someday I’ll make it out there in my pickup, as I’m retired from Semi after 38 yrs. Thank You for your efforts to bring it home to my 65” TV. 👍🙏😃❤️
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Videos and narrating are the best, #1 on my list keep up the good work 👍💯
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Like another commenter said on here, I'm not really a train guy but between the incredible clarity of the footage & the straightforward narration this was very informative & entertaining to watch. High quality all the way around. Thanks!!
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This is Great Footage! Most people do not associate California and Donner Pass together. In Winter... White , Beautiful , Cold and sometimes DEADLY. THANKS FOR SHARING...will be watching this MANY vid times.
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As a railroader in Chicago, I thought our winters were rough. The blizzard of 2011 hit us bad too. I worked that whole week and man did it suck- nothing worked right. Thank you for uploading this video here. It’s another excellent presentation!
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You all are just the BEST!!! thank you so much.
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Das beste Video für winter imprisonen on World in railroad. Danke. Greetings von Germany Rhein side Düsseldorf ❤
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I'm from Australia and I think all of your content is fantastic and so informative. Keep up the great work 👍
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I live near here. I have always loved the Sierras, and the same for trains. So this is special. Two hours well spent.
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Winter train videos are the best!
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Even keeping the crossing gates and signals working in those conditions must be a herculean task! So glad I got to see this area in person a few times...epic railroading!
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Those rotary plows are absolutely epic! This was one of the best snow removal productions I have seen! Great job!
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I used to have a VHS tape of Pentrex' "Across Donner Summit" with much footage taken around 1991-1992. This is like a much updated version with better resolution. Thank you for posting!
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What a way to spend a couple of hours sitting on my couch in S. Texas in Feb ….. I learned a lot 👍
