That was my favorite part of that day. Railroaders joking around and enjoying the job. Thank you for viewing.

Thanks!

Well in that case, I'll keep posting more Donner material whenever I'm able to visit the area. Glad you're enjoying it.

Thanks!

Indeed, it's my personal favorite route to railfan, for the scenery and for the history that makes the railroad what it is.

You're welcome Joe. I would recommend railfanning Donner to anyone who hasn't been to California. I always enjoy going.

Thank you!

Thanks Jeremy. More videos will be coming. Cheers from across the pond.

Thank you!

Thanks!

You're welcome. The snow was perfectly manageable when I went up to shoot. The baby salad shooter was filmed in the early morning before sunrise. They usually run small out of Delano/McFarland and join up with the Pacific Northwest section in the Midwest.

Thank ya.

Thanks! Although it's UP, the essence of SP never left. When UP took over SP operations, UP kept a lot of SP's old operating practices, right down to their symbol code. Even today, long and heavy trains headed by big consists of grimy locomotives still traverse the hill, just as SP's trains had. UP also has a dedicated power pool of tunnel-grimed gevos that get added to trains in Roseville and taken off in Sparks, then run light back to Roseville. The only difference is that the locomotives are gevos rather than tunnel motors. So yeah, modern day UP is just SP in a different color haha.

I used to go up there in the '80s and watch the SP, it was an amazing site with all power, front and helpers. Andrew, what type of videocam do you use, really nice exposure?

I can only wish I was around to see that. I'm currently using a Canon Vixia HF-G20.

Nice Andrew, it does a great job, thanks for the great videos! ~ ML Gabert

Thank you.

Thanks! Always nice when something comes in to spice up the Zephyrs...

Thanks Johnny.

Thanks! Caltrans has their hands full I bet.

Thanks Scott. Yes, that's Sam. I'm guessing the horn sequence was the tip-off?

Cool. yes the horn was the tip off lol

Thanks! Both routes have their unique qualities that make them great for shooting. The Amtrak at Newcastle is Capitol Corridor #729, headed west from Auburn to Oakland.

Which one? Most of these trains are at least 1500 feet or more.

Ours are no longer than 30 cars and that is Network Rail. The US has 100+ on average, Bigger country longer trains.

UP often has trains 2 miles long; one I found on GoogleEarth in Wyoming was 2.25 miles long.

The Capitol Corridor currently goes as far as Auburn. One eastbound, and one westbound make the trip to and from Auburn.

gotcha...

It really depends on how much snow there is. On a sunny day with minimal snow, getting to them is easy. The first spot (shed 10) is a fairly easy drive in light snow with a 4x4 vehicle. The second spot (Norden summit shed) is spot where you have to park your car up on the road and walk down to track level. That's all with light snow. In deep snow, most vehicles won't make it to shed 10. Snowshoes will be necessary for that. Norden is still accessible, snowshoes are recommended but not required to get to it.

Yeah, I've run into that issue in the past. You're not the first person to mention it. I have since invested in a camera with a quieter shutter, but suppressing the sound is still quite difficult when railfanning with shutter-happy friends. I'm not about to tell them to stop or move away. Sometimes we end up in locations where there isn't a whole lot of space to venture away from the tripod. In either case, I'm doing what I can do.

also, that's some hike to get from cisco road to shed ten in the snow. just sayin'...

The first spot shown in the video is known on the railroad as "Union Mills," also known as Glenshire. I was standing on the side of a cliff behind a back-country neighborhood to get the shot. The hike up to shed 10 wasn't that bad. It was just the equipment that weighed me down.

out old highway 40, i suspect...i drove out there last weekend but didn't take stills. i don't own snowshoes...

Nah, it's plenty easy when you have the right equipment. Also, avoid going alone. It helps to have others around to aid in problem-solving should an issue arise.

Yes, we had gone camping in the 70's and it was warm and nice, Woke up next morning with a foot of snow and the tent zipper frozen shut. UGH. Weather changed in hours.