Saturday, November 14, 2009
Increased Rail Traffic
Starting this Saturday, November 21st, and continuing on into however long the economic recovery takes, residents of Donner summit will be seeing more trains passing through the community.
Union Pacific has completed their work on the tunnels between Sacramento and Reno that will allow double-stack container trains to use the Overland route. UP will simultaneously be taking some traffic off of the Feather River route; in fact, traffic there should decrease to only 3-4 trains per day, all eastbound. What this means for us up here at The Summit is an immediate doubling of the number of trains per day, to perhaps 14, including the two Amtrak California Zephyrs.
As the economy improves, we could see as many as two dozen trains per day in the not-too-distant future, with even more volume when the Capitol Corridor is allowed to add passenger trains between Sacramento and Reno/Sparks. This number doesn't include any trackage rights trains that BNSF might run. An added component of this new policy is that, during and after any substantial snowfalls this winter, the jordan spreaders that clear the tracks will run between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m. only, with the smaller flangers running as needed with no time constraints. This means that the increased number of freight and passenger trains will be even more concentrated during heavy weather, to between 8 a.m. and 3 a.m. the following morning. Also, the Overland route is re-establishing its importance in transcontinental railroading and will be receiving even more maintenance than before (albeit during the non-snow months only), so the various maintenance-of-way vehicles will also add to the mix. Fortunately some trains, especially the slower-moving, less-important freight trains, will be moved to the Feather River route, and the trains passing through Soda Springs should move at higher speeds. However, the net effect of all these changes will be more trains, period.
Remember, it takes a train a very long time to stop, especially running westbound downhill, so exercise extreme caution at our grade crossings here. That's it for now. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call me on my cell phone, (510) 816-7720. Submitted by Tom Appelbaum
Friday, November 13, 2009
Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for Donner Trail School
This SaturdayNovember 14, 2009 Boreal Ski Resort has donated there facility to....
Donner Trail School for there Annual Thanksgiving Dinner.
If you are on the summit this weekend please come by and enjoy a
wonderful Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner and a live auction!
Doors open at 5:30 tickets are available at the door!
Adults $12.00 and Children are $8.00 ea
This annual events proceeds directly fund our local school in many ways.....
Hope to see you there.....
