Tracking West
Quite The Setup
Every year on Donner Pass, snow fighters are sent up the mountain in the form of flangers, spreaders, an army of crew members, and sometimes rotaries. This year, a special guest was added to the roster of snow fighters, UP 1983.
Man I wish that was true, it would be cool to see that on spreader operations. So what is this ridiculous looking setup actually for then? Every year, the city of Colfax holds an event called Colfax Railroad Days. This event is very fun, lots of venders selling all sorts of things, art, wood sculptures, handcrafted clothes, model trains, food, etc. It even brings in folks such as Cal Fire, Placer County Sheriff, and even Union Pacific. While the other guys will usually bring an old car or truck and set up a tent with merch and information, Union Pacific tends to do a bit more.
In previous years, UP would go all out on their display, bringing an interactive experience for people to get a small inside look of what the railroad is like. However, in more recent years UP hasn't gone this far, bringing some fire fighting cars to put on display, but nothing interactive. That changed this year, when word got out that supposedly they were sending up snow equipment and a heritage unit. They did just that, and I made my way up the hill to see them set up the equipment for the event.
It started off by 1983 pulling away from the flanger, which is what you see in the photo. After backing into a separate track, the spreader would be dropped so 1983 could run solo. The reason for this was because UP wasn't just displaying snow equipment. After throwing the switches for the main and crossover, 1983 went to pick up some fire cars on a spur track. UP has sets of fire fighting cars based in strategic locations all over California and Oregon, as many regions out here are very easily susceptible to massive wildfires. After waiting for Amtrak 6 to clear, they brought the cars back to the yard to set up for the event. I didn't stay for the whole thing, as sure seeing it was cool, but it gets boring after awhile.
On the day of the event, UP, along with Operation Lifesaver and Amtrak, set up a rotation of tents to talk about rail safety and some of the equipment. Many guys from UP's MOW, snow fighting, and fire service were out there, so my buddies and I got the chance to talk to a lot of these folks. There were some very interesting stories and information that these guys had to tell. One of the guys even gave us a whole rundown on how the rotaries were set up and how everything operated, this man was one of the main mechanical guys for the snow equipment. As we went along, we got to see the inside of the displayed flanger, and shoot the water cannons on the fire cars. Afterwards we stuck around for awhile to just chill before going to get lunch as a group.
Quite The Setup
Every year on Donner Pass, snow fighters are sent up the mountain in the form of flangers, spreaders, an army of crew members, and sometimes rotaries. This year, a special guest was added to the roster of snow fighters, UP 1983.
Man I wish that was true, it would be cool to see that on spreader operations. So what is this ridiculous looking setup actually for then? Every year, the city of Colfax holds an event called Colfax Railroad Days. This event is very fun, lots of venders selling all sorts of things, art, wood sculptures, handcrafted clothes, model trains, food, etc. It even brings in folks such as Cal Fire, Placer County Sheriff, and even Union Pacific. While the other guys will usually bring an old car or truck and set up a tent with merch and information, Union Pacific tends to do a bit more.
In previous years, UP would go all out on their display, bringing an interactive experience for people to get a small inside look of what the railroad is like. However, in more recent years UP hasn't gone this far, bringing some fire fighting cars to put on display, but nothing interactive. That changed this year, when word got out that supposedly they were sending up snow equipment and a heritage unit. They did just that, and I made my way up the hill to see them set up the equipment for the event.
It started off by 1983 pulling away from the flanger, which is what you see in the photo. After backing into a separate track, the spreader would be dropped so 1983 could run solo. The reason for this was because UP wasn't just displaying snow equipment. After throwing the switches for the main and crossover, 1983 went to pick up some fire cars on a spur track. UP has sets of fire fighting cars based in strategic locations all over California and Oregon, as many regions out here are very easily susceptible to massive wildfires. After waiting for Amtrak 6 to clear, they brought the cars back to the yard to set up for the event. I didn't stay for the whole thing, as sure seeing it was cool, but it gets boring after awhile.
On the day of the event, UP, along with Operation Lifesaver and Amtrak, set up a rotation of tents to talk about rail safety and some of the equipment. Many guys from UP's MOW, snow fighting, and fire service were out there, so my buddies and I got the chance to talk to a lot of these folks. There were some very interesting stories and information that these guys had to tell. One of the guys even gave us a whole rundown on how the rotaries were set up and how everything operated, this man was one of the main mechanical guys for the snow equipment. As we went along, we got to see the inside of the displayed flanger, and shoot the water cannons on the fire cars. Afterwards we stuck around for awhile to just chill before going to get lunch as a group.