UP train at Oakland Camp

A westbound Union Pacific train slides past Oakland Feather River Camp at Mile Post 285.3 on the Canyon Subdivision (Western Pacific Feather River Route) on Sunday, May 5, 2013. The consist is made of covered bottom dump hopper cars. Up to a dozen westbound trains pass the camp on a typical day. The Western Pacific carried campers from Oakland to the camp on the California Zephyr beginning in 1924. The old Spanish Creek station was located about one-quarter mile from me (behind the camera). The Union Pacific acquired the WP in 1983.

Polish rail ingenuity

When you absolutely must place a tourist railroad in operation yesterday, anything is possible! This Polish rail club used a Fiat 126p with steel rail wheels. Last May, two rail fan clubs gathered for a picnic in the Polish town of Moszna. They commemorated the re-opening of a 2-1/2 kilometer section of abandoned railroad. Brush cutting along the line occured between November 2011 and April 2012.

This YouTube video comes courtesy of our Polish railroad brothers (English translation -- for Polish, click here).


Video description: "19.05.12 w Mosznej odbył się pierwszy piknik motoryzacyjno-drezynowy "KIWAJKA 2012". Uczestnikami członkowie "LANCIA KLUB POLSKA", OPOLSKIE STOWARZYSZENIE MIŁOŚNIKÓW KOLEI oraz inne zainteresowane osoby. Krótki film przedstawia przejazd pociągu drezynowego z uczestnikami pikniku odbywający się na świeżo oczyszczonym dwu i pół kilometrowym odcinku nieużywanej linii kolejowej nr 306."

Here's the rough translation: "5/19/12 in Moszna first picnic was held motoryzacyjno-drezynowy "KIWAJKA 2012". The participants of the members of the "POLISH CLUB LANCIA," ASSOCIATION OF RAILWAY ENTHUSIASTS OPOLE and other interested parties. A short video shows the drive train of the participants drezynowego picnic held on the freshly cleaned two and a half kilometer stretch of unused railway line No. 306th." (Translation by Google Translate.)

Modeling the Placerville Canal Street Southern Pacific train depot

George Mihal built this model of the Placerville Canal Street train depot by hand. He cut full-scale lumber down to half-inch scale. The model is suitible for a G-scale model railroad. As a collector and seller of vintage photographs, Mihal based his model on a glass negative of the depot that he once owned.



The video includes a number of photographs of the depot. Here's one from the El Dorado County Historical Museum collection:

Sacramento bound Train No. 61 is ready to leave the Canal Street depot. The depot was located at the modern day interesection of Canal Street and U.S. Hightway 50 in Placerville, California. The Coffee Depot can be found one block south at Canal and Main.

This and other historic photographs can be purchased from the collection of the El Dorado County Historical Museum. They are available for $10 each from the museum. Call (530) 621-5865 for additional information. Please consult museum staff for limitations to the use of the photographs.



Train rides for winter 2012

Please come out and support California's newest county-run railroad. As residents and guests of El Dorado County, you have the opportunity to ride the train in the winter of 2012. With your support, the railroad will continue to operate many years into the future.

Train rides for 2012

Beginning on Sunday, January 8, 2012, the railroad will offer train rides on the historic Southern Pacific Placerville Branch rail line, weather permitting. The railroad will operate two Sundays each month in January (8th and 15th), February (5th and 19th) and March (4th and 18th). Trains will operate from noon to 4 p.m. Trains leave the depot on the hour and half-hour.

To locate the train depot in El Dorado County, California, take Pleasant Valley Road (from the east or west) to Oriental Street. Turn north. Keep left at the Wye. Continue to the end of the road and left to the station.


The video begins on the Placerville Branch from just west of the Forni Road grade crossing. The Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe No. 4 Kalamazoo track inspection car travels west across Blanchard Road toward the depot in historic El Dorado. The video was shot on a brisk fall day in the California Mother Lode on Saturday, December 3, 2011.

Burlington Northern Railroad speeder at work in 1982

Here's a frosty video of Burlington Northern Railroad employee Gary Meek from around 1982. At the time this news report was filmed, Gary was a track inspector for the railroad. His territory spanned some 60 miles from St. Paul to Hastings, Minnesota.

Riding the rails year-round, Gary rode a speeder over his area of responsibility each workday. Inspections were critical in winter because the rail contracted in the extreme cold, which caused the track bolts to snap. He certainly served a critical safety function.

I enjoyed the video because it shows the railroad speeder in action. Note the use of the setout at the beginning of the video. Gary turned the speeder 90 degrees with a pair of lifting bars. The El Dorado Western will build a similar setout in due time.

Kalamazoo Model 57A speeder

Here's a video of the Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe Railroad Speeder No. 4 that I uploaded to YouTube this afternoon.

The Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe Speeder No. 4 is one of the most useful artifacts on the El Dorado Western Railroad. Originally purchased by the CP and LT Railroad, which ran from Placerville to Camino, California, today the EDWR uses to shuttle railroad volunteers from the depot in the town of El Dorado to the work site. It frequently pulls a Southern Pacific push car to and from the work site. And since July 2011, the railroad has coupled it to the former Richmond Pacific Railroad Fairmont A-4D gang car on Sunday afternoons.

Davey "Doc" Wiser's railroad story

Conductor Davey "Doc" Wise tells his story as he operates the El Dorado Western Railroad No. 602 Fairmont gang car. Davey recently retired from the Union Pacific Railroad after 40 years service with the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. He currently volunteers with the El Dorado Western Railroad.

The railroad gave train rides to the public on Sunday, June 17, 2011, on the Southern Pacific Placerville Branch rail line. For this run, crews hitched the railroad's Kalamazoo Model 57 speeder to the Fairmont.

Join us for train rides each Sunday

You are invited to join the El Dorado Western each Sunday this summer through September 18, 2011. The train leaves the depot in the historic town of El Dorado, California on the hour and on the half-hour. The first run departs the depot at noon, with the last run at 4 p.m. Join the El Dorado Western as we re-create an important piece of El Dorado County history.