This years trip for Jeff Black and I was to the Pacific Northwest again. Did I mention I love Oregon & Washington?! Our goal was to finish up some loco roster photos and hit a couple lines we missed the last trip. Of course everything else is just a bonus and we got plenty of bonus material.

We picked up our rental Friday the thirteenth after work, an ominous date, and headed north from Sacramento. First nights stay was to be Klamath Falls, OR. Only one minor problem that could...

...each other. This time I was only a spectator. A couple of friends and I were hangin out on the levee at Johnston(Sacramento) shooting a few train photos two weeks ago. Off down by the old spur we suddenly see a mockingbird chasing and pecking something. Turned out to be a four foot watersnake. Just as I was thinking, why doesn't the snake bite back, the bird had it pinned against a rail and the snake turned on it and snap! Got it!!! Ahh, nothing like nature in action. As for the trains, nothing...

Mark your calenders.

Survival of the historic SP Placerville Branch


July 07, 2010 04:50PM

The Placerville Branch from Folsom is owned by a JPA under rail banking legislation. Fedshra (Folsom, El Dorado Sacramento Historical Railroad Association) are trying to develop excursions and the El Dorado Western are developing a narrow gauge logging center on the upper part of the track to demonstrate its 3ft gauge Shay among other things.
Trails interests...

Seems there is a long standing animal encounter tradition to my blogs. Be it the huge buck in Chelatchie, the owl at N. Cable, bobcats in the American River canyon while exploring the Mountain Quarries RR, or the bear while hiking the Towle Bros, even a beautiful house cat in Yreka. Yesterdays trip is no different except it ended in a bloody mess at the hospital. Im ok though.

It all started a week or so ago while perusing some new roster info I had mailed to me. Within it was a roster...

Another cat story? Well...no and yes.

Friday evening I left Sacramento to meet my buddy Jeff in Orland to begin our weekend adventures. Dunsmuir RR Days was our main objective for Saturday along with some other pokings around.

Got into Dunsmuir around 10:30am and hit the show. Course it took awhile to find parking though. Not a single train spotted on the way up. We proceded to take photos of everything there, UP E9 951, the SP and WP heritage units, WPRMs WP GP20 2001,...