Last time I was in Wells, I was cruising around the back streets, and came up on an abandoned RR overpass (still says "Western Pacific"), but the ROW is completely gone just north of this bridge. Was this a connection to the parallel SP main, or was it a branchline to, say, Twin Falls, ID? Just curious......... BTW, except for that GP9 in Elko, it's a shame thre are no more pure WP diesels still running around in something other than yellow.
Let me see if I can get this straight off the top of my head. The track at Wells NV was a branch line that tied into a UP branch line. The UP branch line tied into the line from Salt Lake going west through the Blue Mountains. Now for silver and orange. Come to Portola. We have an F7A, F7B and FP7A in silver and orange. We have a GP7 and GP20 in silver and orange. We have a NW-2 in all orange. We have a SW1 and an Alco (ex ARMY) S-1 painted in black with white stripes. For cabooses we have a restored brown bay window and one of the last red bay windows. WP is well represented in its heritage paint schemes. We are on the trail of an original GP35 and possibly an original GP40. We are looking at the last SW9 and one of the SW1500's. The last four mentioned are just dreams, but we know where they are. Greg Elems
I'm trying to recall a discussion once read about this topic. Don't quote my reply- But if memory serves me, this was indeed the south end of a UP branch line, that at the northern terminus was tied into Twin Falls, Idaho. At least there once was such that connected at Wells. BoxcabE50
That makes sense to me. And, IIRC, there was an article in Model Railroader some time back that featured a guy modeling this very branch. Thanks for your answers, fellas! I'm gonna be camping out at Wells this Saturday to catch UP action on both the WP and SP lines.
While out on your adventure, how about taking a photo of the bridge, if still there, and posting it? BoxcabE50
Yeah Friscobob, I too would like to see a picture of it. Last time I saw it, I was on a train tearing through there and only got a glimps of it. Greg Elems
Can do- will do! BTW, you're right about the "tearing thru" part- the trains on the ex-SP main rip thru like nobody's business. How many trains run on the ex-WP, or is it used like, say, an eastbound main?
Friscobob, I don't know how it is run today, now that the merger has changed a lot of things. When I worked that line, it was old WP and past the paired trackage portion of the railroad. Looking at a map, it did tie in with the old OSL at Twin Falls Idaho. The old SP went due west while the WP went Southwest for a while. I guess it depends on the destination of the train, as to which line it will use. Hope that helps. Greg Elems
OK, got the bridge shot- the words "Western Pacific" are carves into the concrete above the roadway, and the abutments are marked with black & white stripes. There is still track in place from the mainline to just shy of the end of embankment by the SP main. I got up on top of the old fill, and could see where the old ROW headed north to Twin Falls. Also, the connecting track between the SP main and WP branch is gone, with just the earthwork still in place. Slow day yesterday- something on the scanner about code lines down. There were two stack trains and one junk freight parked in the Elko yard, and an eastbound with 2 SD70s (and one "flagged flare", 4975) had pulled in, set out some Denver-bound cars, and parked its power. Except for a fast westbound, nothing moving om the main. Oh well, even a bad day railfanning is better than a good day at work! Will have pics later- they'll be in my Yahoo! Photos files
Cool Bob, can't wait to see them. Did you get chocked out by the smoke? Yesterday, was really bad and this morning wasn't any better. The westerly winds came in this afternoon and helped. I don't know about the Feather River Canyon but Donner had a slow day for trains yesterday. Did you see Amtrak #5 at all while you were their? Greg Elems
Greg, Yeah, the smoke was really bad- couldn't even see the Ruby Mtn.s until I was almost to them. Was bad hazy all the way down the Steptoe Valley to Ely & beyond Nevertheless, I did see at least three trains (and shot all three). Didn't see number 5, but them again I didn't get to Wells until about 11:00 AM, so he shoulda already been thru Wells. Kinda curious- is it UP's standard practice to just park intermodal & stack trains in Elko? Kinda reminds me of the post-SP meltdown, when Unlimited Parking had trins stashed all over the system (every siding on the Katy between McAlester and Vinita was full).
Friscobob, I realize this is late in answering your question about parking trains in Elko. We have work windows on Donner and maybe some in the Feather River canyon. The work on Donner is nearing an end, until we had a derailment at Cape Horn, just east of Colfax. There will be more work trains on the hill getting that fixed. Have you got that bridge picture scanned yet? Greg Elems
