(The following appeared on the Journal of Commerce website on April 1, 2011.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Union Pacific brought out a rarely used rotary snowplow to clear away heavy snow which halted train traffic across California’s Donner Pass for five days in March.
The route reopened Tuesday, March 29, with limited train operation. The snow clearing process is scheduled to continue through the end of the week, said Union Pacific Railroad.
As of Thursday, there were approximately 564 inches of snow at the summit of the pass which crosses the Sierra Nevada mountains west of Truckee, Calif. That is about 150 inches above the average, UP said. With 13 feet of snow falling over a period of seven days, Union Pacific was forced to shut the line down March 24.
UP diverted freight trains through the Feather River Canyon and the Central Valley of California. Amtrak, whose passenger trains typically use this Union Pacific-owned route, also diverted trains or bussed passengers around the snow.
The full story is on the Journal of Commerce website.