Feather
River Rail Society
Western Pacific Railroad Museum
As railfans, when we plan our trips/vacations, we usually do so with the thought in mind of visiting any and all railroad museums, train rides or other railroad-related historical sites. The list of favorite museums is long and which one is the best is often debated. I have visited several across the United States, and NONE of them come close to the FRRS Western Pacific Museum. Nothing beats the Western Pacific Museum as for the most part, it is a hands on museum, Their summer caboose train rides, and most importantly, their RAL program. RAL is an acronym for "Rent A Locomotive" You can rent one of 8 locomotives and run it for an hour. Check out their official Website for more details. If you have any questions or comments on the material posted here. Please e-mail me: ccrails2000@yahoo.com Scroll to the bottom for links to the Museum Track Plan, Museum Locomotive Roster, and Museum Caboose Roster
The Following 10 pictures are of the museum grounds, all pictures taken in April 2003.
The following pictures were taken in the 2 days before and the day of the WPRM's 17th annual Railfan Photographer Day
1
2
3
4
1. Union Pacific is very
supportive of the WPRM, for this weekend, they graciously allowed the WPRM use of
their historical E9's #951 and 963B
2, 3, 4. Preparation for Railfan photographer day begins a couple of days before
the event, we put together 5 trains for the event. I had the cushy job of head
end brakeman, I rode the engine while the guys in the yard did the work : )
5
6
7
8
5. 3 of the completed trains
are ready to go on the morning of the event. Train #1 with Western Pacific NW2
#608 pulling 3 cabooses, this train was first out and last in, it carried the
Railfan photographers out to the balloon track so they would not have to carry
all their equipment out there. This train was also the last train of the day as
it brought everyone back in.
6. Union Pacific E9's 951 and 963B lead Train #3, a 1960's era passenger train
out.
7. WPRM's Union Pacific Business Car #105 brings up the rear of train #3.
8. Union Pacific GP30 #849 led Train #4 out with a 1960's era freight.
9
10
11
12
13
Pictures 9-13, the star of the day was Train #2, Western Pacific Freight train representative of the 1970's, The train was led by WP GP7 #707, WP GP20, 6 boxcars and WP Caboose #428.
I mentioned 5 trains, the 5th train came out of the inside Balloon track on the opposite side of the museum and out of range of my digital camera's optics. That train was Southern Pacific GP9 #2873, SP Ballast Hopper, SP caboose 4107, and 2 Southern Pacific Daylight painted heavyweight passenger cars, this train was representative of a Work Train. We broke for lunch after the first 4 trains. The 849 was taken out of service as it was having a fuel problem, the result was we had to use our backup power Western Pacific Alco S-1 #512. The good new is that train now became representative of a 1950's train, the bad news is the speed in which the change came on and my relocation to the Milward Switch (opposite side of the museum's balloon track from where I was at Malfunction Junction) meant I left my camera in the museum building, so there are no pictures of the last 6 trains of the day. Overall it was a great day followed up by a great barbeque and railroad slide show to end the day. During this event, I reached enough hours to graduate from Student Brakeman to Qualified Brakeman. I can't wait for next year- Webmaster
Click here to go to the Locomotive Roster Page
Click Here to go to the Caboose Roster Page
To See a Track Plan for the WPRM, Click here
