Day 29: Auburn to Christchurch
For those who are worried, yes, I'm back in NZ now, safe and sound. Customs was a breeze.
Journey started with early in Auburn, CA with daylight saving kicking in overnight, so one hour less of sleep and one hour less of packing time. Managed to get everything into my suitcase just fine and checked out of the hotel right on 11am. Headed down to Roseville to try and see the big UP yard there, which I found alright, along with the massive traffic jam alongside. Seems there is a big Sunday farmer's market there, and so everyone was out trying to park, or leave, and meanwhile pedestrians were everywhere. Made for a very slow escape, but from the car I could see the yard and a bunch of tunnel motor locos in UP paint, so that was a nice bonus. No photos, camera was well packed away.
Stopped in at the local Walmart to do some last minute shopping. Found some padlocks for my suitcase after losing one and the key to the other on my first day here. Pretty clever really. While at Walmart I did some retail sightseeing and took a tour down the Breakfast Foods isle. I remembered a Bill Bryson story about his first adventure down the Breakfast Foods isle and something called "Cookie Crunch Mega Blast". I wasn't disappointed. There on the shelves was a box of "Cookie Crisp", claiming to be a wholesome breakfast, while also quite obviously being nothing but a box of miniature cookies. I grabbed one — how could I not?!
I had also promised a toy for a friend's daughter, so while in the toy isle my eye was caught by a box with the words "Contents: 1 Hamster". Now that is something you definitely don't see in New Zealand! I bought one; $9 boxed hamsters on special; it'd be rude not to take one!
Bought a couple of tee shirts to keep me stoked for the next 6 months, and my shopping was more or less done.
Back on the road I ended up stopped behind a big Ford truck that obviously took itself pretty seriously:
Back on the freeway again, brain into neutral for the next couple of hours. Saw a billboard claiming "Smoking can Kill!" and illustrated by a wife about to suffocate her snoring partner. Well!
Traffic had ground to a halt somewhere around Sacramento, and again somewhere near Oakland. Here I am approaching a spaghetti junction near Oakland:
… and then the actual spaghetti itself:
Soon was paying the $4 toll to cross the Bay Bridge back to San Fran again:
Bridge from Oakland to Treasure Island / Tunnel through Treasure Island
Bridge from Treasure Island to San Fran peninsula.
Not far from the airport now. Stopped and topped up the car and saw an SP paint GP loco on the tracks across the road, but there was no easy way to get closer without being turned into roadkill.
Almost got to the airport, but got the San Bruno exit confused with the San Bruno Ave exit 30 feet behind it and ended up being routed to the opposite side of the peninsula. Two interestates later I was ale to make a U turn and get back to the correct place! Luckily I'd left a bit of spare time before I was due back.
Arrived at the rental centre, gave the odo reading to the lady who wanted it a couple more times to make sure; I guess most renters don't do 5099 miles! For reference, 5099 miles is 5 and a half return trips up the length of the South Island, or the same number of return trips across Nevada.
Got a receipt on the spot which was $50 less than the quoted amount to start with; a nice surprise. Arrived in the airport an hour before the Air NZ check-in lanes opened, so processed some photos while I waited. Checked in, luggage had kilos to spare. Had some dinner and then went through customs, which was slow but not too bad. The guy behind me was off to Taiwan on business for the 11th time, so had his technique down to an art. He even had special flying clothes that were belt and zip free.
Had a few hours before boarding the plane, so typed up another blog entry. As boarding time got closer and closer I noticed there weren't many people at all waiting, and when the plane finally boarded it only took a few minutes. I was pleased to find I was the only person in my row and had three seats, including a window seat, all to myself.
The actual flight was very unexciting, taking place entirely at night. I started watching a movie while still on the ground, and 25 minutes later I was jolted from my entertainment by a massive roaring sensation; yes, it took us 25 minutes to taxi from the terminal to the run way!
I saw the lights of San Fran as we took to the skies, including the Bay Bridge lights. Dinner was a nice chicken breast concoction, and then it was soon "bed time". unfortunately despite my best efforts at depriving myself of sleep, I wasn't tired. So I watch four movies in a row, and by then I was feeling sleepy. Slept off and on throughout the night, and then about 3am NZ time we had breakfast served.
At 5:15am NZ time we landed in Auckland which was still very much dark and asleep. Flight to Chch wasn't due to board for another two hours so I got some more sleep in the terminal listening to Maori TV (how Auckland). Again another very empty flight out, and relatively uneventful flight home. Saw the Alps coming through, some tiny patches of snow, but nothing compared to what I've been seeing.
Landed in Chch and breezed through customs; they had a very quick look at my shoes but were more interested in small talk than what was on my footwear. Shortly afterwards mum arrived to pick me up and my trip was all over. What an amazing four weeks it has been, the scenery was simply amazing and I had a wonderful time over there. Not sure exactly when I'll return, but I am certainly keen to get back over there — it really is the best place in the world to railfan after all.
I hope everyone has enjoyed the updates, it has been fun making them and nice hearing from NZ while I've been away.
Day 28: Donner Pass Railfanning
Well the forecast wasn't good, and I80 was closed to trucks at Applegate and then shortly after to cars at Auburn. So imagine my surprise when I awoke to find beautiful clear skies and the pass wide open! Jumped in the car and set course for Crystal Lake Rd. GPS wanted to take me on a huge detour to avoid a 4 minute traffic delay on the I80, but I knew better and shaved 30+ minutes off its time. Modern technology huh.
Drive up was fairly uninteresting until I hit the snow line, and then wow!!!
I80. Note lack of road markings. Can make things a bit interesting. Note railway formation at right in second photo. Look very
carefully and you can see a snow shed just above the cars.
Arrived at Crystal Lake Road, or rather, the spot where it would be were there not 6+ feet of snow on top of it! Parked the car and started getting the snow shoes and my backpack ready. Another guy was just setting off on skis when I arrived, so I followed his tracks since he seemed to know where he was going. Got confused and took a detour at one point but it ended up back on his tracks before long. Was very tiring work — the combination of a foot of fresh soft snow, snow shoes, the grade and the altitude all working against me.
The trail up the mountain…
And some picture-postcard scenery along the way.
After a few rest stops I was surprised to stumble upon the railway; I'd imagined it was on the other side of the hill for some reason. I started hiking along beside the track and before long a double stacker came past:
Four locos on the front, and a single SD70ACe on the rear. Impressive noise as he thundered past, the grades here are pretty formidable.
Hiked on, was still following the other guy's tracks and I ended up above the railway, which wasn't what I wanted, so worked my way back down again. The fresh snow was very obvious, and looked just amazing.
Shortly after I got back to track-level I saw a headlight and very shortly after the California Zephyr came past.
Some weird sounding birds were circling around me…
I hiked on and left the birds behind. I'd heard there was a snow shed up ahead, so hiked around the corner and found that, and a nice spot to sit and wait.
Not a bad view! Nearly two hours after the last train the other Amtrak Cal Zephyr came past…
By now it the sun was getting lower in the sky and my spot wasn't quite so warm, so I decided to return and head off to photo spot #2. As I hiked along I heard a train approaching and just had enough time to catch the flanger coming past. Got a view nice shave-and-a-haircut on the horn too, obviously they approved of my dedication!
Returned to the car just in time to see a snow eater in action:
This thing has a huge screw-like blade that eats up the snow and spits it high out a chute to the side; a snow blower basically.
Jumped in the car and headed off for Emigrant Gap. Car was a being very sluggish and I had to get up to freeway speed by the end of the on ramp, so I put my foot down but there was no change in acceleration. Kept putting it further and further down but still the same sluggish response. Finally it decided to change down a gear and my word it bucked and bunny-hopped SO badly it triggered the door-open warning!! I have never seen an automatic car bunny hop before, especially not when changing down a gear (i.e. higher engine RPM). Makes you wonder. All that power under the hood (24 valve V6) and it can't even change down gears properly. Ford really hit a home run here.
So I was lucky to get onto the freeway in one piece and still had the door open warning light on, so as I'm heading down the freeway I'm worried the boot is going to fly open and spew all my luggage over the I80! Took the very next off ramp and checked, and you know what, the boot wasn't even unlocked, let alone ajar.
Continued on to Emigrant Gap and found the spot I was looking for, after a bit of driving. Parked up, geared up, and started hiking up the hill. Wasn't deep enough here to require snow shoes so I hiked up there in my boots.
Got to the top and found an interesting "tree":
So it's not just Fendalton that disguises their cellphone towers it would seem.
And the view I was after? Well that would be this:
I80 to the right, with rest area and a couple of off & on ramps visible, and the railway center. Was certainly an amazing view, could see a long way around on either side. And of course the flanger and a couple of GP38-2s are on the track.
I settled in and made myself comfortable with the help of a very bent over tree that made a nice seat. To keep warm I made a few tracks to good photo spots, as the snow was very soft here and I did get stuck up to my waist at one point!
Half an hour later an intermodal train came through…
An hour later the next train came by, the sun quite low in the sky now.
This was a monster of a train, 2x2x1 configuration — mid train helpers and all! Sun had almost set by the time the end of the train crawled by.
With that done I turned around and hot footed it back down the hill.
Not the angle the icicles are on!
Headed back down the hill and back to the motel. Got a new room without the late-night-and-early-morning TV watcher (televangelism at that!) and pot smoker next door. Started packing, but was too tired so opted to do it in the morning.
Right must run, plane is about to start boarding!
Day 27: Lake Tahoe to Auburn
Woke bright and early for a big day. Huge snow storm was predicted for Donner Pass today, up to two feet of fresh snow! Starting at 10am. So 10am I was on the road and heading up to the summit. While it wasn't snowing yet it certainly wasn't far off, and by the time I got to Soda Springs it was coming down pretty thick. Almost as soon as I parked a train came through the crossing, so got a quick video of that; hand held, quality could be interesting.
Packed up my backpack with camera, video camera, food, cellphone, and so forth. Then suited up with all my cold weather gear and decided to head down my favourite snow-road to the Big Hole. Walked down to the tracks and found some shelter on the leeward side of a clump of trees. This stopped most of the snow from attacking me, but unfortunately I didn't have a very good view of the tracks. Think I caught a few trains here, and saw the flanger in operation which had been one of my goals.
Buried crossing alarms
After shooting a bit there I headed back to the car and was surprised to find my footprints already completely covered over; the snow was certainly coming down fast! Got back up the road no problems at all; I'm quite happy driving on fresh snow, it's when it's frosted over a few times, or been turned to slush that it becomes a problem.
Walk back to the car
Continued down the hill and decided to try some shots at Yuba Gap, about a 15 minute drive. As soon as I hit I80 I knew it was going to take a little longer than that. At one point the traffic was going so slow my GPS decided I must be walking and asked if I'd like to switch to pedestrian mode! About 45 mins later I reached the turn off for Yuba Gap and found that it was passable, so headed on down. Was good to get off the highway; although it was being plowed frequently there was still heaps of slush all over the road, making for a slow sloshy (and in places, slippery) drive.
Interstate highway…?
Found a spot to park and geared up. Trudged up the road a bit and then into the snow. Luckily there was a good hard snow crust about a foot down, so didn't need snow shoes. Flanger snuck by as I was walking along; got a quick grab shot:
Found a great spot to hide, even had pine needles so I didn't have to sit on snow, and was reasonably sheltered. The snow was coming down very heavily here, so any shelter was worthwhile. Knew the flanger would be back and heard the loco radio to the flanger to lift their blade so knew he was close by. (The flanger plows the snow out of the centre of the track, so whenever they come to a crossing or points they need to lift the blade, otherwise they'd foul it.)
And here he comes:
The flanger itself, blade is near the rear bogie.
Sat and waited for the next train. Here is the view from my hideout. A few minutes later the Amtrak Reno Fun Train came past; I'd heard it approaching but just assumed it was another truck on I80 behind me. Didn't have time to get a good shot of it unfortunately.
Settled in to wait for the next train, and quite a wait it was. Had a bit to eat, then was getting cold so made a "race track" from my hideout to my viewing area. With the snow all squashed down and smoothed out I could get there much faster, which is important because I only had about 3 seconds to get up, remove my mittens, extract my camera from under my jacket, and get into position before the train passed! Shooting out here in the snow is extremely challenging.
An hour later the next train came. An hour is a very long time to wait in the snow. Got a wave from the driver though which was nice. He probably thought I was mad!
I like trains with DPUs; it gives you two trains for the price of one :-)
Another long wait for the next train; 40 minutes this time.
After that it was time to leave; almost 6pm after all. Headed back to the car and cleared off some of the snow. Hopped in and car decided to drive sideways towards the bollard!!! Jumped out and realised the plows had flowed all the gunk on the road onto my patch of road, so now I had 4 inches of snow to clear. Scraped it away and had another go; car went sideways again. Grr! Bollard was getting closer and closer. Finally on the third or fourth attempt I got traction and was soon on my way.
I80 was hideously slow again, although eventually the snow turned to incredibly thick rain and we could speed up slightly. Stopped at the motel in Colfax, only they hadn't checked their email that day and so hadn't reserved a room for me. Drove on to the next nearest motel but they wouldn't answer their door; it was only 7:30pm. Weird.
Finally found a nice place in Auburn. By this stage it was too late for anything but fast food, so had Taco Bell for dinner. Lovely dining experience with one guy walking around yabbering into his cellphone, and another guy making dry heaving noises every 5 minutes!
Only one full day left now, will see what the weather is doing in the morning, hopefully I can get back up the hill.
Day 26: Wells to Lake Tahoe
Just a short post today. Woke up fairly early and was soon on the road. There were very impressive icicles on the church next to my motel:
Had a quick scout around town for trains but apart from one sitting in the loop, nothing was happening. The one in the loop looked like it wasn't going anywhere soon. I went up to a good lookout spot to see if anything was approaching, but the only thing I saw were some UP maintenance vehicles on the track; great, no trains any time soon.
By now the transmission had almost warmed up and stopped making raunching noises and bucking on every gear change, so I ventured out onto the freeway.
Two hours later I still hadn't passed any trains, but had seen some more track workers out on the rails. They were really out in force today. I did however pass a very photogenic run down old barn, so took the next off ramp and went back to photograph it.
I really wanted a train to come past, even had the perfect shot lined up, so I parked where I could see both ways and waited for a bit. 10 minutes later guess what rolled into view but another #$*@ track maintenance vehicle. Since it's only single track here there wouldn't be any trains for quite a while — when the dispatchers give track permission to the hirailers, they lock up the entire section of track so that nothing else can occupy it.
So I gave up and went back on the freeway. Passing through Elko and Winnemuca I saw a few trains, but all heading the other direction. Wherever the WBs were today they were nowhere near me!
Arrived in Reno around 3pm, and set about visiting some model train shops. The first one had a reasonable selection of rolling stock and a few locos, but not many items had prices which was frustrating. They didn't have too many locos; nothing I was interested in anyway. I bought a few wagons and continued on to the next shop.
Next train shop was way worse; all their N scale items were locked away under the counter, and with no prices except a few "discount" items. They had an excellent selection of HO locos, but their N scale stuff was pitiful. Left without buying anything.
Since I was still in Reno I set about trying to buy a replacement Peek. RadioShack gave me a weird answer about how they have to "roam" in Reno and so Peek won't sell them here. I suspected that was a load of rubbish, but obviously they didn't have any to sell me. Next stop was Office Max who didn't have anything; the sales droid there suggested they were too "antiquated" for "high tech" stores, and maybe I should try Walmart or Target. Went to Target, they didn't have anything, wasn't even listed on their inventory. Went to Best Buy, nope, nothing either. You'd think for a little $20 device at least someone would carry it!? And since I'd originally bought mine from RadioShack, I thought maybe RadioShack might stock them. Nope.
Gave up and drove to Tahoe Vista for the only affordable accommodation this side of the Sierras. So now I'm in California, ready to hit Donner Pass in the morning and see some trains! Walked to Nevada for dinner (it's about 3 houses away) — a beef quesadilla at the local casino. Enough to feed two people, for less than $10. At first I was against casinos, but then I realised that they have really cheap and quite decent meals. They're probably subsidised by gambling takings, which is fine by me!
Watching the weather channel there is a big snow storm predicted for tomorrow on Donner Pass, up to a foot of snow which is just a dusting by Donner standards. I've heard stories of signal maintainers on the railroad who have gone into a signals cabinet to fix something, and come out an hour later to find an extra couple of feet of snow! While discussing the news there was a very impressive video of three snow plow trucks working in a V formation to clear the freeway. Looked like a very efficient operation.
Next couple of days will be spent railfanning Donner Pass again, hopefully if I'm very lucky I'll get to see the "winterized" locos in operation with the flangers and spreaders. With lots of fresh snow expected I imagine they'll be out fairly frequently keeping the rail line open. And then on Sunday, just 3 days time, I'll be boarding my plane and retuning to Chch.
Day 25: Wells Railfanning
Woke up really early, not quite sure why. Train horn? Looked outside and there was a dusting, literally just a dusting, of fresh snow. Checked the clock and it was only 7am, so got some more sleep. Woke up and thought it was 10am, rats, but then realised I was still on Mountain time, not Pacific time, which made it 9am. Confusing stuff these timezones.
Dressed up really warm; there was a cold wind blowing even down here in the township, and I was planning on spending all day out on the snow. I had on:
- Underwear
- Socks
- Another pair of socks
- Merino long johns
- Polar fleece pants
- Ski pants
- Merino top with tube neck
- T shirt
- Down jacket
- Rain coat
- Neck warmer
- Beanie
- Gloves
- Insulated boots
- Sun glasses
That makes 19 items! Was I warm enough? You bet.
Headed off up the road and staked out a curve with great lighting and elevation for a nice nose shot… of course several hours later and I'd had trains come in every direction on every track, except for this one.
Caught a couple of SD70s on an autoracks train instead:
And then going in the opposite direction to what I wanted, another autoracks train kicking up quite a cloud of snow:
While waiting a plow truck came past, clearing the bridge. Quite a plow!
A while later a manifest went past on the other line.
I waited a bit longer, and then eventually a hirailer came scooting past, and shortly after I decided to head up the road a bit where hopefully they wouldn't be doing maintenance.
Jumped in the car and headed off towards Montello again. Stopped at a spot I'd noted on the way over and climbed up a hill, then settled down behind a rock out of the wind and show, and waited.
Seems I attracted a bit of attention up there from the locals, a flock of about 4 of them kept circling and swooping down to check me out.
A crow maybe? They didn't seem to feel the cold, whatever they were.
By 3:30 still no trains at all; no trains for 3 hours?! Oh dear. I decided to head on into Montello and see if I could spy anything anywhere, but all was empty. Here is the store at Montello:
On the way back up to my spot I could clearly see some snow storms moving across the wide open plains.
The moment I rounded the curve I saw a train coming past; not enough time to get into position, of course. Murphy's Law! Found a bigger hill to climb, and when I was 1/4 of the way up spied the headlight of an approaching train off in the distance. Went into high gear and scaled the rest of the 60m hill to capture this:
Dashed around to the other side but wasn't quite fast enough. Did catch this though:
And then the tail end:
After a flurry of activity it went quiet again and I didn't see any more trains. It started snowing quite heavily; huge flakes the size of thumbnails were falling and even settling. From my vantage point I could see the snow flurries drifting across the land…
The view was pretty incredible too. Here is a panorama:
Left just before it got dark. Car thermometer said it was several degrees below freezing, and the wind was pretty stiff too. Lucky I had so many layers on!
Arrived back into town a while later and headed off to the Casino for another cheap meal. Mexican this time, $10 for a huge beef chimichanga. For the curious, here is the casino:
A surprisingly subdued affair really.
Early start tomorrow, have a lot of Nevada to cross! Snow storm predicted for the Sierras on Friday, up to a foot of fresh snow — I80 promises to be a slow drive. If I'm lucky I might just get to see the flangers in operation, maybe even the spreaders. So next stop, more or less: Donner Pass.