As I mentioned in my last “train-o-log,” many passenger train trips that used to be a fairly simple excursion experience, no longer offer passenger service. One such is the Feather River Canyon route.
There are still plenty of freight trains that make use of that route, as witness a derailment there a few months ago and another one this past April. However, a few years ago I was fortunate enough to learn of an excursion, one time only, train that was booking passengers for a trip up the canyon. Whooo-eeee! Did I go? You bettcha!
We boarded the train in Richmond fairly early one morning, which meant we traveled the beautiful scenery during the middle of the day. It was fun to cross the bridge at Martinez and because you aren’t driving or behind a 6-foot guard wall, and you actually have the ability to look at the mothball fleet or what is left of it, anchored in the Suisun Bay.
Then out through the salt flats and into Davis, then Sacramento.
The train trip from Sacramento to Oroville is pretty standard train fare for the Central Valley. Fields of cultivation intersected by irrigation canals and an occasional town.
Going east out of Oroville, you cross Lake Oroville. Well, you cross Lake Oroville if we’ve had any rain, otherwise you cross Lake Oroville canyon. At Jarbo Gap, (yes, that is a place and not just a figment of the weatherman’s imagination) about 20 miles out of Oroville, where you actually cross into the canyon proper. In this case you are traversing the bottom of the canyon, not along the rim. This puts you right at the river level a lot of the time.
We didn’t see much of anything that you couldn’t see from driving the highway, but, let’s face it, when you are driving that highway, you don’t want your eyes to be anywhere other than on the road. It is well worth being afforded the ability to look at the canyon and the river. It is spectacular.
Photo courtesy of St. Bernard Lodge.com
It’s a slow trip. The speed limits for that section of track are extremely conservative due to the twists and turns of the canyon. But there are some interesting glimpses into the past.
Remember, ‘back in the day’ roads weren’t as good; autos weren’t plentiful nor reliable so train travel was the preferred mode of travel. Destination resorts became the summer outing of choice for families. There was everything from the ‘camping out’ style to the elegant, ‘dress for dinner’ style. In the eastern states the Catskills were loaded with these resorts (remember “Dirty Dancing”?). They were also to be found other places, though not as plentiful. Richardson Springs, just outside of Chico was one. Belden, in the Feather River Canyon, was another.
From the train you get a really good view of Belden. It’s still in operation, but it’s not run as a week-long, destination resort, per se.
Then, it’s on to Keddie Junction. Here a spur of the main line leaves for parts north, traversing back through the canyon for several miles, then off through Greenville and the east side of Lake Almanor. This is the spur that you cross just east of Bogard Ranger Station between Old Station and Susanville, then that spur continues on north and you can cross it again at New Bieber when you travel from Redding to Alturas. .
But if you stay on the main line, it will take you through Quincy and on to Hallelujah Junction, where it crosses highway 395 at Doyle. Continuing on you would eventually reach Chicago; however, since this route more or less parallels the Southern Pacific line (Donner Summit, Reno and parts east), Amtrak discontinued service on the Feather River Route and only regularly schedules the Donner summit route. This is why I was so delighted to be able to make the excursion trip up the canyon.
We left the train at Portola and rode via bus to Reno where we spent the night. The next day we reversed the process and got into Richmond in the early evening.
A docent was provided throughout the trip, which made it interesting for sightseers and history buffs alike.
All in all, it was a delightful, informative, beautiful and rare trip. Catch it if you ever get a chance.
