Kevin Standlee (kevin_standlee) wrote,
Kevin Standlee
kevin_standlee

Central Pacific, Ahoy

Fernley isn't actually along the original Central Pacific Railroad transcontinental right of way. The CPRR (by then part of Southern Pacific) relocated its original line to what is now the Union Pacific line through Fernley in 1903. (They also moved the division point from Wadsworth, just west of Fernley, to Sparks, including actually moving the station building, which is still in place in Sparks today.) The original transcontinental line's right of way is a mile or so north of I-80 north of Fernley, and parts of it are accessible from the highway. This afternoon, Lisa drove us over there in the Big Orange Van and we had a look at the line and drove along a portion of it. We found it interesting, although I'm certainly glad we were in Lisa's 4WD van than in my little minivan, as I suspect that if I'd taken the Astro there, I would have gotten stuck.

We stopped part-way along the route and took some pictures.


We stopped just after negotiating this embankment, which was a little hair-raising with a deep dip in the center of it. This view is general west toward the cement plant and Wadsworth.

Here's the Big Orange Van parked along the right of way.

Having traversed a fill, the ROW continues through this cut to the east. We drove along here imagining 4-4-0 steam locomotives carrying people to and from California

This stretch of ROW continues to the Sierra Pacific Parkway exit on I-80. (I-80 appears to be constructed in this area on top of the old ROW, although we're not completely certain of that.) Unfortunately, there's no connection to get back on the highway here, so we had to retreat back to Truck Inn Road, where we headed back into Fernley.
Tags: fernley, lisa, trains
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