WP Feather River Canyon in Film

Another one from the Ebay vault, this time a purchase from Jeffrey M. Lyons of a sizeable collection of WP and SP footage in the Sierras. This first installment is the WP footage, taken in the summer of 1979, just before the UP merger. The film did have original sound, but I was unable to effect the audio transfer so sounds are, once again, added from my video library. Enjoy! Credit to Mr. Lyons for the original film.

[@markmay5576]

Love seeing all that 4 axle power !

[@riogrande5761]

The last train in the video had a large block of auto parts boxcars - probably empties from the Milpitas Ford plant heading east for the Ford FAST auto parts train and will be handed of the the D&RGW in Utah. Very cool!

[@TheRrxing]

Awesome angle shots. I can imagine the Super Chief going over the bridge. Such a fun video to watch.

[@richardgerlach5156]

@Eddy Spaghetti California Zephyr, not the “Super Chief”.

[@TheRrxing]

@@richardgerlach5156 oops your right.

[@iusetano]

I enjoyed watching, a lot. Thank you so very much for sharing.

[@jarrietfair6373]

I miss the western pacific trains

[@jecbtc]

Great footage of the WP in action, thanks for posting this video.

[@jeffmurphree2937]

What a great video! And no No Graffiti on any of the cars!

[@neanderthal88]

Your added sound I must admit is very well done.
Nice shots.

[@fmnut]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@alcopower5710]

Outstanding footage ⭐️

[@sixriversrail]

I've always wondered if the Wobbly had any ribbon rail on the system. In Sacramento summer '83 long after the merger it was still jointed rail but a year later UP had put down continuous rail.

[@rustyshackleford6637]

This is real old school railroading

[@ronniefarnsworth6465]

Great old film, there is some really serious "Pulling" up these Canyons going on !!! : )

[@oldclip70]

Thank you for posting this.

[@sprenky72]

Thanks for sharing! Very cool.

[@gregrowe1168]

Great video, the views here would be spectacular for passenger service.

[@fmnut]

Yes, it was,called the California Zephyr.

[@markfrench8892]

I'll never get use to UP yellow in the canyon.

[@giorgiochessa45]

OK from Sardegna Italy

[@derrickwong5337]

Western Pacific is wonderful history railroad. A Union Pacific Heritage units Western Pacific Railroad.

[@jarrietfair6373]

I still miss the western pacific. In model ho scale I have four wp engines love the wp but I respect the union pacific

[@Jack-dw2sz]

nice

[@Greatdome99]

Unfortunately, former PC chairman Al Perlman repainted all WP's orange locos a dull blue-green--and the signals and bridges in mint green! Ugh.

[@bendover9411]

I love PC colors

[@thedesertdwellerfromutah4354]

Perlman was either color blind or a sad soul...

[@Eric-un5ov]

Why did the abandon the railroad in Two Rivers?

[@fmnut]

Same reasons.

[@Eric-un5ov]

Lack of rail service? The reason why the tracks were torn from Green Bay to Hilbert was because the bridge was unsafe for trains right?

[@fmnut]

@@Eric-un5ov Eric. The root cause of any rail abandonment is lack of need, either as a through route between major hubs, or for providing service to customers on the line. Once one or both of those factors is absent, the line will be abandoned. In the case of the Green Bay/Hilbert line, the decision was made to abandon because the traffic potential didn't justify repairing the bridge. Had there been, say, a large customer such as a grain elevator, power plant, or coal mine on that segment, they would have repaired or replaced the bridge rather than abandoning it.

[@Eric-un5ov]

Pulaski’s line was abandoned because lack of need and lack of rail service and lack of business am I right

[@fmnut]

@@Eric-un5ov yes.