The Placer-Sierra Railroad Heritage Society (PSRHS) was formed to preserve and protect the history of the Donner Pass Route portion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Please join us in our efforts and enjoy the website. You can view our MONTHLY NEWSLETTER here.
MONTHLY MEETINGS
PSRHS holds monthly meetings with presentations on topics of regional railroad and other topics. Our meetings are open to all who are interested in local railroad history and operations. Meetings are held on the 4th Tuesday, 7PM at Auburn Veterans Memorial Hall, 100 East St. Directions to the meeting location can be found under the HAPPENINGS tab. Watch this space for details on future meeting programs.
Our Next Meeting will be July 23 at 7pm.
Our July program promises to be a special treat. PSRHS member Nancy Thym will present a program of songs about railroads and those who ride the trains. She will accompany herself on a 100 year old harp built by Melville Clark of New York.
Nancy is an Auburn native who now divides her time between Auburn and Germany. While in college she received a research travel grant to attend a harp-building class in Germany where she met her husband. She has since amassed a collection of over 50 restored 18th and 19th century harps as well as reconstructions of ancient, medieval and Renaissance harps. Her concert programs combining history, storytelling, harp music and singing, have been warmly received throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Nancy has combined her passion for riding trains with her training as a folklorist and oral historian to create this program of songs about conductors, convicts and hobos.
COLFAX RAILCAM & BIG BOY VISIT
The new Colfax webcam installed by PSRHS and Southwest Railcams provides a terrific live feed looking westbound from the depot, and downtown Colfax serves as the backdrop for eastbound views. Along with the live feed viewers can scroll through the previous 12 hours of recorded images. As an added feature the local railroad radio conversations can be heard while observing the trains and the downtown area.
If you can’t be in Colfax for the Big Boy visit, the webcam will be focused down the tracks to the west on July 14 to catch the first glimpses of UP 4014 Big Boy as it approaches Colfax. The camera’s zoom feature allows trains to be picked up as they round the distant curve west of town and followed all the way to the passenger depot.
To access the Colfax webcam follow this link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmXz1dFsGkM
The Colfax Railcam can also be accessed on our website under the Web-Cam tab.
UP 4014 BIG BOY TO VISIT ROSEVILLE & OGDEN WITH STOPS IN COLFAX & TRUCKEE
- Public Display in Roseville July 12-13 9:00am-3:00pm both days
- Whistle Stop in Colfax Sunday July 14th 11:15-11:30am
- Whistle Stop in Truckee Sunday July 14th 3:30-4:00pm
- Public Display in Ogden July 20-21
Union Pacific Steam Club has announced the schedule for UP 4014 “Big Boy” to visit California and Utah this July. The tour map shows the westbound journey on the Feather River Canyon Route to Roseville for display on July 12-13, then returning eastbound from Roseville to Ogden on the Donner Route the week of July 14-19. The Big Boy is scheduled to make whistle stops in Colfax and Truckee July 14 on its return trip to Utah. The new Colfax webcam is ready to capture 4014’s movement through Colfax. Check out the “Big Boy” Tour page tab on this PSRHS web site for updates related to the Big Boy visit. The UP steam site includes a tracking map that shows the planned route of Big Boy through our area and will use gps data to track where it is at any given time. That link is repeated on our “Big Boy” Tour page.
If you plan to see Big Boy in person for its whistle stop in Colfax we encourage you to arrive early to find parking near the downtown passenger depot. Some streets will be closed around 10:15 prior to Big Boy’s arrival. A link to a map of planned street closures and parking areas can be found on our “Big Boy” Tour page. There will be food and other vendors and live music near the depot that morning from 9am-1pm, and both the Colfax museum and caboose will be open for visitors during those hours. PSRHS will have a table by the caboose with surplus books and other railroad items available for a donation toward the planned move of the caboose to the new Railroad Heritage Park next to the depot.
FIELD TRIPS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES
We offer one or two field trips and other activities during the year for members and guests. Details on upcoming activities or items of interest are announced on this home page. Selected events also appear in NEXT EVENTS under the HAPPENINGS tab. A complete list of past field trips and meeting presentation topics can also be found under the HAPPENINGS tab.
ARTICLES OF HISTORIC INTEREST
PSRHS philosophy is to share our information and documents with the public. Numerous historical notes, articles and photos are available for viewing and free download under the LOCAL RR HISTORY and the PUBLICATIONS tabs. Feel free to browse these pages and enjoy the content. If you choose to reproduce any of the items viewed on our web site please credit our PSRHS web address as the source.
New to the Website
Right of Way and Track Maps for SP’s Lake Tahoe Branch from the PSRHS Collection are now available for viewing. Find their link on the HISTORIC ARTICLES/MAPS/IMAGES page under the LOCAL RR HISTORY tab.
The two YouTube movies of Hal Wilmunder’s narrow gauge railroads that were shown at our October 2023 meeting can be viewed via links on the ARTICLES & VIDEOS BY OTHERS page under the PUBLICATIONS tab.
RESTORATION PROJECTS
PSRHS members have been instrumental in two major restoration projects, the Colfax Passenger Depot and the Colfax Wood-sided Caboose. Details on these projects can be found under the PROJECTS tab.
CONTACT US
General information about the society and a list of current board members can be found under the SOCIETY INFO tab.