Riding the Rails: Stranded part 2 After being dropped off by my mother at the Oroville rail-yard, all four of us walked down to the east end of the yard where when the freight train came in would stop. We mustve waited about an hour or so till we heard a distant horn blow and around the corner on the west end of the yard we could see the headlight of a freight train as it entered the Oroville yard. I could see in the eyes of Kris, Steve and Micah the excitement as the train rumbled past us and came to a stop. I was jazzed myself. A van drove past us and went down to the locomotives to drop off the relieving crew and pick up the head brakeman and engineer. The driver and those in the van didnt seem to give us a second look as they knew we were going to jump their freight train. With backpacks on it was hard not to miss what we were doing but the crew didnt seem to care. We immediately began to walk the train looking for a ride and hopefully for a boxcar. Boxcars are the best ride because they protect you from the wind and rain but finding a open boxcar, particularly open on both sides is not always easy to find. Luckily though, we found a boxcar with its doors open on both sides so we climbed inside for our ride to Portola. Immediately after we got inside the box car the airbrakes began to release and the freight jerked slightly and began to pull out of the yard heading east. All four of us were so excited but particularly me. This was my first time jumping a train out of Oroville by myself because the time before my brother lead the way. I could see up ahead the smoke belching from the locomotives as our train picked up speed. I always liked it when people in their cars, which are stopped by the crossing wave, sometimes pointing while getting the attention of another person in the car. I felt again like the first time I jumped a train that I was doing something that only others wished to do. We rolled through the town of Oroville and then past the old passenger station which was now a restaurant, crossed a trestle over the Feather River then began winding along the foothills in the shadow of Table Rock. It was such a beautiful view looking out over the rolling green hills and the valley as we slowly wound higher in the foothills. About 15 miles out of Oroville we entered our first tunnel. This part of the line makes a large S curve so when we came out of the tunnel and looked to our right we could see the tracks that our train had just gone over before entering into the tunnel. Next we went over lake Oroville on a high double decker trestle in which highway 70 was above us. After going over Lake Oroville we disappeared into a series of tunnels. The last series of tunnels was long and we had to put our bandannas over our nose and mouth to filter the air from the diesel smoke but what a site it was when we came out of the tunnel. When we came out of the tunnel we immediately went over a high concrete trestle that spanned across the Feather River and we were now deep in the canyon walls. Coming out of the tunnel and into the canyon was so immediate and...inspiring. The next 50 miles or so was just one awesome view after another. We went through numerous tunnels. Some of these were blasted through solid rock and were not lined by concrete. As we would go through these tunnels water seeping through the rocks would hit us. We would come around a bend and there would be another snowcapped mountain that we had not seen before. All the way up the canyon we passed through tunnels and crossed over trestles. It seemed like I was constantly taking photos around every turn. I loved it when the train would be making a long curve and then the locomotives would disappear in a tunnel. We were thoroughly enjoying this ride. I knew we were getting close to Keddie because off to my left I could see the highline trestle that leads to Oregon. We passed through a couple of tunnels and then we went into another tunnel. When we came out into day light we immediately were going over the Keddie trestle. It was my plan to go to Portola which was another 40 miles but...we took a left on the Keddie trestle. Our train was heading north to Oregon on a line I had never traveled before. Part 3 tomorrow of Stranded See my timeline for pervious stories.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 15:50:03 +0000