Steam train and railroad history buffs will thoroughly enjoy the online Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) Photographic History Museum. The site chronicles the completion of America's first transcontinental railroad, running between Sacramento, California, and Omaha, Nebraska. Crews worked from both ends and joined the rails at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869.
Reno and Nevada were intimately involved with this historic task. After crossing the Sierra, the CPRR (building east from Sacramento) continued working east across Nevada. It was the Union Pacific (UP) building west from Omaha. Today, the lines are consolidated as the Union Pacific and the railroad still follows much of the original route.
The UP still carries freight and passengers through the heart of downtown Reno, now below street level in what locals call the trench. The project to build the trench is called ReTRAC, the Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor.
On rare occasions, the UP rolls out its two historic steam locomotives for excursion duty. In May of 2009, UP844 stopped at the Sparks railyard, then continued through Reno and across the Sierra to the Bay area. On the return trip, the train followed the northern Feather River Route. I took the picture with this article near Portola, CA, as the train rolled east to Nevada's Black Rock Desert and beyond.
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