Story Behind the Image

Norden Searchlights: The Last Stand

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After decades of service…

The searchlight signals at Norden were special to many railroaders, railroad photographers and historians. The US&S Searchlight Signals withstood the test of time, enduring decades of brutal winters atop the infamous Donner Pass Route.

While an exact installation date is not known at this time, railroad historians estimate the searchlight signals were installed in the mid-20th century. The bridge support they stood upon is believed to have been installed in the 1920’s with an interlocking machine, followed by semaphores and eventually replaced by searchlights.

At nearly 7,000′ in elevation, Norden is effectively the “top of the hill” for the railroad. The true summit is located in Tunnel 41 (“The Big Hole”), which passes under Mount Judah (8,243′). Being that Norden is on the western side of the summit, it is subjected to heavy snowfall. With an annual average snowfall of 140″, keeping the railroad open is difficult. The Union Pacific Railroad uses a variety of methods to keep the tracks clear of snow and trains moving.

Union Pacific’s “snow fighters” work throughout the winter months, removing snow from the right-of-way. The snow fighters consist of snow cats, flangers, spreaders and the famous rotary snow plows. While these are effective in battling snow, the railroad also uses snow sheds. At Norden, a snow shed protects the crossovers (definition: a crossover is a pair of switches that connects two parallel rail tracks, allowing a train on one track to cross over to the other). Crossovers are especially vulnerable to snow and ice build up since the switches actuate. Any build up of snow between the switch can render it out-of-service. Searchlight signals guarded both ends of the Norden snow shed.

After crossing over from the #1 track, a westbound flanger gets a clear signal down the #2 track at West Norden. The crossover is still lined #1 to #2 and is visible in the foreground.
Union Pacific’s rotary snow plows cut through heavy snow at Norden (February 2017).
The DPU’s of the MRVNP (left) patiently wait for an opportunity at the Big Hole while the high priority ZG2OA races west down the #2 track at Norden. The single track through the Big Hole makes Norden a common place for train meets.
Heading east on the #1 track, Union Pacific 7952 ducks into the Norden snow shed while dragging a heavy manifest over Donner Summit.
A flanger set races past the searchlight signals at East Norden.

With only single track through “The Big Hole” (1.3 miles east), these signals and crossovers were often utilized by the dispatcher to move trains and keep the railroad running efficiently. The original mainline between Norden and Eder (also known as track 1), was retired in the mid 1990’s due to dwindling traffic levels. This left only a single track (through the Big Hole) connecting Eder and the western slope. Because of this, Norden was often a great place to watch rail traffic and train meets.

A Particular Interest

Over the last several years, I had taken a particular interest in photographing the Norden Searchlights. Knowing that replacement plans were scheduled, it was just a matter of time before the classic signals would be replaced.

Searchlight signals are being replaced nationwide due to legislation passed by Congress. Many searchlight signals have already fallen across Northern California. Because of this, documenting searchlight signals has become one of my special projects.

Fortunately, the Norden searchlights provided many unique photo opportunities. At over 7,000′ in elevation, capturing the signals in all four unique seasons was a challenge. Fall colors, followed by snow and a springtime thaw were quickly replaced by smokey skies during the California summers.

In addition to the Norden signals, Union Pacific replaced many of Southern Pacific’s target tri-lights and signal bridges. The target tri-lights have a similar shape to searchlights, but sport three individual signal lights. The signals at Cisco and Troy were replaced prior to the searchlights at Norden. Fortunately, the signal bridge at Truckee still stands… for now.

Thunderstorms build across the Sierra Summit as the Union Pacific MOGRV passes under the signal bridge at Cisco. These signals were replaced in addition to the searchlights at Norden.
The UP 5781 passes under Truckee signal bridge after a cold morning trip over Donner Pass. The Truckee signal bridge is still in service (as of November 2022). Unknown on replacement timeline.

Replacement

On the morning of November 23rd, 2021, I traveled to Norden to document the signal replacement process. The week prior, signal crews had completed extensive work and were preparing for the “cut over” to the new signals.

The signal foreman requested track & time as crews prepared to physically turn the signals. The process appeared relatively simple from an outsider’s prospective. The new signals were energized and tested while the old signals were de-energized and rotated. I am sure the real complexity of the signal replacement process happens in the signal box, where computers and fuses control the indications.

Within a couple of hours, the process was complete and the new signals were in service. Dispatcher 9 impatiently waited for the release of track & time since there was a high priority Z train and Amtrak’s California Zephyr waiting to come west. Once track & time was released, the UP 7834 quickly arrived leading the ZG2LT 21. The UP 7834 became the first train to pass the new signals.

After the signals were cut over, crews began work to remove the signal masts from East Norden. Utilizing some heavy equipment, the crews were able to quickly remove the masts. The signal bridge would be a little more challenging and would be removed during the following week.

A signal worker prepares to place the new “Darth Vader” tri-lights in service at West Norden.
The signal gang performs the finishing touches before placing the new signals in service.
Just before the cut over, the Norden searchlights shine red one last time.
New hardware guards the signals at West Norden.
The last signal head is prepped and ready to be placed in service.
With the new signals ready, the Norden searchlights are placed out-of-service.
Within minutes, the decades of service are brought to an end.
The ZG2LT heads west under the out-of-service searchlight signal bridge.

The replacement of the Norden Searchlights serves as a good reminder that nothing lasts forever along the railroad. An image you may capture today could hold increasing sentimental value as things change in the future. So get out there and shoot!

Here are some of my favorite moments from Norden over the years.

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Jake Miille Photography © 2022

Colorado’s Morning Glory

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Story Behind the Image

The morning of March 9th, 2020 started early. I was over a week into my photography adventure across the Western United States. The previous day was a mammoth 18-hour day, which started in Canon City, Colorado and ended along the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains. I was tired, catching a few hours of sleep in my Glenwood Springs hotel room when the phone rang.

Rock slide issues in Byers Canyon had the Moffat Route shut down overnight. The slides had delayed several trains which were supposed to sneak though the Rocky Mountains under the cover of darkness. With the new information, I quickly packed my gear while still half asleep, grabbed a hotel-lobby coffee and took off on the hour and half drive towards Kremmling.

As I made the drive, the sound of country music and radio traffic filled my truck. Most of the radio traffic was scratchy, a common problem when you are in the mountains and the railroad action is far away. Unsure of what had transpired along the railroad during my hour and half drive from Glenwood Springs, I arrived near Azure, Colorado right after sunrise.

I was trying to figure out a plan of action as I slowly rolled along the rugged dirt roads near Gore Canyon. I feared that I had arrived too late, when all of the sudden, the radio traffic became crystal clear. “BNSF 5686 East, highball Radium out.” I had arrived just in time. After being stopped all night, the railroad was open and there was a train quickly headed my direction. As I got into position, the skies opened up. The once dark mountainsides now beamed with light.

BNSF 5686 roars out of Little Gore Canyon on the morning of March 9th, 2020.

As the train roared out of Little Gore Canyon, additional radio traffic came in. This time it was from the Moffat Tunnel Subdivision Dispatcher. “BNSF 5686, I’m going to stick you in the siding at Gore for this westbound work train. They’re making their way through Troublesome now.” The Gore Siding is located just east of Gore Canyon between Azure and Kremmling. At 6,730′ in length, it is one of the longer sidings in the area.

BNSF 5686 continuing east between Little Gore Canyon and [Big] Gore Canyon. In approximately 5 miles, it will enter Gore Siding for the westbound work train.

As the BNSF 5686 continued east towards Gore, I doubled back west towards Little Gore Canyon. Located only a few miles west of [Big] Gore Canyon, Little Gore Canyon is one of my favorite locations along the Moffat Route. With it’s vertical cliffs that tower hundreds of feet above the river below and a view of the incredible Gore Valley extending to the east, Little Gore Canyon provides endless photography opportunities.

I soon found myself standing on the canyon edge, overlooking an incredible mountain scene. The train was taking a little longer than expected, but that bought time, allowing the sun illuminate the eastern edge of the canyon. As I waited, a Bald Eagle made several passes, patrolling his little section of paradise. “This is what it’s all about”, I thought to myself.

Eventually, the silence of the mountains was overtaken by the rumbling sound of a ballast train exiting Gore Canyon. I got into position, being careful to set my feet on the snow covered rocks. A small slip could lead to a very fast and deadly trip to the bottom of the Colorado River.

The sound of the train is getting louder as it works west through Gore Valley.

As the train rounded the bend, the sound became deafening. Like a megaphone, the canyon walls were amplifying the sounds of this incredible display of mountain railroading. The Union Pacific 7890 was in the lead, dragging 74 Herzog ballast cars west. The train briefly ducked into the 294-foot Tunnel 39 as it entered Little Gore Canyon. A frozen Gore Valley provided the perfect backdrop.

UP 7890 exits Tunnel 39 and enters the incredible Little Gore Canyon. Notice the dark shadow just above the train. As I patiently waited, dark storm clouds cycled in and out of the area adding an extra element of uncertainty. Fortunately, the clouds decided to play in my favor this day.

Distributed Power Units (DPUs) are common along the Moffat Route. The extra power on the end of the train makes for a safer journey through the mountains. On this day, the UP 5785 was assigned as the rear DPU, seen here exiting Tunnel 39.

Framed by the jagged rock walls of Little Gore Canyon, the UP 5785 is seen here as the rear DPU, helping guide this westbound train down the Moffat Route.

Soon, the UP 7890 would arrive in Bond, Colorado for a crew change. Unfortunately, do to the overall lack of of rail traffic along the Moffat Route, the few train crews that still work this section are not always available. With no rested and qualified crews available, this train would stay stopped at Bond for most of the daylight hours. Eventually, late in afternoon, a new a crew would arrive and take this train west towards Grand Junction.

The UP 7890 is tied down at Bond awaiting a new crew. At one time, Bond was a busy junction for coal and manifest trains along the Moffat Route. Today, the empty tracks paint a bleak picture.

This underscores the challenge of the Moffat Route. With some of the most incredible railroad scenes in the world, the overall lack of train traffic makes it difficult to photograph. The steep decline in Colorado Coal production, along with a general decline in overall rail traffic means this route is quiet more often than not. Fortunately for me, I got lucky that morning.

Story Behind the Image: An Unexpected Journey

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Due to a derailment near Dunsmuir, the northbound Amtrak Coast Starlight made a rare appearance in the Feather River Canyon. Here the train rolls along the banks of the Feather River just east of Belden, California.

Due to a derailment near Dunsmuir, the northbound Amtrak Coast Starlight made a rare appearance in the Feather River Canyon. Here the train rolls along the banks of the Feather River just east of Belden, California. July 14, 2013.

Summer Time Is Finally Here

This has to be one of my favorite story behind the image as it combines two of my passions: baseball and railroad photography.

In the summer of 2013, most of my time was spent playing baseball. I was a pitcher for Yolo Post 77 which is an American Legion team based in Woodland, California. My primary roll on this team was to be the “closer”, which meant I was in charge of finishing games. But as the season went on, I was morphed into a long reliever and spot starter, while also being “the closer”. I ended up throwing 55 innings throughout the summer for Yolo Post 77 which led the team.

Part of the Yolo Post 77 season is the Doryland Tournament in Chico, California. We were going to spend five days, playing a total of five games against teams from around Northern California. The tournament ended up going very well and the entire team was “living the life of a ballplayer”.

The Twist

But while the team was strictly focused on baseball, I had something else on my mind. Wednesday night I received a text message about a possible derailment at the Cantera Loop near Dunsmuir, California. As more information slowly trickled in that night, it sounded like a number of cars had jumped the tracks right near the Sacramento River. The mainline was blocked and all traffic was stopped.

Quickly, the attention of the rail community veered towards the Amtrak Coast Starlight. This premier passenger train is suppose to pass through the Cantera Loop during the middle of the night, but with the tracks blocked, the trains sat. The southbound train was held in Klamath Falls, Oregon while the northbound train was held in Sacramento, California. Unlike a freight train, you cannot park a passenger train for a few days until the issue is resolved. Therefore, we all knew Amtrak and the host railroads were scrambling to find an idea.

The first rumor that came out was that the passengers on both trains would be bussed between the two points. Each train set would then be turned around and take the passengers to their final destinations. But unfortunately for Amtrak, they could not find enough buses capable of hauling all the passengers on both trains. Therefore they had to revert to plan B.

There are two ways to travel by rail from Sacramento to Klamath Falls. The first way is the one we have already discussed and is known as the “Shasta Route”. This would take the Coast Starlight on its normal trip via Chico, Redding, and Dunsmuir. But then there is the other way; Via the Feather River Route and Inside Gateway.

This route would take the train through the spectacular Feather River Canyon before splitting off at the world famous Keddie Junction and heading up BNSF’s Inside Gateway. During the early morning hours of June 14th, 2013, Amtrak prepped its train to travel via this route.

Time to “Get The Shot” 

I woke up early on the morning of June 14th, 2013 and checked my phone. It was on. The Amtrak Coast Starlight was headed for The Canyon.

My dad was quickly awake and we quickly packed up the car. The northbound train was already through Oroville so we knew we would be playing “catch up” through a lot of the canyon. After grabbing McDonalds to go, we were on our way, trying to catch up as fast as we could.

I still remember when I first saw the train. It was just east of Belden, California in an area know to railroad photographers as Serpentine Canyon.  The stainless steel cars were shining bright in the early morning sun as they rounded in and out of curves along high cliffs above the Feather River. My focus was now on capturing some of this morning glory.

A lot of things go through your mind when trying to pick out a location for a photograph. The first thing I always look at is the light. Without good light, I have nothing to work with and won’t be able to capture usable content. The next thing is composition. If I can’t find a spot that visually makes sense, there is no point in even stopping the car. Once a location passes the first two tests, I have to figure out the logistics. Is there a safe place for me to be while taking the picture? Is there a safe place for the car? What lens will I need to capture the scene correctly? What are the optimal settings on my camera? Will stopping at this location potentially jeopardize a better shot a little farther down the line? Lets just say, a lot of things go through your mind and it is not always easy to make the correct decision when you have a train only seconds behind you.

Luckily for me, years of experience have made my judgement very good. Most of the time I don’t really have to “think”, I just see it and react by pointing to my dad where I want to go. From there, I jump out of the car and run to the exact spot to capture the image. This type of photography is hard and can lead to a lot of mistakes, but it is also necessary and very exciting.

So that’s the story. The image above was created by large amounts of luck and a split second decision. After I took this image, I continued to chase the Coast Starlight to Keddie where I captured some more incredible content. Later on in the day, I was able to shoot a number of images of the southbound Coast Starlight as it traversed the Feather River Canyon.

Reflecting back, I realize how lucky I was to be able to capture the images that I did. This was the first time the Coast Starlight detoured via the Feather River Canyon and I just happened to be an hour away in Chico, California for a baseball tournament. There is no way I would have been able chase these trains if I was anywhere else. They also just happened to detour on a day where we didn’t play till late at night. Lastly, they detoured over a line I was familiar with and one I was comfortable chasing. All the stars just happened to line up and I was able to take advantage of it. It was an awesome day.

What about you?

Have you ever had a crazy experience while traveling with Amtrak? Will you ever ride with Amtrak again? Let me know in the comments below.

Story Behind The Image: Alone with Snow in the Canyon

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A BNSF train crosses the Rock Creek Trestle on a snowy day in the Feather River Canyon.

A BNSF train crosses the Rock Creek Trestle on a snowy day in the Feather River Canyon.

When I first started shooting trains, it was always me and my dad. We both had variety of responsibilities every time we went out. I was in charge of finding the trains, the location and capturing the shot. My dad was mainly in charge of driving and making sure I didn’t do anything that could kill me. As many photographers know, when the scene begins to develop in front of you, its hard to keep track of everything else going on. Anyway, my dad and I worked great as team.

As I moved up to Chico State, I took on all of the responsibilities. I became the photographer, tracker, navigator, driver, risk manager, etc. Things were a lot different and I struggled on my first few trips. One time, I drove all the way up to Graeagle which is about two hours and fifteen minutes away from Chico. As I got out of the car to check the shot, the door closed behind me. I quickly realized my keys were laying on the seat, and the door was locked. After a few minutes of hurling expletives at myself for being so stupid, I decided to call for help. Unfortunately, in this part of the mountains, cell service can be bad to nonexistent. I ended up having to hike up to Highway 70 where I was lucky enough to get a call through to AAA. Eventually a tow truck came out and managed to get my door open.

The reason to tell that story is to show you how I was way outside my comfort zone. Before, I never had to worry about getting locked out, calling for help, or driving. My entire job was focused on capturing the shot.

Crazy Weather or Winter Wonderland

A couple months after that incident, I was again heading up into “The Canyon” (Feather River Canyon) to shoot some photographs. The date was December 7th, 2013. The night before, an extremely cold storm blew into Northern California. It was so cold in fact, it started to snow in Chico which is located only 250 feet above sea level. I knew the canyon was about to become a winter wonderland.Snow in the FRC

I remember my mom calling me and saying “Jake, this weather is pretty crazy. Make sure you stay in Chico the next couple days and avoid the icy roads.” At that point, I had already made up my mind that I was going to shoot some photos. I played it off well and the next morning I was on my way up into the mountains.

The first snow I came across was near James, California (900 feet). I remember being surprised at how much snow was actually on the ground as I winded my way up Yankee Hill. Lucky for me, the chain controls that were in affect at Pulga when I left Chico, had been moved up to Belden, so I kept on slowly driving the winding roads, constantly worried about ice.

Rock Creek Trestle

I soon found myself sitting sitting at the Rock Creek Trestle, deep in the Feather River Canyon. A westbound BNSF train was out of Keddie and it was just a matter of time before it showed up. As I sat there taking in the scenic views and watching the snow slowly fall to the ground, I thought to myself “How lucky am I to be here?” Most people don’t get to live only an hour away from a place like the Feather River Canyon or truly get to enjoy it doing something they love.

As I continued to sit in my truck waiting for the BNSF train, my experience became even greater. Suddenly from around the bend in the canyon, flying right above the water came a Bald Eagle. Bald Eagle’s are known to migrate to this area during the winter, but seeing one can be a challenge. As quickly as it appeared, it disappeared off into the distance. The inner-photographer in me was disappointed I wasn’t ready to get the shot, but I was also happy on some level I got to view the majestic bird in person, and not through a viewfinder.

A few minutes later, I began to hear a faint rumble. It grew louder and louder until four BNSF locomotives came screaming across the Rock Creek Trestle allowing me to capture the image.

I still don’t know weather it was cooler to capture this shot or have the awesome experience I had in the canyon that day. But when you combine both, it definitely goes down as an incredible day.

What About You?

What was your first experience with photography outside your comfort zone?  I’d love to hear about what you did and how it turned out.  What did you learn?  Leave a comment below and tell your story!