The Keddie Wye is a railroad junction in the form of a
wye on the
Union Pacific Railroad in
Plumas County, California, United States. Located at the town of
Keddie, it joins the east-west
Feather River Route and the "Inside Gateway"—formally, the
BNSF Gateway Subdivision—which runs north to
Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter B ...
.
A notable feat of railroad engineering, it is the world's only wye with two legs on bridges that meet in a tunnel. The west and north legs of the wye are on bridges over Spanish Creek, and the southeast leg runs through a tunnel (Tunnel No. 32). Just to the northwest, where the two bridged legs join, is Tunnel No. 31.
The wye and the town are named for
Arthur W. Keddie, who purchased the survey rights and the right to build a railroad through the
Feather River Canyon from
George Jay Gould
George Jay Gould I (February 6, 1864 – May 16, 1923) was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW), Western Pacific Railroad (WP), and the Manhatta ...
, the son of
Jay Gould.
History
The
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
(now part of the Union Pacific) built the tracks along the
Feather River in 1909 to complete a route from the
San Francisco Bay Area to
Salt Lake City, Utah, providing an alternate to the
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
's route over
Donner Pass. Keddie was the site of the "last spike" ceremony held on November 1, 1909.
The Feather River route was preferred by some over the Donner Pass route through the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
because the high point of the former (the Chilcoot Tunnel under
Beckwourth Pass) is at a lower elevation — about as opposed to — and most of the route is at a gentler grade than the line over Donner Pass.
Construction started on the branch running north to Bieber in 1930 and was completed in 1931, along with the north and southeast legs of the wye. This allowed the Western Pacific to diverge from its east-west route (along the west leg of the wye) and go north to an interchange with the
Great Northern Railway (now
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
) and its traffic from the
Pacific Northwest.
Railfanning
The Keddie Wye is a favorite
railfan spot and is part of Plumas County's ''7 Wonders of the Railroad World''.
Access to the site is described in the county travel guide.
844
__NOTOC__
Year 844 ( DCCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Spring – Battle of Mauropotamos: A Byzantine expedition under ...
emerges from Tunnel 31 (May 2009)
File:More Union Pacific Trains from Roger Puta - 14 Photos (26579270563).jpg, UP Officers Special (Feb 1983)
File:805A - Flickr - drewj1946.jpg, WP '' California Zephyr'' at Keddie Wye (Aug 1969)
File:Some More of Roger Puta's UP Freight Trains - Elevation (26627764473).jpg, Westbound train waits for northbound train to clear Tunnel 31 (Mar 1983)
References
External links
Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California*
Keddie Wye, Quincy, California - A showcase of engineering might that was also symbolic of westward expansion
{{coord, 40.01844, -120.95760, type:landmark_region:US, format=dms, display=title
Western Pacific Railroad
Geography of Plumas County, California
Transportation in Plumas County, California
Union Pacific Railroad bridges
Railroad tunnels in California
Rail junctions in the United States