The Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) in
Portola, California
Portola ( ) is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, down from 2,227 at the 2000 census. Portola is located on the Middle Fork of the Feather River and was named afte ...
, known as the Portola Railroad Museum until January 1, 2006, is a
heritage railroad
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
and archives that preserves and operates historic
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
equipment and preserves documents, photos and information. The museum's mission is to preserve the history of 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 ...
and is operated by the Feather River Rail Society , founded in 1983. It is located at a former Western Pacific locomotive facility, adjacent to the
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
's former Western Pacific mainline through the
Feather River Canyon
Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...
.
Overview
Museum collection
The museum holds in its collection twenty-nine
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s,
one
electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...
,
one
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
(Operational as of April 2022),
fifteen passenger cars (including four from the famous ''
California Zephyr (1949–1970)
The ''California Zephyr'' was a passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois and Oakland, California via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, Winnemucca, Oroville and Pleasanton. It was operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q), De ...
'' train), numerous freight and
maintenance
Maintenance may refer to:
Biological science
* Maintenance of an organism
* Maintenance respiration
Non-technical maintenance
* Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English
* Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doct ...
cars and eighteen
caboose
A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, dam ...
s. They offer excursions and a "Run A Locomotive" program during the summer. The WPRM has one of the larger collections of early diesel era locomotives and freight cars in North America. The museum is often considered to have one of the most complete and historic collections of equipment and materials from a single railroad family. The holdings also include extensive corporate records and images, as well as personal collections from those who worked for the Western Pacific.
The WPRM is a "hands-on" museum that allows visitors to board and explore locomotives and cars in their collection.
Among the significant pieces in the WPRM collection are
Western Pacific 805-A
Western Pacific 805-A is a preserved EMD FP7 diesel-electric railroad locomotive built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. It was mainly used to pull passenger trains, specifically the ''California Zephyr'' (CZ), which was operated ...
, an
FP7 model passenger locomotive that pulled the ''
California_Zephyr_(1949–1970)
The ''California Zephyr'' was a passenger train that ran between Chicago, Illinois and Oakland, California via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, Winnemucca, Oroville and Pleasanton. It was operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q), De ...
'';
Southern Pacific EMD GP9
The EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1954 and 1959. The GP9 succeeded the GP7 as the second model of EMD's General Purpose (GP) line, incorporating a new sixteen- cylin ...
#2873, nicknamed "the Kodachrome" by the volunteers, due to it being painted with the Kodachrome scheme from the failed
Santa Fe–Southern Pacific merger
The Santa Fe–Southern Pacific merger was an attempted corporate consolidation of two of the major railroads in the Western United States at the time: the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and the Southern Pacific Railroad. The approximate ...
;
WP 2001
WP or wp may refer to:
Organisations
* Warsaw Pact, a disbanded organization of Central and Eastern European communist states
* , the Reich Party of the German Middle Class, a political party of Weimar Germany
* , the Polish Armed Forces
* Worke ...
, the first
GP20 model locomotive (an early
turbocharged
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...
diesel);
WP 501
WP or wp may refer to:
Organisations
* Warsaw Pact, a disbanded organization of Central and Eastern European communist states
* , the Reich Party of the German Middle Class, a political party of Weimar Germany
* , the Polish Armed Forces
* Worke ...
, an early
switch engine
A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...
and the first diesel purchased by the Western Pacific; Western Pacific
0-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrang ...
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
165, an oil burning switch engine built by
ALCO
The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...
in 1919;
WP 37, a 200-ton rail-mounted
crane, two track clearing
snowplow
A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to r ...
s (one wedge type and one
rotary); and several rare, early 20th century freight cars. Also located at the site are the Portola Diesel Shop, built in 1953, and an
interlocking tower
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetabl ...
from
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...
, currently stored unrebuilt. The Western Pacific Hospital, built in 1911 and one of the few remaining railroad hospitals in the country, was part of the museum until it was destroyed in an arson fire on September 7, 2011. The WPRM maintains several of their road diesels in mainline operating condition and has made occasional movements on
Class I railroads using their own historic motive power.
Operating a locomotive
One aspect of the Western Pacific Railroad Museum is its nationally known Run A Locomotive (RAL) program. Except for winter and certain weekends when special events are in progress, the museum provides visitors a chance to be an engineer for an hour. Participants are given on-the-ground instruction, then they get to operate a real locomotive of their choice for an hour. A qualified engineer joins them in the locomotive for oversight and further instruction.
Zephyr Project
The Zephyr Project is a program of the Feather River Rail Society to acquire, preserve and restore cars, locomotives, personal stories and artifacts relating to the ''
California Zephyr
The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...
'' passenger train. Currently, the Project's collection of equipment includes Western Pacific
FP7 locomotive 805-A,
dome lounge car "Silver Hostel", dome-coach "Silver Lodge" and dining car "Silver Plate". In addition, the dome-coach "Silver Rifle" is on long-term loan from the
Golden Gate Railroad Museum.
See also
*
Feather River Route
The Feather River Route is a rail line that was built and operated by the Western Pacific Railroad. It was constructed between 1906 and 1909, and connects the cities of Oakland, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The line was built to compet ...
**
Clio trestle
**
Keddie Wye
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, ...
*
List of California railroads
*
List of heritage railroads in California
*
List of museums in California
*
List of railway museums
A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic equ ...
*
List of common carrier freight railroads in the United States
References
External links
www.wplives.orgnbsp;— official Western Pacific Railroad Museum site
The WP 165 Restoration BlogThe progress on the restoration of Western Pacific 0-6-0 #165 steam locomotive until September 22, 2017.
Latest updates on the restoration of Western Pacific 0-6-0 #165 steam locomotive.
RailPictures.Net: WPRM– Photographs from the Western Pacific Railroad Museum.
RailPictures.Net: PRM– More Western Pacific Railroad Museum photographs. ''(Under the Portola name)''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Western Pacific Railroad Museum
Railroad museums in California
Western Pacific Railroad
California railroads
Heritage railroads in California
Museums established in 1984
Open-air museums in California
Museums in Plumas County, California