| Donner Pass | |
|---|---|
 Donner Pass in the 1870s |
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| Elevation | 7,085 ft. In topography a summit is a point on a surface which is higher in Elevation than all points immediately adjacent to / 2,160 m |
| Location | California,  United States |
| Range | Sierra Nevada |
| Coordinates | |
| Traversed by | Lincoln Highway US 40 (until 1964) SP Railroad (until 1994) Now Union Pacific Railroad I-80 (Indirectly, See below) |
Donner Pass (el. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A mountain range is a chain of Mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys The Sierra Nevada ( Spanish for "Snowy Range" is a Mountain range located in the U A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. The Lincoln Highway was the first automobile road across America. In the US state of California, Interstate 80, a major east-west route of the Interstate Highway System, has its western terminus in San Francisco Donner Pass (el 7085 ft / 2160 m is a high Mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west 7,085 ft. / 2,160 m. ) is a high mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west of Truckee, California. In a range of hills or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch, The Sierra Nevada ( Spanish for "Snowy Range" is a Mountain range located in the U Donner Lake is a freshwater Lake in northeast California on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada and about 11 miles northwest of the much larger Lake Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. It is a narrow pass with a very steep approach from the east, and a gradual approach from the west.
To reach California from the East, pioneer emigrants had to get their wagons over the Sierra. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. In 1844, the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party followed the Truckee River up into the mountains. The Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party party consisted of ten families who migrated from Iowa to California prior to the Mexican-American War or the California The Truckee River is a River 140 miles (225 km long in northern California and northern Nevada in the United States. At the head of what is now called Donner Lake, they found a low notch in the mountains and thus became the first overland emigrants to use the pass. Donner Lake is a freshwater Lake in northeast California on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada and about 11 miles northwest of the much larger Lake [1]
The pass received its name, however, from another group of California-bound emigrants. In early November 1846, the Donner Party found the route blocked by snow and was forced to spend the winter on the eastern side of the mountains. The Donner Party was a group of California -bound American settlers caught up in the "westering fever" of the 1840s Of the 81 emigrants, only 45 survived to reach California; some of them resorted to cannibalism to survive. [2]
In 1913, the Lincoln Highway, the first road across America, was routed over Donner Pass. The Lincoln Highway was the first automobile road across America.
On January 13, 1952, another group became stranded about seventeen miles west of Donner pass at Yuba Pass on Track #2 adjacent to Tunnel 35 (Track #1) at about MP 176. 5. Southern Pacific's passenger train City of San Francisco was en route westbound through the gap when a raging blizzard slowed the train to a halt. The City of San Francisco was a streamlined Passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago and North Western Railway, the Southern Pacific Railroad The passengers and crew were stranded for six days until help could arrive. [3]
Contents |
Railroad & Donner Pass
In the Spring of 1868, the Sierra Nevada Mountains were finally "conquered" by the Central Pacific Railroad after almost five years of sustained construction effort with the successful completion at Donner Pass of its 1,659-foot (506 m) Tunnel #6 (aka the Summit Tunnel) and associated grade thus permitting the establishment of the mass transportation of passengers and freight over the Sierra range for the first time. Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap The Sierra Nevada ( Spanish for "Snowy Range" is a Mountain range located in the U The Central Pacific Railroad was the California-to-Utah portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in North America Following a route first surveyed and proposed by the CPRR's original Chief Engineer, Theodore D. Judah (1826-1863), the construction of the four tunnels, several miles of snowsheds, and two "Chinese Walls" necessary to breach Donner Summit constituted by far the most difficult engineering and construction challenge of the entire original Sacramento to Ogden CPRR route. Theodore Dehone Judah ( March 4 1826 &ndash November 2 1863) was an American Engineer who dreamed of the First Transcontinental For the game see 1826 (board game. Year 1826 ( MDCCCXXVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display Year 1863 ( MDCCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Ogden is a city in and the County seat of Weber County, Utah, United States. Principally designed and built under the personal, often on-site direction of the CPRR's Chief Assistant Engineer, Lewis M. Clement (1837-1914), the original (Track #1) summit grade remained in continuous daily use from June 18, 1868, when the first CPRR passenger train ran through the Summit Tunnel, until 1993 when the Southern Pacific Railroad (which operated the CPRR-built Oakland-Ogden line until its 1996 merger with the Union Pacific Railroad) abandoned and pulled up the 6. Year 1837 ( MDCCCXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U Ogden is a city in and the County seat of Weber County, Utah, United States. 7 mile (10. 7 km) section of Track #1 over the summit running between Shed #41 at Norden (MP 192. 1) and the covered crossovers in Shed #47 (MP 198. 8) located about a mile East of the old flyover at Eder. An overpass (called a flyover in the UK and most Commonwealth countries is a Bridge, Road, Railway or Since then all East and Westbound traffic has been run over the Track #2 grade crossing the summit about one mile South of Donner Pass through the 10,322-foot (3,146 m) long Tunnel #41 (aka "The Big Hole") running under Mt. Judah between Soda Springs and Eder. Then operator SPRR made this change because the railroad considered Track #2 and Tunnel #41 (which was opened in 1925 when the summit section of the grade was finally double tracked) to be far easier and less expensive to maintain and keep open in the harsh Sierra winters than the Track #1 tunnels and snow sheds over the summit. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A snow shed or avalanche shed is a Structure that provides Avalanche protection for Roads and railroad tracks. [1]
In conjunction with major ongoing upgrades and expansions being made to the Port of Oakland in order to better accommodate the rapidly growing North American trade with Asia and the Pacific, the cooperation of the UPRR, the Port's principal rail partner, has been sought to "construct a second track and raise tunnel clearances over Donner Pass for container trains linking California with the rest of the country. The Port of Oakland was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for Container ships It is now the fourth busiest container "[2] To accomplish this objective would likely require the UP to either drive a second parallel tunnel next to Tunnel #41, or to restore and reopen the summit section of Track #1 between Sheds #41 and #47. Either infrastructure upgrade would increase the route's overall capacity, considerably simplify traffic management, and effectively eliminate delays currently caused by having to run all east and west bound traffic between Norden and Eder over a single track. [To fully eliminate the grade's "bottleneck" delays the now single track 7. 1 mile section between Switch #9 (MP 171. 9) and Shed #10 (MP 179. 0) just west of Cisco would likely also have to be restored to double track. ] Increasing tunnel and snow shed clearances on the Sierra grade would also permit the use of double-stacked container cars which now can only be run via the UP's Feather River grade. Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in a container or Vehicle, using multiple modes of Transportation ( This article treats the river in California For other uses see Feather River (disambiguation The Feather River is a principal tributary of [3] It is not yet clear, however, when (or if) any of these proposed major infrastructure upgrades might become a reality.
Highways
The historic Lincoln Highway, the first road across America (later U.S. Route 40 and now named Donner Pass Road), crosses Donner Pass. The Lincoln Highway was the first automobile road across America. Interstate 80 was constructed through this area in 1964. In the US state of California, Interstate 80, a major east-west route of the Interstate Highway System, has its western terminus in San Francisco Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. While I-80 generally parallels the old route of US 40 through the Sierra Nevada, I-80 crosses the Sierra crest at the Euer Saddle, approximately two miles north of Donner Pass. Euer Saddle is also commonly called "Donner Summit"; at 7240 feet (2206 m), it is about 150 feet higher than Donner Pass, but it is much wider and has a gentler approach that aided construction to Interstate Highway standards, which do not allow the switchbacks used by the Donner Pass Road to approach its crest. I-blank widesvg|90px|right]] Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Haarspeldbochtjpg|thumb|Hairpin turn on the Mont Ventoux in France]]A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend hairpin corner etc The original concrete highway has been preserved as a scenic alternative to I-80. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag
Weather
Winter weather in Donner Pass can be brutal. The weather is a set of all the phenomena occurring in a given Atmosphere at a given Time. Precipitation averages 54 inches (137 cm), most of which falls as snow. Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. At 415 inches (10. 5 m) per year, Donner Pass is one of the snowiest places in the United States. To take advantage of the heavy snows, the Boreal Ski Resort was built to the north. Ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area report an average of 300 to 500 inches (7. Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater Lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the United States. 6 to 12. 7 meters) of snowfall per season. [4] Winds in the pass can also become extreme and 100+ mph (160 km/h) wind gusts are common during winter storms. (For the South African airport with IATA code "KMH" see Johan Pienaar Airport. A winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are forms that only occur at cold Temperatures such as Snow or Winter temperatures in the area drop below zero several times each year; the all-time record low for California of -45°F was recorded at the Boca Reservoir (east of Truckee) in January 1937.
The winter of 1846-47 was especially severe, and this is generally cited as the single most important factor in the disaster of the Donner Party.
Recreation
Summer and winter offers a wide variety of recreation and lifestyle sports such as backpacking, alpine and cross-country skiing, rock and ice climbing. The region became world famous during the early 1990s from snowboard films by Fall Line Films (FFL) and Standard Films for its easy access to frontcountry and backcountry terrain. Standard Films was started in 1991 and is a Snowboard film company started by brothers Mike and Dave Hatchett However, its fame and quick access from Old Highway 40 or nearby Sugar Bowl Ski Resort has led to a large number of avalanche fatalities including professional snowboarder Jamil Khan. Sugar Bowl is a ski and snowboard area in Norden California along the Donner Pass of the Sierra Nevada, approximately 46 miles [5] [4]
Popular Culture
Albert Bierstadt painting "View of Donner Lake" (1871-72). Albert Bierstadt ( January 8 1830 - February 18 1902) was a German - American painter best known for his large [5]
Notes
References
- Central Pacific Railroad Museum, [6]
External links
- Sierra Grade Exhibit - Donner Pass (Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum)
- 360º QTVR Panorama #1 Above Tunnel #6 (Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum)
- 360º QTVR Panorama #2 Above Tunnel #7 (Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum)
- Southern Pacific's "City of San Francisco" Stranded - 1952 (Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum)
- 1952 Donner Pass Newsreel - See dozens of train passengers marooned at Donner Pass for days after record snowstorm.
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