The route through the tunnel exists on my 1928 RR Atlas. It was Western Pacific's mainline between California and Salt Lake City. I had to dig out my 1973 RR Atlas to find the route to the north and the junction labeled Keddie Wye. The northern branch was shared with BN and ran through Westwood and Lookout to Klamath Falls, OR.
Marty Bernard posted two photos with the comment:
What a Difference the Lighting Makes
Roger Puta took these two Keddie Wye photos in March 1983. All the units are SD40-2s. Really nice photos but strikingly different.
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| 1. UP 3663, 3341, and 3481 |
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| 2. UP 3176, 3326, and another |
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| Marty Bernard shared UP on Keddie, CA Wye in March 1983. Roger Puta photo |
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| Jeff Lewis commented on Marty's share I stood in that very spot last summer. Trees are much taller now so you can no longer get that angle. |
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| Jeff Lewis commented on Marty's share You have to go east some distance. |
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| Steven J. Brown posted Union Pacific C40-8W 9388 (built 1990, suspected retired circa 2018?) leads through the Feather River at Keddie, California - March 12, 1991. John New: Keddie Wye - the second steel trestle is the connection to BN 'Inside Gateway' to Bieber and Klamath Falls Steven J. Brown shared |
Marty Bernard shared two photos with the comment: "Two Western Pacific Steam Photos, circa 1950."
(These photo were supposed to be higher in these notes. But a Google bug put it here. Instead of wasting my time working around a bug that I reported weeks ago, I leave the photo here as a monument to Google's bug.)
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| 1 Western Pacific 94, a 4-6-0 built in 1909 and last used in April 1953, with a passenger train on the Keddie Wye on May 14, 1950. Could be a fan trip, people on the ground about half way back. unknown photographer Patrick Rose Big train for a 4-6-0 in the mountains. Jonathan Schoen Ny first thought too, but it is on a 1% defending grade at this point. Mike Tisdale By 1950, that would be a fan trip. The CZ was the primary train on the run and the Zephyrette RDC ran at night. As 94 was the engine at the WP last spike and is preserved, it is possible that the fan trip was doubleheaded for the uphill part of the run, but the helper was cut off and 94 ran it alone going down the mountain. |
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| 2 Western Pacific 179, a 4-8-2 built in 1924 purchased 1936 from Florida East Coast, seen here in Rock Creek trestle near Cresta, CA on May 5, 1951. unknown photographer Patrick Rose That’s a tall wheeled loco for mountain work. But I could totally see her racing down the FEC with the varnish in tow. Fred Jansz These tall wheeled WP beauties ran from Oakland to Salt Lake City on the Scenic Limited and the Exposition Flyer. Plenty of flatland to race on in Nevada & Utah. Fred Jansz Beautiful. If it's May '51, it's probably taken during the last run. |
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| Jeff Lewis shared The best way to capture Keddie Wye these days, via drone. Third leg of the wye tunnels through the hill at the right. Dan R. Scheidell posted A little PASBAK from everyone's favorite wye. 3/24/2019 |
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| Street View |
(These photo were supposed to be higher in these notes. But a Google bug put it here. Instead of wasting my time working around a bug that I reported weeks ago, I leave the photo here as a monument to Google's bug.)
Phil Williams posted two photos with the comment:
Out of all the Great Railroad bridges we have here in Northern California to me there is one that beats them all when it comes to fascinating and being unique. Famous amongst Railfans across the Country and a must see is the one and only Keddie wye! Built by the Western Pacific for their new line that was heading north the Keddie wye connected WP's new 4th sub to their Feather River Route by connecting both lines on a bridge that crosses Spanish creek. The line to the left is now owned by the BNSF and is their Gateway sub. To the right is the UP's Canyon sub. heading towards Portola.
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| I Love Trains posted Photo courtesy of Timothy Taylor - The "Kedde Wye" [Several comments asked why the left branch has gaurd rails, but the right branch does. Some answers indicated it was because the right branch curves through the turnout, but the left branch does not. One answer noted that BNSF now owns the left branch and UP owns the right branch, and BNSF doesn't use gaurd rails as frequently as other railroads. Another comment suggested it was because the right side was was much faster, the left side was probably 10-20 mph. Another comment noted that the left side has some kind of walls on the outside.] |
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| Steven J. Brown posted Union Pacific SD60M 6114 (built 1989, became UP 2269) leads GE's in the Feather River Canyon on a snowy day at the Keddie Wye, California - March 12, 1991. Steven J. Brown share |
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| Ron Flanary posted One of the “Compulsories” in US Railroading It was never my mission to visit every single “important” location in the US railroad network, but I did check off a few that had intrigued me since I was quite young. This is one such spot: Keddie, California. This location is in the Feather River Canyon through which the former Western Pacific was built, completing a line between Utah and California in 1909 to compete with the Southern Pacific (and Union Pacific). The WP was part of George Gould’s attempt to construct a standard gauge true transcontinental railroad under common ownership. Gould’s Denver, Rio Grande Western financed construction of the “Wobbly” (the WP). The single trestle spanning the narrow valley assumed icon status in 1931 when the “Inside Gateway” was completed from this point to Bieber, California, and a connection with the Great Northern. A wye was thus created (a direct line across the back made it a true wye). Again, this was an attempt to syphon traffic from the SP. Alas, for all its scenic splendor, the WP struggled financially. It was eventually merged into the Union Pacific in 1982, eventually giving “Uncle Pete” ownership of the WP’s route, plus (through a complicated merger with Southern Pacific in 1996) the original transcontinental rail route over Donner Pass. On April 8, 1990, an eastbound UP freight pokes its nose out of Tunnel 32 at Keddie. The 1925 date on the concrete portal reflects the year it was poured when the tunnel was most likely lined. The stones on the right side might have been an earlier attempt to build a portal to hold back the constant slides that still plague the railroad through the canyon to this day. Notice the notches near the top that were gouged out through this tunnel and others to clear double-stacks. For my money, the wye at Keddie is one of the “compulsories” for railroad photographers in the US. It’s as iconic as (to name just a few) Horseshoe Curve, Zoo interlocking, Donner Pass, Sand Patch, the Clinchfield Loops, Chicago Union Station, Cascade Tunnel, Tehachapi Loop, Cajon Pass, or…. well…. Big Stone Gap, Va. Mark Schulthies: We have the depression and the Southern Pacific to thank for this iconic place. It was just another trestle until the Santa Fe, Western Pacific, and Hill interest railroads (GN, SP&S and NP) decided to break the stranglehold north-south money to be made so that they cooperated and could afford the construction costs & desperately survive. Before that it was not the spectacular achievement of a wye built on a trestle, over a canyon that speaks to the spirit of railroading. Ted Gregory shared Tunnel 32 Keddie Wye Feather River Canyon |
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| Ron Flanary commented on his post March 12, 2009 |
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| Bob Finan commented on Ron's post |
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| Pat Mahoney commented on Ron's post |
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| Al Crossley commented on Ron's post Cool! Wish I'd know to get down there (not, given the traffic I saw, that it would have done me any good). It appears, BTW, that Wikipedia is confused about which tunnel is which. |
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| Jeff Lewis commented on Steven's post Did you just drive up there Steve? Not something you can do today, I'll bet. And the trees on the slope below the road across the way are all grown up now. Hard to get a good shot from that perspective. Steven J. Brown: Jeff Lewis Yeah, pretty sure I drove to (or near) this spot. Memory is a little fuzzy. |
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| Russell H. Aharonian posted Here's one to keep y'all on track. The "Kedde Wye" north of Quincy. J.B. Rail Photog shared Jeffery Faris: The piece where the two inner tracks cross is the ‘frog’ I think. And the track to the right has inner ‘guard rails’ in case of a derailment crossing the bridge (to keep wheels in line), but the track to the left does not. Is there a reason for the difference? Just curious… Brian Tucker: Ant Barker You’re right, in terms of speaking in the past. It’s all UP trackage now, when the left side was once BNSF trackage (still used by BNSF railway despite that). |
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