Mar 14, 2013
On behalf of Engine Driver (Railsimulator.Com), ASN would like to bring you this interesting true story about the Southern Pacific’s snowbound train The City of San Francisco on the Donner Pass in 1952.
Intense winter storms and record snowfalls are commonplace on Donner Pass, Southern Pacific’s route through the Sierras. Since its discovery in 1844, the mountain passageway has claimed its share of victims, including the party of settlers after whom the pass was named, the Donner Party.
Of all the places you wouldn’t want to be in a heavy snowstorm the Donner Pass rates very high on the list.
Sixty-one years ago, an intense winter storm trapped 226 people aboard The City of San Francisco train on the pass for six days. Read on to find out more about their amazing true story.
Winter weather at Donner Pass can be brutal with an average of snowfall of 411.5 inches (10.45 m) per year.
Four times since 1880 total snowfall at Donner Summit has exceeded 775 inches (19.7 m) and topped 800 inches (20 m) in both 1938 and 1953. At the start of 1952, a major blizzard engulfed Lake Tahoe and the Sierra with 90-mph wind gusts and snow drifts 8 to 12 feet deep.
Interstate 40 was shut as a result for 30 days straight but it is it is on the railway tracks that the true drama would unfold. (Source Engine Driver)
Read the whole story at the official Engine Driver blog.