Spring Garden Tunnel

Infobox railfanning location
name=Spring Garden Tunnel


caption=North Portal of Spring Garden Tunnel
city=Spring Garden, California
state=California
railways=BNSF, UP
type=TunnelThe Spring Garden Tunnel is a favorite railfan spot at located at Spring Garden, California. The tunnel is 7,344 feet long and connects the North Fork of the Feather River drainage (north portal) to the Middle Fork of the Feather River drainage (south portal).

History

The Western Pacific Railroad (now part of the Union Pacific Railroad) built the tracks along the Feather River in 1909 to complete a San Francisco Bay Area - Salt Lake City, Utah, route competing with the Southern Pacific's route over Donner Pass.

The Feather River route was preferred over the Donner Pass route (elevation about 7,000 feet / 2,133.6 m) over the Sierra Nevada Mountains because the Feather River route's pass (Beckwourth Pass) is at a lower elevation (about 5,221 feet / 1,591 m) and most of the route follows a more subtle grade along the Feather River.

Railfanning

The Spring Garden Tunnel is part of Plumas County's "7 Wonders of the Railroad World," and access is described in it's travel guide.cite web | url = http://www.plumascounty.org/Tour%20Itineraries%202008/Spec%20Tour%207.pdf | title = Tour 7 - Wonders of the Railroad World | publisher = Plumas County Visitors Bureau | accessdate = 2008-08-26] cite web | url = http://www.plumascounty.org/PDF/7Wonders.pdf | title = 7 Wonders of the Railroad World | publisher = Plumas County Visitors Bureau | accessdate = 2008-08-26] .Access by road to the north portal is 0.15 miles west on Railroad Street, then 0.35 miles SSE along a fair-condition dirt road from Spring Garden, California.

References

External links

north portal:geolinks-US-hoodscale|39.8876|-120.7840south portal:geolinks-US-hoodscale|39.8686|-120.7750