Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Originally released in 2018 on DVD.
Journey high into California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains for a stunning look at winter operations over Donner Pass. As Pacific storms dump heavy snow, Union Pacific battles to keep trains rolling.

Get a taste of what it is like to be trackside in the midst of winter’s fury. Long stack trains, heavy manifests, and Amtrak’s California Zephyr share the rails with an army of snow fighting equipment including flangers, spreaders, and the mighty rotaries.

Beginning at Colfax, trains climb toward the snow zone at Blue Cañon, then on to Truckee on rails once covered almost completely by snow sheds. Extra time is spent near the summit at Soda Springs and Norden where man and machine are put to the test against the elements. This is mountain railroading and snow fighting rolled into one exciting presentation!

Shot over four separate winters including the big snow of 2011, this is your front-row seat to “Winter on Donner Pass!” #winterondonner

This program is available on DVD and Blu-ray by visiting 7ideaproductions.com. 7ideaproductions.com/products/winter-on-donner-pass?_pos=2&_sid=a21554ae8&_ss=r

0:00 Intro
2:12 Map
3:57 Colfax
8:25 The Leslie Type Rotary Snow Plow
10:51 Blue Canyon
15:22 Emigrant Gap
17:44 Switch 9
18:25 Yuba Pass
29:26 Tunnel 27
31:21 Crystal Lake
33:11 Shed 10
37:59 Cisco
41:15 Troy Cut
47:41 Troy
55:25 A "Herd of Dozers" Milepost 189
1:00:37 Soda Springs
1:12:34 Norden
1:26:07 Testing the SPMW 207 Rotary
1:37:08 Tunnel 41 "The Big Hole"
1:41:55 Shed 47
1:44:23 Andover
1:52:03 Truckee
1:59:53 Closing