Oroville Line Change
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| Line relocation map. Mileposts. |
The California State Water Plan published in 1957, proposed
immediate construction of a project on the Feather River. The
Feather River Project thus marked the inauguration of the California
State Water Project, strongly supported by future California
Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown who realized the seriousness of
California's water situation. Unlike the federally controlled
Central Valley Project, which only compelled repayment for its
irrigation projects, the State Water Project required water users to
pay all project costs for the $1.75 billion in bonds.
On February 4, 1957, Governor Goodwin J. Knight signed a preliminary
$25,190,000 appropriation bill to relocate Western Pacific’s main
line between Oroville and Intake, and U. S. Highway 40-A (State
Route 70) between Oroville and Jarbo Gap, the first step before
construction of the then proposed project.
The relocated portion of the railroad is about 23 miles in length,
about four miles shorter than the old line. By coincidence, the five
new tunnels are numbered the same as the five tunnels that then
existed on the old main line, which was inundated by 3,500,000
acre-feet of water formed by the dam.
When built five and one-half miles upstream from Oroville, the dam
towers 770 feet above the streambed, taller than Hoover dam. The dam
as designed required 14 million cubic yards of concrete, stores
three and one-half million acre-feet of water, and has a power plant
with a capacity of 645 megawatts.
Construction of the project was designed to provide needed
supplemental water, primarily for irrigation as far south as Los
Angeles and San Diego, power and flood control by harnessing the
turbulent waters of the Feather River, located in Butte, Lassen,
Plumas, Shasta, and Sierra counties.
With legal arrangements nearly complete with the State of California
for exchanging the present Western Pacific line from Oroville to
Intake for the new main line to be built around the future Oroville
Dam the observation platform on the rear car of a Western Pacific
special train served as the speaker’s platform for Governor Goodwin
J. Knight on June 1, 1957 when he officially broke ground for the
new Oroville dam site.
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| Groundbreaking ceremony. Mileposts. |
The Oroville-bound special left Stockton with 14 cars from Southern
California filled with dignitaries and a 79-piece band from
Lancaster High School, and another 7 cars, which picked up
political, state and other officials at Stockton and Sacramento.
Among the latter were Governor and Mrs. Knight, a large contingent
of legislators and their wives, and other invited guests. Prominent
Oroville people boarded the train when it arrived in Oroville.
The groundbreaking ceremonies consisted of a short talk by the
governor. A wide, white chalk line, which began at the top of one
canyon wall, crossed down over Highway 24 (US 40-A), the Feather
River, then up over WP’s present main line to the top of the other
canyon wall. This enabled all who attended the ceremonies to
visualize the location and the immensity of the dam, five and
one-half miles upstream from Oroville.
The special passed over a portion of the 27 miles which would
eventually be inundated after the dam was completed. The special
train then returned to Oroville where the Oroville Chamber of
Commerce sponsored a parade and outdoor barbecue.
Specifications established for the new line called for a maximum
grade of 1% compensated, and a maximum curvature of four degrees 30
minutes. To hold to these requirements it was necessary to resort to
a number of tunnels and high bridges, plus deep cuts, high fills and
several meandering curves of the "kidney" variety. As might be
expected on a railroad construction project in such rugged country,
extremely heavy grading was required at some locations. An idea of
the magnitude of the grading is given by the fact that there are
fills ranging up to 265 feet in height and cuts having a maximum
depth of 218 feet at the centerline. Excavation totaled about
6,300,000 cubic yards, most of it in rock.
There are five tunnels on the relocated line, numbered from four to
eight. These range in length from 2,750 feet (No. 4) to 8,830 feet
(No. 8). All are concrete lined.
All the tunnels are concentrated in the northerly portion of the
line where it makes several crossings with tributaries of the
Feather River. This portion of the line presents a succession of
tunnels and bridges coming so close together that, in some
instances, tunnel portals and abutments of adjacent bridges are only
a few feet apart.
The first of four bridges crosses the Feather River a short distance
beyond the point where the new line leaves WP’s existing line just
beyond Oroville. Here the Feather River Bridge crosses an after bay
in which the water will be up to 110 feet deep. The crossing of this
bridge is skewed about 30 degrees with the river. The structure
consists of a series of 100-ft ballast floor deck plate girder spans
with the main span being 128 feet long. Total length of the bridge
is 1,108 feet, all on a 3-degree curve. To avoid skewing the
superstructure, the spans are carried on single-cylinder concrete
piers with "T" heads to support the girders. These circular piers
were considered the most advantageous in countering the effect of
seismic forces in water. There was a possibility that a second track
would be required at this location in the future. Therefore, a
second cylindrical shaft was built at each pier location and carried
above the future pool level. Both shafts at each location have a
common foundation.
For a few years, Vista-Dome passengers were able to see from this
bridge to the right an engineering project of the old mining days.
It is the “Old Chinese Wall,” a source of local legends, built by a
mining enterprise to divert the river back in the 1890’s. The old
wall will be covered by water upon completion of the Thermalito
Diversion Dam, a part of the Feather River Project.
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| Train exiting the West Branch bridge westbound. |
The West Branch Bridge farther north carries the relocated line and
a highway across the Feather River’s west branch on separate levels.
State Route 70, one of the major highway routes through the Sierra
Nevada, occupies the upper level. This cantilever bridge spans the
canyon about 400 feet above the streambed, although the future water
line will be only about 40 feet below the railroad track on the
lower deck. The $9 million structure has a main span of about 575
feet, anchor spans 432 feet in length, and a 360-foot simple span at
the south end.
Dark Canyon Bridge, between Tunnels 7 and 8, is a 65-foot long
filled spandrel reinforced concrete arch span, the shortest of the
four bridges.
The most picturesque of the four bridges is located at the extreme
northerly end of the new line, spanning the North Fork of the
Feather River at Intake. Here the line emerges from the north portal
of Tunnel 8 and passes almost immediately onto the North Fork
Bridge. After crossing this bridge eastbound, and before approaching
the bridge westbound, passengers will have a fine view of this
artistic structure as the train rounds a long curve. The location is
rather difficult to get to by other means of transportation. The
structure is an open-spandrel reinforced concrete arch with a main
span of 308 feet in length. Total length of the bridge, including
approach spans, is nearly 1,000 feet. It is believed to be the
longest railroad reinforced concrete arch structure in the United
States. Height from base of rail to the river bottom is about 200
feet.
Preparatory work was already being done by the Department of
Highways for the relocation of U. S. Highway 40-A (State Route 70)
between Oroville and Jarbo Gap.
Access work had been completed by mid 1957 for driving the
4,412-foot Tunnel 4 and the 8,830-foot Tunnel 5. Both tunnels were
driven each way from Dark Canyon. As the tunnels were being dug, it
was necessary to create a means of access across the canyon from one
portal of a tunnel to the other. A temporary 16-foot culvert encased
the stream of water flowing through the canyon, and was in use for
at least two years.
A concrete arch bridge ultimately spanned the canyon between the two
tunnels, the culvert removed, and the stream flows normally below
the span. Tunnel driving began in September 1957 with three shifts
working around the clock on the project, being done by Peter Kiewit
Sons’ Co.
Except for laying rail and completing communication lines, the
relocation of the main line because of the dam, was nearing its
final stages of completion in June 1962.
Elevation along the new line is about 200 feet at its beginning near
Oroville, and nearly 1,100 feet at Intake. The new line is about
four miles shorter than the portion of the railroad’s existing line,
which will be inundated upon completion of the Oroville Dam.
Western Pacific freight and passenger trains began operation over
the 23-mile stretch of new main line on October 22, 1962. Completion
of the $45 million State of California financed project brought to a
close, in the words of Frank W. Woolford, WP's chief engineer, "some
12 years of locating, surveying, planning and construction,
including three years of negotiating for a fair and reasonable
agreement."
Known as the Oroville line change, the new single-track railroad
replaced about 27 miles of main line, which had been in use by the
railroad since its construction in the early 1900’s. The project was
one of the largest of its kind in years and the first of any major
size on the Western Pacific since construction of the railroad. That
section of the former main line through the lower region of the
Feather River Canyon was inundated by water impounded by the
Oroville Dam.
The new line departs from the former main line a few hundred yards
north of WP’s passenger station in Oroville, near Milepost 205,
which is some five miles downstream from the Oroville dam site. It
then negotiates a wide swing to the west around Table Mountain
before again turning north and eventually rejoining the existing
main line along the North Fork of the Feather River at Intake, about
Milepost 232. The territory traversed is mountainous and sparsely
populated and is cut by several streams flowing in deep valleys.
During the first few miles beyond Oroville, as the train sweeps
around Table Mountain, there are several locations where passengers
on the CZ had a sweeping panorama of the Sacramento valley, which
stretches out for miles south of Oroville. As the new line passes
through ranch country it crosses over a 33-inch siphon carrying
water from the Miocene Canal to the California Water Service
reservoir on the left of the tracks. At one point in the rolling
hill country could be seen the Berkeley Olive Association grove, one
of the largest and most productive olive groves in Northern
California.
There are three long sidings—Elsey, James and Kramm the first of
which, Kramm, is 7,047 feet in length, and named for A. A. “Gus”
Kramm, retired assistant engineer. Kramm was the railroad’s first
resident engineer in charge of the new line relocation project. When
it was first proposed to locate the Oroville Dam further upstream
from its present site, Thomas L. Phillips, shortly after he became
the railroad’s chief engineer, had “Gus” run a stadia survey in the
early 1940’s over approximately the same route of the existing
relocation. “Gus” had, at one time or another done engineering work
on just about every mile of the railroad.
The second siding, 7,147 feet in length, is named Elsey, in honor of
the late Charles Elsey, who retired as president of the railroad in
December 1948.
James, the longest of the three sidings, 7,277 feet in length, was
named for Arthur Curtiss James who had much to do with the early
construction of the railroad, probably the last of the great
railroad financial giants who added control of the Western Pacific
to his other large railroad holdings in 1926. James died in 1941.
The Oroville dam is not visible from anywhere on the railroad.
However, after the dam was completed passengers on the California
Zephyr had an unobstructed view of a large body of backwater as the
train crossed the high and long West Branch Bridge.
State Route 70, which parallels the new railroad along a portion of
the new route, offers motorists several vantage points for scenic
panorama views and pictures. Photographers interested in train
pictures have one excellent viewpoint at the Pentz overpass, and
just a short distance away at the Cherokee overpass about 13 miles
from Oroville. Here the railroad passes immediately below the
highway, makes a sweep around a long “S” curve, passes through
Tunnel 4 behind a hill, and then emerges around another long and
graceful curve before again passing beneath the highway. Another
excellent location for train pictures is at the West Branch Bridge
where the railroad passes through a deep cut adjacent to the highway
just before approaching the bridge. There are several other vantage
points for photographers, although getting there requires
considerable knowledge of access roads, a few of which are not
recommended for travel by passenger automobiles.
Track laying was done with railroad forces, although the
distribution of rails, ties and accessories was carried out under
contract. For the most part the rail was laid in 78-ft lengths, but
continuous welded rail will be laid across all bridges and through
all tunnels. However, at the time the track was laid a butt-welding
machine was not available, requiring that 39-ft relay rails be laid
across the bridges and in the tunnels. The 39-ft rails were replaced
with continuous welded rail not having any joints except insulated
joints and the connection with the 78-ft rails. The jointed rail was
then used as inside guardrails across and through these structures.
In preparation for the track laying a material yard was established
near Oroville where necessary track materials except ballast were
assembled for distribution. Ballast had been produced and stored
nearby. Railroad personnel accomplished all loading, unloading and
distribution of the material. The contractor provided the
rubber-tired hauling equipment and the personnel for operating it. A
15-ton American crane with flanged wheel attachment unloaded both
the rails and the ties, which were in bundles.
In distributing the track material, it was placed in designated
block areas. As soon as all material distribution had been
accomplished in a complete block, the railroad's forces moved in,
began the construction of turnouts, and made other preparations for
the track laying operation, which included placement of the ties on
the roadbed.
Upon completion of the material distribution, the railroad's steel
gang began working at the Oroville end and built the track
out-of-face for the entire length of the line. At the head end of
the track laying gang was the American truck crane, which, operating
on the newly laid rails, picked up the 78-ft rails and laid them on
the ties. Modern machines, including several different types of
power spikers, as well as bolting machines, tie spacers and anchor
applicators, performed follow-up operations.
About a week or 10 days after the beginning of the rail placement,
ballast-unloading operations got under way, followed by a first and
then a second tamping lift. Each lift involved a raise of 4 inches.
Machines employed in the surfacing operation included an RMC Jack
Tamper, with an RMC electronic surfacing beam, a Jackson Track
Maintainer, an RMC tie spacer and a Kershaw Track Liner, which was
used in conjunction with a Nordberg Line Indicator. These machines,
plus a crew consisting of a foreman, an assistant foreman, 5
equipment operators and 14 laborers, accomplished a mile of
completely surfaced track per 8-hr day. On completion of the second
lift, a Kershaw Ballast Regulator and a Kershaw track broom were
used for initially dressing up and cleaning off the ballast section.
One point of interest, particularly to operating employees,
concerned the change in mileage over the new and old lines between
Oroville and Intake. Milepost sign 205 remained at the west end of
the Oroville passenger station. Mileposts 206, 207, 208 and 209
presently along the old line eventually were covered by water. Since
the new line is four miles shorter than the old line, the next
milepost sign east of Milepost 205 on the new line became Milepost
210. It is located just east of the Feather River Bridge.
The relocation of the main line prior to the construction of the dam
did not deprive California Zephyr passengers of the type of natural
and rugged scenery that could then be seen. Although about four
miles shorter in length, the new portion of the railroad between
Oroville and Intake is just as spectacular as the lower portion of
the Feather River Canyon.
When operations were transferred to the relocated line on Oct. 22
there still remained unsettled a dispute between the state of
California and the Feather River Railway regarding the disposition
of this line. The Feather River was a lumber-hauling line that
connected with the WP at Land, Calif., about seven miles above
Oroville. Until settlement of the dispute, which was in the hands of
the ICC, the WP ran one train a day over the old line from the
northerly end to Land.