Feather River Rail Society collection grows

The Feather River Rail Society, operators of the Portola (California) Railroad Museum, closed out 2004 with several notable acquisitions. A rare Western Pacific Railroad-built crew bunk car previously owned by the Tidewater Southern Railway was moved to the museum grounds thanks to a flurry of fundraising by members. Soon after its arrival, the FRRS approved acquisition of the Trainorder Semaphore that once stood at the WP's Greenville (California) depot and the California Zephyr dome-coach passenger car "Silver Lodge". The Greenville Semaphore (an old style signal mast standing about 30 feet tall) has been lovingly restored by FRRS member Doug Peterson and will be installed alongside the museum's excursion train loading area and eventually returned to full operation. The "Silver Lodge" is being prepped for movement and joins the dome-lounge passenger car "Silver Hostel" and FP7 model locomotive WP 805-A in the Society's growing California Zephyr collection.

Tidewater Southern bunkcar 0565-H is one of the few intact survivors of a large series of homebuilt cars once owned by the Western Pacific. The car was purchased in 1960 by the Tidewater Southern and used as a freight office in Escalon, California. Photo by Eugene Vicknair.

Now, Western Pacific locomotive 705 has arrived at the museum. WP 705 is a GP7 model built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1952. She served the railroad until December 1982 when the Union Pacific Railroad took over the smaller WP in a merger. A few years later, the 705 was retired and sold to the Arizona Central, a shortline railroad. She was later moved to the Great Western Railroad in Colorado where her then owner made plans to scrap the old engine. A group of 12 FRRS members pooled their resources and saved WP 705 from the scrap pile and on March 23, 2005, the locomotive completed her journey back to home rails. Now, this classic locomotive will be restored to operation alongside other former Western Pacific motive power at the Portola Museum.

WP 705 is shown upon arrival at the Portola Railroad Museum. Still wearing its faded Arizona Central/Great Western colors, the engine will be restored to a Western Pacific image. The locomotive is in good condition and will require relatively minor work to be returned to operation. Photo by John Manter.

The Portola Railroad Museum, operated by the non-profit Feather River Rail Society, is one of the largest railroad museums in the United States. With over 120 pieces of rolling stock covering nearly the entire 20th Century, the museum features one of the most comprehensive collections focusing on a single railroad company. The museum is located in Plumas County, in the city of Portola and is open to the public from early March until the end of October. From Memorial Day until Labor Day, caboose train rides are offered on weekends. Also, the PRM is home to the famous Run-A-Locomotive program, available by appointment, which allows our guests the experience of running a real, full-size railroad locomotive.

The Portola Railroad Museum also recently received former Southern Pacific, ex-Quincy Railroad 1100, a rare TR6A. Built as EMD demonstrator 1600, it served the Northwestern Pacific and the Southern Pacific before coming to Susanville, California and the Quincy Railroad. Perhaps the only surviving TR6A, QRR 1100 is now part of the museum's Run A Locomotive program. Photo by David Epling.

For more information on the Feather River Rail Society and the Portola Railroad Museum, please visit www.WPLives.org or call 530.832.4131. For Run-A-Locomotive information, call 530.832.4532.

(Eugene Vicknair)