The Truckee Snow Office is certainly not maned by a bunch of dumbos and clowns, far from it. Ron you have no idea what you are talking about which is usual for many who post here and on TO about snow operations on Donner. Few if any of the derailments and problems were due to operator error by train crews, or poor decisions made by the three managers who run the show for snow fighting. These are experienced and dedicated people who are doing the best under severe conditions. Take this into consideration that this February was the heaviest snowfall on record by a whole bunch for the month of February. That leads to many problems not normally encountered by the railroad. I was there in Truckee to witness much of this first hand. Bad mouthing the UP managers and train crews only makes you look like a fool. What they deserve is a great deal of respect for an incredibly difficult job they take on. Remember there is no other place on a railroad in North America that gets over 250" of snow in a single month let alone in an entire year.
Dick Dorn