As of this morning at 7:45 am, news was showing pictures of the structure still burning, mostly a continuous line of burning piles. There's still a mini-mushroom cloud still coming off it as the debris continues to collapse and burn. In one view, you can see the trestle piles have burned out, and the structure is tipped over - showing the rails and ties on the ballast.

The actual bridge over the American River is not damaged - it was protected using fireboats (small, but with 500 gpm pumps). In speaking with the UP spokesman, they showed a fleet of heavy equipment staging near the trestle, waiting for the fire to be out and be given the go-ahead from investigators to begin work. Another poster here said he wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't up and running in a week or two - the RR seems poised to make quick work of it. I wonder what the construction will be this time - concrete piles?

Anyone have any idea how old the wood structure was? Even by SP standards the unburnt sections looked pretty good.

The news is reporting that Amtrak says #5 will have 2 hours added to the schedule - no word on how it's being rerouted. Remember, the ex-WP mainline is still actively used through Sacramento, but it's not clear what connection they could use once east of the river - if any.

For out of the area folks who want to see more, try www.sacbee.com, news10.net or thekrcachannel.com - the latter two probably have video.