The UP 5107 leads the westbound AAMWS (Autos - Amarillo to Warm Springs) through the Truckee River Canyon on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain crossing known as Donner Pass. On the opposite side of the river, the old elevated Sierra Pacific Power Company water flume (which once diverted water from the Truckee River and into an old on river power plant) can be seen. The diversion structure was originally constructed in 1899 of wood and rock. It was built to provide water for the Farad Hydro-Electric Plant. The flume measures 10 feet high and 10 feet wide, and could divert somewhere between 325 to 400 cubic feet of water per second out of the river and towards the hydro-electric power plant. Roughly corresponding to a 50-year flood event, January of 1997 brought an exorbitant amount of water into the Truckee River. The river crested with a peak flow of approximately 15,000 cubic feet of water per second. This flooding washed out parts of the flume leaving it unproductive. Thus, its remains are now just one of many Comstock Era ruins that dot the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Train and Flume

I hope you all enjoy the photo,


Ryan Dadgari
California_railfan
Sacramento, Ca