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| We awoke the next morning somewhere west of Elko, Nevada. The country was very pretty and very lonely. The snow decreased as we headed west, but the clouds hung around. |
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The empty countryside of Nevada offers some great solitude and opportunity for photography. We saw many hills and mountains like these as we ran along the Truckee River. | |
| We pulled into Sparks for a brief stop. This is a working railyard, not a real station, but they let the passengers get off for a few minutes anyway. This is a picture of the Sparks control tower. |
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We left Sparks and a few minutes later arrived in Reno. The station is downtown next to some casinos. | |
| Our last meal on the train was lunch, even though we weren't supposed to pull into our destination, Emeryville, until fairly late. The dining car and menu isn't as nice as the Coast Starlight, but the food was adequate. |
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Just like for the Rockies, we started to climb the Sierras. California was having a wet winter--it was raining when we left, and wet when we came back! | |
| Near the summit, we passed by Donner Lake, site of the infamous Donner party tragedy. |
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We descended the Sierras following the American River Canyon into the Central Valley. In this picture, the river is barely visible 2,000 feet below where we are. | |
| The rails pass through some Gold Rush-era towns, and then come to the huge Roseville railyard. We stopped in Roseville for a bit, and I snapped this shot of the train conductor. |
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As we left Roseville, we passed a lot of rolling stock that appeared to have been retired, including these locomotives which looked like they were being used as a source of parts. | |
| The last stop on the trip I dismebarked at was Sacramento. I used to live here, but never had seen it from the train station. |
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As it got dark, we settled into the last of the ride. The train made brief stops in Davis and Martinez, while we read. | |
| The train finally pulled into Emeryville station, where we started our trip, about an hour late. We were disappointed to discover the rain hadn't let up while we were gone! |
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