Home > California > Donner > Central Pacific Transcontinental Railroad, Tunnel No. 41, Milepost 193.3, Donner, Placer County, CA
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Item Title
Central Pacific Transcontinental Railroad, Tunnel No. 41, Milepost 193.3, Donner, Placer County, CA
LocationMilepost 193.3,
Donner, CA
Find maps of Donner, CA
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1968.
Notes
Survey number HAER CA-215
Significance: The Central Pacific First Transcontinental Railroad is a segment of the western half of the first transcontinental railroad, built from Sacramento, California to Promontory Summit, Utah between 1863 and 1869, where it joined the Union Pacific Railroad which had built west from Omaha. For the purpose of the current project, the first transcontinental railroad was found likely to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places at the national level of significance under Criterion A for its significance in transportation history, in uniting the East and the West, and in the development of the West. The railroad's period of significance is 1869 to 1945, from the line's completion in 1869, through the years of its role in the settlement and development of the West, to the conclusion of the railroad's achievements in World War II. Tunnel 41 is a contributive element of this historic property.
Collection
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. West portal of Snowshed 29, contextual view to east, 135mm lens. This is perhaps the last section of timber snowshed on this line. Integral with the east end of Tunnel 41, Snowshed 29 provides protection leading to the west portal of the tunnel. The snowshed today consists of (west to east) 199 feet of timber type T4 shed built in 1954, 365 feet of timber type T7 built in 1954, 85 feet of timber type T1 built in 1951, four feet of timber type T7 built in 1925 concurrent with Tunnel 41, and 41 feet of recent prefabricated concrete panel shed.
2. West portal of Snowshed 29, view to east, 135mm lens. Note the heavy timber frame, with battered posts to carry the tremendous snow loads of winter.
3. South side of Snowshed 29, view to northwest from west portal of Tunnel 41, 135mm lens. Note that the shed is essentially flat-roofed, and the appearance of a gable is created by the top chords of the supporting trusses. Sides are wide, rough-sawn planks.
4. Prefabricated concrete panel portion of Snowshed 29 abutting west portal of Tunnel 41, view to east, 135mm lens. Function of the elevated portion is unknown, but it may help to channel exhaust fumes out of the shed and the two-mile long tunnel.
5. East portal of Tunnel 41, contextual view to west-northwest, 135mm lens. Summit of Mount Judah, named for the visionary engineer who conceived and mapped the route of the first transcontinental railroad, rises above the tunnel.
6. East portal of Tunnel 41, protected by Snowshed 33, view to northwest, 135mm lens.
7. Detail, east portal of Tunnel 34/Snowshed 33, 135mm lens. Tall signal mast necessary in order to be seen above winter snows.
8. Detail, east portal of Tunnel 41 inside Snowshed 33, view to west-northwest, 135mm lens with electronic flash fill. The tiny white dot visible in the darkness of the tunnel is the west portal, two miles distant. The heavy steel beams carrying the concrete roof panels of the snowshed appear to be reused bridge girders.
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