As the afternoon light quickly disappears over Emigrant Gap, SPMW 209, one of Southern Pacific's original rotary snow plows, sits quietly with its rear-marker lights on and its respective B-unit idling in the center siding as Amtrak 5, the westbound California Zephyr, turns the corner and splashes the side of the 209 with color from its headlights. Completing the scene of this three way meet is an eastbound grain train that had rolled to a stop earlier to wait for the passage of the Zephyr and a manifest hot on the heels of Amtrak. While I would go on to miss the action of these Donner legends throwing snow the following day, just to see them on the hill was something I won't forget.
