A Wye No More... Struggling upgrade toward the famous Gold Tree horseshoe curve while crossing over the 1894-built, 930-foot long Stenner Creek Trestle at the southern base of Cuesta Pass, UP 8094's 65-car train can be seen in its entirety as it heads north for a date with the Chorro siding. Once there (seen above the locomotives perched on the hillside), the ODOWP will coast to a stop on the grade to wait for a meet with the southbound Coast Starlight. Of special interest for those historians out there...the road bed curving away from the locomotives is actually what remains of the Gold Tree Wye they broke off the siding that was once here and had tracks running due west toward Camp San Luis Obispo. During World War II, this wye was used heavily moving troops to and from the grounds of the camp...and reportedly was one of the smallest CTC controlled sidings on the entire Southern Pacific system at 1,700 feet. The wye would go on to be used into the day's of the current Men's Colony facility before it was torn up.
