page_title: Feather River Route
section_title: History under the Western Pacific
hierarchical_section_title: Feather River Route / History / History under the Western Pacific
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and Western Pacific Railroad.
context_page_description: The Feather River Route is a rail line that was built and operated by the Western Pacific Railroad. It was constructed between 1906 and 1909, and connects the cities of Oakland, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The line was built to compete with the Central Pacific Railroad, which at the time held a nearly complete monopoly on Northern California rail service. The route derives its name from its crossing of the Sierra Nevada, where it follows both the North and Middle Forks of the Feather River. The route is famous for its impressive engineering qualities and its considerable scenic value. All of the route is now owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad; however, the Union Pacific has transferred significant portions of the route to other lines. The portion still called the Feather River Route by the Union Pacific runs from the California Central Valley to Winnemucca, Nevada and has been divided into three subdivisions named the Sacramento, Canyon and Winnemucca subdivisions.
context_section_description: The traffic levels of the Feather River Route fluctuated considerably between its completion in 1909 and the purchase of the Western Pacific Railroad by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1983. Between 1909 and 1918, traffic rose with the onset of World War I, although such gains vanished in the 1920s and 1930s. The construction of the Inside Gateway line, completed in 1931 between Keddie and Bieber, California, failed to alleviate the problem. Yet in 1936, in spite of falling traffic, the Western Pacific rehabilitated the Feather River Route using RFC funds. As a result, the line was in optimal condition at the onset of World War II in 1939.
  Traffic levels on the route exploded during the first year of the war. Freight traffic doubled, and passenger traffic increased sixfold. Traffic increased steadily in both categories over the next few years of the war. In response to this, the Western Pacific installed Centralized Traffic Control between Oroville and Portola, California, in the Sierra Nevada, during 1944 and 1945.
  From the late 1940s through to the early 1970s, freight traffic on the line grew slowly, while passenger traffic fell substantially. However, this did not stop the Western Pacific from introducing the California Zephyr in 1949. The Zephyr, which operated over three railroads on its route between Oakland and Chicago, gained immense recognition but failed to last past the year 1970, when lack of riders and unprofitability forced the Western Pacific to abandon the service.
  In 1957, a portion of the route between Oroville and Intake had to be relocated to make way for the Oroville Dam. The new line features the North Fork Bridge, which is 1,000 feet (300 m) long and 200 feet (61 m) high. The line began operation in 1962. During the 1970s, the Feather River Route experienced modernization, as operations became computerized.
caption: Combined Western Pacific/Denver & Rio Grande Western route map (c. 1914)
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