Leaving Oroville heading timetable west, trains almost immediately take up the route of the "Oroville Line Relocation". Completed in 1962, this was built to divert the Western Pacific around a new dam built just down stream of where the Middle and North Forks of the Feather River joined. This dam flooded the original right of way requiring the building of 5 new tunnels and the impressive North Fork Bridge near Poe. With a central span of 308 feet and a total length of 943 feet (including approach spans etc.), the North Fork Bridge is the longest reinforced concrete railroad bridge in America.
As of 2007, the Feather River Route is owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. It is fully utilized, and generally hosts about fifteen freight trains a day between Sacramento, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The far western portion of the line, between Niles and Stockton is used by the Altamont Commuter Express. Also, the Western Pacific Railroad Museum, a major preservation society founded in 1984, is located next to the Union Pacific rail yard in Portola, California. It is open to the public.
The route loosely parallels the route of the First Transcontinental Railroad between Winnemucca and Wells, Nevada. The Union Pacific, which now owns both routes, has combined the routes between these two cities. Westbound trains use the old Southern Pacific track while eastbound trains use the Feather River route. East of Wells, the former Feather River route has been combined with the Utah Division, a line built by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad between Salt Lake City and Denver, Colorado, and called the Central Corridor.
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