Railroad plow chugs into Truckee

The centerpiece for a planned Truckee Railroad Museum chugged to a stop on the tracks east of downtown Friday afternoon.

The rotary snow plow that most recently resided in the State Railroad Museum in Sacramento plowed tracks near Truckee in years past, said Nelson Van Gundy, historian for the Truckee Donner Railroad Society.

“It rescued the City of San Francisco Streamliner in 1952 when it was stuck on the Yuba Gap,” Van Gundy said. “This will be our hallmark piece because of its ties to Truckee.”

The group still plans on creating a museum based out of the planned Railyard development, and has already collected a locomotive, a caboose, and a crane used for lifting timber onto logging lines, said Bob Bell, president of the Truckee Donner Railroad Society.

“We are looking for an interim location in town,” Bell said. “We hope to be up and running by the end of the summer or next spring.”

For those interested in learning more or getting involved in the railroad museum effort go to http://www.truckeedonnerrailroadsociety.com.

” Greyson Howard, Sierra Sun