The Spring Garden Tunnel is a railway tunnel located at

Spring Garden, California Spring Garden is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 16 at the 2010 census, down from 55 at the 2000 census. Geography Spring Garden is located at . According to the United States Census ...

. At long, it is the longest of 34 tunnels on the Feather River Route ( cf. Chilcoot Tunnel) and crosses under the drainage divide between the East Branch North Fork Feather River (north portal, ) and the Middle Fork Feather River (south portal, ).

History

The

Western Pacific Railroad The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...

(now part of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

) built the tracks along the Feather River in 1909 to complete the Feather River Route, a

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

route competing with the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

's route over Donner Pass. While significantly longer, the Feather River Route was preferred by some over the Donner Pass route (elevation about ) over the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

mountains, because the former's summit under Beckwourth Pass is at a lower elevation (about ) and most of the route follows a gentler grade along the Feather River. The tunnel was designated one of Plumas County's " 7 Wonders of the Railroad World," and the north portal is west on Railroad Street, then SSE along a fair-condition dirt road from

References

Transportation buildings and structures in Plumas County, California Railroad tunnels in California Western Pacific Railroad Union Pacific Railroad tunnels History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Tunnels completed in 1909 {{US-tunnel-stub