2024 Trestle Tours
Trestle Tours are guided, self-driven tours of the old railroad lines in the Truckee area. On the tours, you’ll see old railroad grades, ties, rail, logging camp sites, collapsed trestles and other artifacts. At each stop, your guide will explain what we know about railroad operations in that area and its historical significance. At some stops, there are short hikes along the old railroad grades. Mostly it is an enjoyable few hours in the beautiful Truckee area, exploring and talking about railroads, logging, and local history.
Trestle Tours are free, but donations are greatly appreciated and pre-registration is required.
At least three tours will be offered in 2024. Dates are tentative due to changing backcountry road conditions, weather, and docent schedules, so watch this page for updates.
Lake Tahoe Railway & Transportation Company (LTR&TC) and Tahoe City Waterfront Walking Tour
Sunday, June 23, 2024
In 1898, Duane L. Bliss barged his two narrow-gauge locomotives, track, and other railroad materials across Lake Tahoe from Glenbrook and began construction of a railroad from Truckee to Tahoe City. The Bliss family operated the railroad from 1900 to 1926, at which time Southern Pacific purchased it, converted it to standard gauge, and continued to operate it until 1943.
Bo Grebitus, historian and author of Touching History: Rediscovering Tahoe City’s Hidden Waterfront will lead our walking tour of LTR&TC grades and building locations and other points of interest on the Tahoe City waterfront. Along the route, we’ll locate the grades serving the luxury Tahoe Tavern hotel, steamer pier, engine house, and a trestle along the shore to the car barns that still stand today, converted to house modern commercial businesses.
The Tahoe City walking tour will begin at 10:00 AM and take about two hours.
For more information and to sign up, email trestle_tours@tdrrs.org.
Hobart Estates Driving and Hiking Tour
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Sierra Nevada Wood & Lumber Company, later known as Hobart Estate, operated a company mill town called Hobart Mills north of Truckee and logged thousands of acres in the Little Truckee River drainage from 1900 to 1936. The company built a network of narrow gauge rails to move rough logs from the forests to the mills, and a standard-gauge railroad called the Hobart Southern to transport lumber from the mill to the transcontinental railroad at Truckee.
This tour will start at Hobart Mills for an overview of the SNW&L / Hobart Estate lumbering operation and move on to more remote areas where logs were loaded and transported to the mill. Since many of the more interesting sites are deep in the forest, this tour includes quite a bit of hiking and exploring on foot. The railroads were limited to grades of 3-4%, so the trails are usually not steep, but overgrown brush and breaks in the grade where trestles and bridges once stood can make for rugged footing. Plan on doing 3 to 4 miles in total, broken up into several shorter hikes.
Some of the driving portions of the tour are on rough dirt roads, so a high-clearance and/or AWD vehicle is recommended. That said, we won’t be driving on anything a Subaru can’t handle. Bring sunglasses, hat, water, camera, snacks, and lunch - food will not be provided. Sturdy shoes or boots and long pants are recommended. We will distribute a map and will have copies of old photos to examine while we travel. The tour will begin at 8:30 AM and return by 3 PM.
For more information and to sign up, email trestle_tours@tdrrs.org.
Verdi Lumber Tour & Exploration
Saturday, September 21, 2024
The Verdi Lumber Company built a standard gauge logging railroad from its mill and box factory in Verdi to Dog Valley around 1900 and expanded into adjoining valleys to the north and west in the subsequent two decades. Over a 25-year period, Verdi Lumber cut over 14,000 acres in eastern Sierra County.
This tour starts in Verdi at the site of the Verdi Lumber mill, then heads up the hill to Dog Valley. We will explore the area around the Lazy Station logging camp at the north end of the valley, then take a 3 mile roundtrip, mostly flat hike on a logging grade to see remnants of a wye, remnants of logging camp buildings, a spur where logs were cut and loaded, and a five-legged switchback. Back in our vehicles, we’ll head south following the old railroad grade over Second Summit and the Henness Pass emigrant route, down into Sardine Valley where the Verdi tracks crossed those of the B&L and Hobart lines. The tour will end at the paved Stampede Dam Road, which takes you back to I-80 at Boca.
Due to its greater distance from Truckee, rougher roads, and its sketchier historical record, the Verdi Lumber tour is more of a work in progress and an exploration than the other trestle tours. A high clearance vehicle is required, 4WD is recommended, and a sense of adventure and schedule flexibility is essential. As with the other tours, you’ll want layered clothing, sturdy hiking footwear, sunglasses, hat, water, camera, lunch, and snacks.
For more information and to sign up, email trestle_tours@tdrrs.org.