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The second weekend of September, 2026 was the weekend of Colfax Railroad Days, held in historic downtown Colfax, CA. The event is a celebration of Colfax's role in the completion of the transcontinental railroad, and the eventural joining of the Central Pacific, and Union Pacific Railroads in 1869. Today, in 2026, the railroad action is all Union Pacific, as Colfax is located on Union Pacific Railroad's busy Roseville Subdivision, which carries freight and passengers over Donner Pass, and beyond...
Photo: It's Sunday morning, September 13, 2026, and after enjoying a delicious breakfast at The Wrecking Crew Cafe and Bakery, located in downtown Colfax, I sat down on a comfortable bench, facing the tracks at the Amtrak station. A group of several young railfans had set up a pop-up shade tent on the station platform, and were going to make a day of photographing Amtrak and Union Pacific Railroad action. At 09:25, UP #7615 east, leading train MRVNP, made it's way up the 2% grade into Colfax. I love this location, as it really shows the steep grade.
Photo: UP #7615 heads east into the green signal at Mile Post 142.0, on it's way over Donner Pass, with it's final destination of North Platte, NE.
Photo: The mid-train DPU crosses Grass Valley Hwy, Mile Post 141.91 to the delight of a family, who perhaps is noticing a mid-train DUP for the first time, as they wait for the train to pass by.
Photo: Ten minutes later at 09:35, UP #6519 west pulled into the yard, pulling what at first appeared to be a double stack train, but turned out to be manifest, thanks to a few grain cars near the middle and three tacked on to the end of the train. One of the group of railfans said the thought this train could be MSURV, but he wasn't sure, and neither was I. Note the yellow signal for the #2 track, which is a great preview for things to come.
Photo: As the westbound manifest was leaving Colfax, AMICH showed up on the #1 track, much to the delight of the group of railfans who had set up shop on the Amtrak platform. These guys were young men in their teens and early 20's, and all were shooting video, using iPhones mounted on tripods, along with a drone. I did get a little chance to chat with them, and they were from the Santa Rosa area.
Photo: UP #7930 led AIMICH, which arrived at the Colfax station at 09:45 and stopped at the Amtrak platform, which is standard procedure for this train. This event is a regular occurrence as they have to wait until the track is clear so they can proceed east to Gold Run Cross Over and cross over to the #1 track. This is a daily unit autorack train that originates in Milpitas and terminates in Chicago.
Photo: The engineer was super friendly and chatted with the group of railfans, as the lead unit had pulled up to where they had erected their sun shade. It's easy to tell the make and model of this locomotive, as it's a C45ACCTE, as it's stenciled on the side.
Photo: Classic portrait of #7930 and the train waiting at the Colfax station, with the steep grade easily seen, thanks to the slight telephoto shot. The train waited at the station for about 20 minutes before getting the highball to proceed east.
Photo: After nearly an hour, and time to grab a beer from the Colfax Railroad Days event beer garden, at 11:25, UP #3074 west, leading a double stack Z-train showed up. One of the nearby railfans told me this was ZCG203, a Global 2 train out of Chicago.
Photo: As ZCG203 headed west, bystanders marveled at the two DPUs in mid-train, as it rolled over Grass Valley Hwy. There were three units up front, two in the middle and two DPUs at the rear. This was a hot, fast train, with ample power!
Photo: It's always a lot of run to watch Amtrak's California Zephyr pull into Colfax, and it always attracts a crowd of onlookers. Even though Colfax is a small city of around 2500 souls, there are always passengers getting off or boarding the train. Another nice thing for train watchers is the daily eastbound and westbound trains arrive at Colfax apart from one another. It's 12:05 on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, and train Amtrak #6, the westbound The California Zephyr has pulled into the Colfax station right on time.
Photo: The train conductor and the crew have assisted passengers getting off and boarding the train, and seem to be enjoying the beautiful 75-degree sunshine. The California Zephyr is scheduled to stop in Colfax for five minutes, but they frequently linger a bit longer if they're ahead of time. Note the tripods set up that are recording the event on iPhone video.
Photo: Amtrak #6 pulls out of Colfax, and into the green signal at Mile Post 142.0 on the #2 track, heading east to Chicago.
Photo: At 12:45, westbound The California Zephyr, Amtrak #5, pulled into Colfax. Since the train always uses the westbound #1 track, it stops directly at the crossing of Grass Valley Highway to load and unload passengers, so passengers won't have to cross over the #2 track. As passengers are leaving the train, the crew is very safety-aware of possible trains that might be using the #2 track, but I assume all has been taken care of by the Omaha dispatcher.
Photo: The California Zephyr leaves Colfax on it's way to Oakland, and the group of railfans seem to be gearing up for more action. One of them told me they expected a eastbound BNSF double stack train in mid-afternoon, so I decided to grab another beer at the beer garden, pack up shop and head east to Gold Run to photo the BNSF stack train.
Photo: I set up shop at one of my favorite photo locations, Mile Post 149.9, Secret Town Flat to wait for the BNSF stack train. At 14:25, I was rewarded as eastbound double stack train, Z-STOPVO1 blasted up the 1.4% grade and gave me an in-your-face shot. Why weren't the ditch lights operating? These trains operate on alternating days and have negotiated trackage rights from owner UPRR over the Roseville Subdivision.
Photo: The track between Secret Town Flat and Gold Run Cross Over is a series of serpentine curves, and BNSF #4179 leads the train easily, heading east.
Photo: Two DPUs bring up the rear of the train, heading east on the #2 track. After watching train go by, I realized that I was getting hungry, so I headed over to the nearby Dutch Flat Hotel Restaurant to enjoy an early dinner of "The Prospector's Burger," along with an order of fries. After dinner, I headed east to Casa Loma Road, near the Midas siding, to camp for the night, before heading east the next day to railfan at Andover, just east of the Donner Pass tunnel. I managed to catch a couple trains before darkness set in, but due to the poor lighting and erratic sunshine, there was nothing worthwhile to publish.
Photo: Monday, September 14, 2026 I got up around 07:00 and drove to Truckee, where I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Wagon Train Coffee Shop, in the historic downtown district across Donner Pass Road from the Amtrak depot. After enjoying breakfast, I drove five miles west to Donner Memorial State Park, stopped at the campground entrance and told the ranger what I was doing, and drove over to Coldstream Canyon, and ultimately the railroad access road to Andover, located at Mile Post 198.7. You don't have to pay a park fee if you tell the ranger you're just driving through to access Coldstream Canyon. Just don't stop on park property! This Monday was super slow, as the first train that I was able to catch was when westbound ZG2LT showed up at 13:29 led by UP #5660. Despite the steep 1.8% grade, this train really moved up the hill, thanks to the large amount of power.
Photo: Power for ZG2LT has passed me and goes under the classic, long out-of-service Espee-signal bridge at Mile Post 198.29, with Andover just around the corner. This classic signal bridge is one of the few remaining on the Roseville Subdivision and is still in relatively good condition. It looks like unit #3897 has spent far too long sitting on the wrong side of town, and has become a mural for graffiti vandals.
Photo: At 13:54, west train MOANP surprised me, and all I was able to photograph was the tail end, as they rounded the many curves that descend from Andover down into Coldstream Valley. That's Mt. Anderson, elevation 8663 feet in the background, rising above the last car in the train. I waited around for the remainder of the afternoon, and all I managed to snag was Amtrak #6. As the sun set, I went into Truckee and enjoyed a fine Mexican dinner at El Toro Bravo, located downtown, across from the Amtrak station. After dinner, I returned to this location, as it is very remote, and camped overnight, ready to begin new adventures tomorrow. Colfax Railroad Days 2026 was a great way to begin three days of railranning Union Pacific's Roseville Subdivision and a great opportunity to enjoy mainline railroading, over the Sierra Nevada mountains. As a post script, I got up the next morning and spent the day, and part of the next day at Boca station, east of Truckee, taking more photos. Check out all of action at East Truckee and Boca. I just can't get enough of the action on the Roseville Sub! Union Pacific Railroad Copyright(c) 2026 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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