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Brutal Winter of 1951-52
The Brutal Winter of 1951-52
BY MARK M c LAUGHLIN
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PART II
Even after 70 years, when it comes to blockbuster winters remembered for sheer impact, 1951-1952 is still the one to beat. For weeks potent storms pummeled the Tahoe Sierra. Southern Pacific Railroad measured 68 feet total snowfall that season. It was a winter where extreme weather conditions generated drama and heroism, a winter that epitomized how ordinary people can perform remarkable feats of courage and fortitude in the face of overwhelming danger.
From long experience, the men who work the Sierra portion of the transcontinental railroad know that brutal blizzards and lethal avalanches come with the territory. Modern technology has armed railroad crews with an arsenal of equipment necessary to keep the rails clear, but despite battalions of men and powerful rotary plows, sometimes the Storm King gets the upper hand.
January blizzard rages
During the second week of January 1952, a powerful Pacific storm system barreled into the Tahoe Sierra. The system slammed the mountains and then stalled. The prolonged blizzard it spawned ranks among the most intense ever recorded at Donner Pass. Within 48 hours every major highway in the region was shut down, including the Feather River Canyon route west of Quincy. Highway 89 between Tahoe City and Truckee was blockaded when a snowslide 1,000 feet wide roared across the road near today’s River Ranch Restaurant.
From Jan. 10 to 17, nearly 13 feet of snow fell near Donner Pass, averaging 19 inches per day. At the storm’s peak intensity, residents of Soda Springs were buried with 4 feet in just 24 hours. At Tahoe City, official weather observer Arthur Frodenberg re-
corded 149 inches — 12.5 feet — of snow in one week, a record that still stands today. The snowpack was more than 9 feet deep there; automobiles were rendered useless.
Despite the violent weather, Southern Pacific Railroad trains continued to slowly snake their way across the storm-ravaged mountains. It was wartime and railroad traffic movement over Donner Pass was critical to America’s military effort in Korea. Nevada-based munitions factories needed to get weapons to San Francisco where they could be shipped to the front lines. Freight trains and truck transport were critical to this distribution chain.
The extreme precipitation imperiled the railroad and highway systems. Before Interstate 80, the transcontinental route over Donner Pass was Highway 40. This vital link to California was shut down when a large avalanche west of Donner Lake buried the road along with a truck and trailer rig. Frequent snowslides made excavation work too dangerous for highway crews, so the blockade endured 28 days until Feb. 8. The main trans-Sierra highway was now closed, but snow-streaked trains were still rumbling through the mountains, carrying passengers and freight. Snow depths on Donner Summit reached 17 feet deep and all roads in the Tahoe Sierra were buried. The Storm King had the region under siege.
Southern Pacific’s battle against the relentless storm was lost on Sunday morning, Jan. 13, when the luxury streamliner “City of San Francisco” No. 101, plowed into a fresh snowslide and stopped. The stricken passenger train was perched on a steeply sloped area known as Smart Ridge near Yuba Gap with a deep canyon looming below.
Three 2,250-hp diesel-electric engines powered this state-of-the-art, 15-car passenger train, but when engineers tried to reverse it to escape the avalanche, the steel wheels slipped on the icy tracks. Nobody panicked. After all, the luxury train was better equipped than any other on the line. No one really expected to be there long so many played card games and entertained themselves with jokes and songs. Among the 196 travelers on board were representatives bound for a Republican National Committee meeting in San Francisco and American soldiers headed to the Korean War.
One of the streamliner’s crew followed the tracks back to a railroad phone at Yuba Pass. (There were no cab radios in 1952.) He contacted Mountain District headquarters in Roseville and alerted railroad officials of their predicament. By the time he returned to the train, it was locked in place
by snow and ice. The railroad set rescue efforts in motion and a railroad spokesman assured journalists and the public that the passengers remained aboard, safe and warm. Fortunately, Dr. Walter Roehill was among the passengers, as were five army nurses ready to assist him. Their soothing medical ministrations over the next 72 hours prevented widespread panic and possibly death among the increasingly desperate travelers.
By Monday afternoon, on Jan. 14, the laissez-faire and cheerful attitude among most of the passengers had turned into fearful anger and frustration. Why hadn’t they been rescued yet?
Meanwhile the relentless blizzard raged outside the frosted windows as the frozen train was slowly covered in snow. The supply of diesel fuel ran out, killing the electric power and steam heat. Water froze in the pipes and toilets backed up. As the batterypowered lighting system slowly dimmed, the passengers were pitched into a cold, eerie darkness.
Dr. Roehill had suspended alcohol consumption and conductors started to ration food supplies. When the air temperature in the coaches plunged below freezing, passengers wrapped themselves in torn window curtains and linen tablecloths. Many also tied tablecloths and napkins about their feet and legs. Nearly 30 people were overcome by carbon monoxide from portable propane-fueled generators that were being used to warm two Pullman coaches that Dr. Roehill established as medical units to calm nervous or hysterical passengers.
During the worst storm in memory, Southern Pacific Railroad now found itself in a desperate battle to save the lives of 226 passengers and crew trapped aboard a snowbound train deep in the Tahoe Sierra. Snowfall was intense and wind gusts approached 90 mph. Drifts exceeded 25 feet. Avalanches were active all along the line, further complicating relief efforts.
It was a winter where extreme weather conditions
Operation Rescue
Southern Pacific’s Operation Rescue consisted of nearly 1,000 men and women from various agencies and included many volunteers from the nearby mountain communities of Soda Springs and Norden. A handful of rotary snowplows were mobi-
ABOVE: Snowbound Truckee, circa 1952. | Mark McLaughlin Collection
TOP: Snowbound streamliner “City of San Francisco,” circa 1952. | Courtesy Nevada Historical Society
lized and laden with emergency supplies.
Thinking that Sno-Cats using snowed-in Highway 40 could make better time than the rotaries, two of them were acquired from the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory. The tractors were loaded with 700 pounds of fresh food and maneuvered to the stricken train. Provisions were distributed and four seriously ill passengers were evacuated. The weather was much too dangerous to attempt an extraction of everyone, so the rest remained onboard.
Stay tuned for Part III in the next edition of Tahoe Weekly or at TheTahoeWeekly. com.
This article is an excerpt from Mark McLaughlin’s book, “Snowbound: Legendary Winters of the Tahoe Sierra.”n
Tahoe historian Mark McLaughlin is a nationally published author and professional speaker. His award-winning books are available at local stores or at thestormking.com. You may reach him at mark@thestormking.com.
