Railroad society to present rapid repair of Colfax derailment

The Placer-Sierra Railroad Heritage Society meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 24, will present photos taken after the derailment in Colfax in the early morning hours of Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Roger Staab and Mike Haire will present a photo timeline showing the Union Pacific Railroad contractors at work with their specialized equipment clearing and repairing the tracks after an eastbound UPRR double-stack freight train derailed just east of Colfax. As word got out about the derailment, locals and passers-by soon lined the Highway 174 bridge that crosses the tracks with excellent views of the clean-up and repair activities taking place to get the railroad line reopened. Staab has merged his still photos, taken at four time periods, with screenshots captured from Haire's video footage of the clean-up to create the photo timeline. Track 1, adjacent to the track with the derailment, was damaged but repaired quickly by the UPRR crews, allowing the first train through shortly after noon Dec. 13. By about 5 p.m., all of the damaged rolling stock was removed from Track 2. Trains were running on Track 2 by Sunday morning, Dec. 14. Join the Railroad Heritage Society at 7 p.m. at the Auburn Veterans Memorial Hall at 100 East Street for the presentation on this interesting and unusual topic. The public is welcome. For questions, email chuck.spinks@outlook.com.