California Central (Sacramento) Valley

Tunnel for one of the iterations of US 40 as it went through (and under) Newcastle.

Levi's Puppet Rodeo, an historic truck in Newcastle. From what I can find out, Levi's jeans created a fully automated puppet show for the 1939 World's Fair and the puppet show traveled in trucks like this.

A small square in the center of fruit house row, in Newcastle. (See nearby pictures).

Union Pacific tracks on the west side of Newcastle. The older track on the left apparently once went to the fruit-processing plants seen in nearby pictures.

Plaque describing the role of Newcastle in the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. The plaque is surprisingly noninformative since it doesn't tell you whether the railroad tracks a few feet away was part of that original railroad.

Plaque describing the role of Newcastle in the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. The plaque is surprisingly noninformative since it doesn't tell you whether the railroad tracks a few feet away was part of that original railroad.

It was just by chance that I went into Newcastle, but it turned out to be a surprising little town with lots of history. The structures on the left side of the picture are former fruit processing warehouses -- I never knew that Newcastle had once been the center of fruit-growing in California. (see plaque in nearby picture)

Plaque describing fruit house row and that Newcastle had once been the major fruit-producing region in the state.

Newcastle was on the first transcontinental railway (built by the Central Pacific) and this grade may be part of the original grade. The tunnel is for what was US-40, which in this area was the first transcontinental highway, the Lincoln Highway. Newcastle is in the foothills of the Sierras, thus the tunnel under the long railroad grade. In keeping with the American history highlights here, the two cars present (a Subaru and a Prius) are Japanese autos -- though the Subaru was most likely built in the U.S.

Tail end of a Union Pacific westbound train going through Newcastle, CA. The tunnel is for one of the many iterations of US-40 / Lincoln Highway that once passed through Newcastle.

Pool in McBean park, opened in 1925. See description/reflection with nearby picture.

McBean pool and park, opened in 1925 and built from donations from the McBean family. The facility is quite large for what was once a small town. Pictures from the opening of the park are on this link: www.lincolnnativesons.org/pool_opens.htm Why this impressed me takes a little personal history. I first started visiting the Lincoln area around 2000 and at that time Lincoln was a fading, small, former farm town surrounded by over-grown fields. In the close to 15 years since I first visited there, the area surrounding downtown has basically been swallowed up as a distant suburb of the Sacramento metropolitan area, but the central older area still feels like that declining older farm city. The architecture of the town is thus a good example of the boom and bust cycles of American (and particularly Californian) commerce. For the town, as I knew it when I first started visiting in 2000, this looked out of place -- "how did this little town warrant such a grand swimming pool?" The answer to that is evident in the older, decaying, towns of much of central California -- that there were many robust and growing small cities across the state back when transportation and the extent of manual labor meant large populations living relatively close to land that was heavily worked. By 2000, when transportation networks, farm mechanization, and international commerce had shrunk the small towns of mid-America, this elaborate pool complex looked out of place for a fading small town. Now, with the town being just a suburb of Sacramento, there's probably a need again for such a pool complex -- though the current generation probably considers it too old.

Bidwell Bar Suspension Bridge on Lake Oroville. It was surprising to come across a suspension bridge in that location, but the canyon of the Feather River is narrow there and, before the reservoir was filled, the bridge was 627 feet above the river.

Houseboat on Lake Oroville, taken from Bidwell Bar Suspension Bridge.

One of the cable anchors for the Bidwell Bar Suspension Bridge over Lake Oroville.

Logging truck on the Bidwell Bar Suspension Bridge on Lake Oroville. Note that the driver is waving (he also honked).

Taken from the Bidwell Bar Suspension Bridge over Lake Oroville. Considering the size of the reservoir and the apparent distance from and boat landing, it was surprising to see inflatable kayaks under the bridge.

Bidwell Bar Suspension Bridge on Lake Oroville. It was surprising to come across a suspension bridge in that location, but the canyon of the Feather River is narrow there and, before the reservoir was filled, the bridge was 627 feet above the river.