December 23 and 24, 2003 – a tide too high

A train walking on water? An especially high tide (7 feet!) brought this Union Pacific train to a halt. We have already seen that tides higher than six feet can flow over the rails at one spot in the North Marsh.



I drove out to the North Marsh after the tide had abated a bit, but the train was still parked, and a railroad crew was on the scene to examine the rail bed.

Water Quality Scientist John Haskins waded out to get this photo an hour earlier, while the water was still over the tracks (at left, note that the water is flowing through the levee and digging channels in the rail bed).

The next day Volunteer Coordinator Jackie Kourassis and I drove out to get a closer look. The railroad truck is back on station and the water is again flowing over the rails.

Normally we would drive out this access road, as we have done for the shorebird counts at this location. Today, however, the road is rather damp, so Jackie leads the way on foot.

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We are, understandably, rather concerned about the condition of the track here – all this water flowing over and through the levee cannot be good for the rail bed.

Normally these tide gates are used to control the water level of the North Marsh; today Mother Nature has different plans.

Jackie took this souvenir photo of yours truly. My rubber boots are safe and dry back in my office.

Meanwhile back at the Reserve, the high tide is too much for the footbridge levee in the South Marsh Loop Trail.

For comparison, here's the footbridge on another day.