This info covers from Dunsmuir to Roseville with details in the North Valley area but the Microwave system does extend past Dunsmuir all the way to Portland, OR.

At Dunsmuir the microwave system links Omaha Dispatcher 66 to 161.550Mhz for the Road Channel from Dunsmuir to Klamath Falls on the UP Mainline. That microwave link then connects to Sugerloaf Mountain just outside of Lakehead (not the Sugerloaf north of Redding). From there it starts the relay from Omaha Dispatcher 64 on the Road Channel 161.310. Omaha Dispatcher 64 covers the mainline south to Berg - just north of Marysville. Sugerloaf VHF coverage falls from Dunsmuir to Silverthorn before falling into the valley floor and thus picked up by the Inks Ridge repeater. If you are in Redding, you can hear this repeater if it is being used to talk to a train in that area although reception can be poor. The Sugerloaf PBX also is linked here on 160.890 covering Dunsmuir to Tehama.

Inks Ridge is off of Jellys Ferry Road just north of the Table Mountain (10 miles north of Hwy5 and Jellys Ferry). Inks Ridge follows Inks Creek. There is a large microwave tower on the west slope of the ridge that is not UP related. It provides a link from somewhere north to a tower west of Gerber along Paskenta Road near Gyle Road. I believe this is a backbone path for ATT phone. The path seems to follow the UP microwave path south picking up at Chico and Erle but instead of Roseville - veers towards Sacramento instead it seems. You can see both the Inks Ridge UP site and the other Microwave site from Jellys Ferry Road. The UP site is up on the ridgetop with two towers unlike the massive eye catcher tower on the side of the slope unrelated to UP. One tower is old and is supporting the existing analog equipment. The new tower just next to the old one has the new digital equipment in place. This tower covers VHF 161.310Mhz from Silverthorn to Red Bluff. From it's location it can handle VHF traffic from Redding Basin all the way around Hooker Hill into Blunt before falling into the main Valley Floor at Red Bluff. This transmitter is the one you hear if you are in Redding or north Red Bluff. The microwave link then shoots off to the tower in Gerber.

Once in Red Bluff, VHF coverage comes off the transmitter at Gerber still on road channel 161.310Mhz. While in Gerber (or seen from Hwy 5) the large red tower behind the fire department with a new , single microwave horn pointing north and south on top is UP. The only tower tall enough in the area to get a pulsing red light. In the Altamont Press timetable (pg 34-35), the transmitter marked at Tehama is a missprint and should be marked at Gerber.

The next link south is in south Chico. It has a similar tower as Gerber's tower, and can be seen to the south as Hwy 32 goes over the tracks at West 8th and 9th streets. The tower is located in a small RR yard off of West 16th St.

Shooting south the link goes from Chico down to a railroad siding called Erle. It falls right at the UP junction of the Beale Air Force Base spurline. This massive tower again covering not only UP traffic but other microwave traffic is right along the highway 65 which goes between Marysville and Roseville. At night a large white strobe can be seen. This tower transmits UP Omaha Dispatcher 57 on Road channel 161.550Mhz. That dispatcher covers from Berg siding north of Marysville to the north end of Roseville Terminal. I believe the 890Mhz pad at one of the ends of the Brock siding points north to the Erle tower. That small antenna can be seen from Hwy 65 as well - 6 miles south of Wheatland. My next trip down I will confirm this.