Resources and Reflections

From Wikipedia;

History

The railroad was originally built by the Fort Bragg Redwood Company as the Fort Bragg Railroad in 1885 to carry coast redwood logs from the dense forests at Glenela (Glen Blair) to a newly built lumber mill located 6.6 miles (10.6 km) to the west at coastal Fort Bragg, California. Fort Bragg Redwood Company was incorporated into the new Union Lumber Company in 1904; the railroad ownership always rested with the parent lumber company until 1969. On July 1, 1905 the railroad was renamed the California Western Railroad & Navigation Company. In 1904 passenger service was added, and on December 11, 1911 the route was completed to its total length of 40 miles roughly following the Noyo River, to interchange connection with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad in the inland town of Willits, California.

California Western Railroad. May 1972.

On December 19, 1947 the railroad name was shortened to the California Western Railroad. Union Lumber and its California Western Railroad came under the ownership of the various lumber producers, including Boise Cascade (1969), and later Georgia-Pacific Corporation; G-P initially leased the CWR’s operations to Kyle Railways, but in June 1987 the CWR was sold to the Kyle Railways subsidiaryMendocino Coast Railway. Mendocino Coast Railway continued to operate the CWR under the California Western name. No longer able to make a profit when the G-P mill began to reduce operations and finally closed altogether, Kyle Railways opted to sell the financially starved CWR. On December 17, 2003 the California Western Railroad was rescued when it was bought by the Sierra Railroad. The Sierra Railroad’s Sierra Entertainment Group now operates the Skunk Train in addition to its Sacramento RiverTrain inWoodland, California and the Sierra Railroad line between Oakdale and Keystone, California. The Sierra Railroad diminished the California Western Railroad name in favor of the Skunk Train [tm] when it took over the CWR line.

Route

Road sign in Willits advertising the world famous Skunk Train. Train tracks and warning signs in front. DO NOT STOP ON THE TRACKS

Milepost 0 - Fort Bragg

Milepost 1.0 - Pudding Creek

Milepost 3.4 - Glen Blair Junction

Milepost 6.6 - South Fork

Milepost 9.0 – Ranch

Milepost 10.0 - Redwood Lodge

Milepost 12.7 - Grove

Milepost 15.0 – Camp 3

Milepost 16.0 – Camp 4

Milepost 16.4 - Camp Noyo

Milepost 18.1 - Alpine

Milepost 20.0 – Camp 7

Milepost 20.5 - Noyo Lodge

Milepost 21.3 - Northspur

Milepost 23.9 - Irmulco

Milepost 26.8 - Shake City

Milepost 27.7 - Burbeck

Milepost 28.7 - Soda Springs

Milepost 30.4 - Clare Mill

Milepost 32.6 - Crowley

Milepost 33.8 - Crater

Milepost 35.4 – Summit (elevation 1740 feet above sea level)

Milepost 37.5 - Rodgers

Milepost 40.0 - Willits

Commentary;

The railbed is parallelled to teh north by Sherwood Road, a county-owned access that has some of the best (i.e. toughtest and most fun) ack country dirt cycling around. I have personally ridden Sherwood both ways on my Trek Portland with full packs, and either derection is a workout worthy of teh toughest riders, and scenery to match. Our idea of a fabulous opportunity is to combine both on-track railbiking and off-track dirt riding with on-train riding for a spectacular and unique adventure in the Noyo River heawaters. We are currently corresponding with various players including the Skunk, NCRA and railbike tour operators around the world with the ultimate goal of operating railbke tours on local lines.

Please ad your thoughts and comments below.

Map of Ft. Bragg Skunk Train Depot

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View on map (geotagged at lat 39.4453392, lng -123.8067322)

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