Fire in the Mountain: The Beginning of the End of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Local railroad historian/teacher and Timber Heritage Association board member Sean Mitchell tells the story of the demise of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad for an online audience.

[@jbkingesq9889]

Thanks so much for all this. I am an ex-NWP person myself and it was nice to see all the memories.

[@jbfranzini9828]

Having worked as a Conductor on the 'New NWP' in 1997, I can say in all certainty that no railroad will ever connect the Bay Area to Eureka again. The traffic is gone,...all of it. The canyon, and it's 'blue goo', and soggy sponge like ground, is impossible to build upon. The Eel, is too unpredictable, and weather up in the canyon is usually extremely wet in the Winter. Bridges, roadbed, track, fixtures, all gone, or in the case of Island Mountain...ripped out. Yes, a bit hard to believe, considering during it's heyday, trains of 100 to 150 cars were not uncommon, on the thrice weekly schedules. '97' was not a good year,...lots of accidents, derailments, and the like. Equipment was old, maintenance was absent, as it had been since SP had been operating the line. Largest train I witnessed was 154 cars....this was back in 1976 or 77 I believe, and it was string-lined and derailed on the Novato Wye, when the hoghead took the throttle out a couple of notches too far after rounding the curve towards Schellville. Dumped a number of boxcars and loads of lumber.... This Report....... Nicely done....Sean.... I give you an A+...

[@clifflang5939]

I remember visiting my Grandma Mary Heebner in Tiburon and walking the Viaduct that crossed the rail yard. We would wait till the return run from Eureka came in and we would stand over the engine and have the engineer steam us. Watching the train barges come in from across the bay unload and reload and depart. Grandpa was a machinist in the roundhouse. Mom went to Tamalpais Hi. Those were the good old days.

[@calilongboarder]

Awesome presentation, I was lucky enough to see trains running in the early 90’s in Eureka. Have some pics of me on some old engines when they were operating. Was sad to see it end but remember my gma who lived in eureka upon visiting her telling me tunnels constantly catching fire and washouts so being older now realize why it was so costly and geologically the eel river portion was always unstable. Very costly to maintain that portion. Thnx for your time great video

[@mikewilliams1217]

In 2000 I hiked the NWP from Cloverdale to Spyrock. I planned to go to Alderpoint but was deterred by 2 cowgirls pushing cows down the track . I was leery of the Island Mtn tunnel anyway. You say that the Eel River canyon is inaccessible, but you can access by starting at Dos Rios and hiking in. I wrote articles for the Anderson Valley Advertiser called Walking the Rails.

[@johnnewman8014]

Excellent. Hope to get up there again. Had a sister thst lived in Hydesville until recently. I took a Northern California Railroad Club trip in 1987 on the North Coast Daylight. Was a member of Pacific Coast Chapter, Railroad & Locomotive Historical Society and helped with original restoration of SP 2472 now kept in Schellville. Years ago rode Skunk Train and have yet to ride Smart train. Missed riding Bud car. Thanks for current status.

[@cynthiabowie1888]

Awesome thanks again for your time I worked for them the last year of oppression 1998 IT was my first job in Humboldt, I was just 19 years old and had just moved up to Humboldt County I did track maintenance IT was hard work but I loved it

[@JeffreyKB]

The best presentation I have ever seen concerning the old NWP railroad. Great job!

[@peteralbert1485]

This video gave me a surprising jolt of a hope I didn't know I had for the future of the THA. I am very impressed with the THA's renovations of the rolling stock, the purchase and rehabilitation of the locomotive barns, the laying of track, the running of the speeders, etc. Your presentation makes it easy to envision rail operating around Humboldt Bay again. That's no easy task - this is a very well-constructed narrative backed by thoughtful research, supported with great images.

[@AkiliLion]

I recently hiked across what's left of the old railway starting from Rio Dell (there's an access point near the lumber mill) all the way up to the south side of the old trestle on the Scotia Bluffs. Long ago I was there with my parents and I remember seeing a train going by, so they were still in service. It would have been sometime in the mid-to-late 80s. On the north side of the trestle there were fossils in the material coming down from the cliffside there and my father was a fossil-hunter, and crossing the trestle was the easier way to get to them instead of the longer hike from the north side. As the gaps between the trestle ties were bigger than my feet and we didn't know the train schedules - and didn't want to be caught mid-crossing - I was never allowed to go across. So, July of 2021 I went back and it was so overgrown I couldn't believe it. I barely made it to the trestle, but I did and it's still standing! As I was there alone and there were parts of the trestle where plants had grown up and through, completely concealing the condition of the beams in those spots I ultimately decided not to risk crossing. I wish I'd gone back a decade or two earlier. It doesn't seem like it was a long enough period of time for it to have become overgrown to the point where the tracks simply disappear among trees and brush and dirt, but your presentation definitely indicated how it happened. That was an absolutely treacherous area to put a railroad. That's a great history you provided and I hope the railroad comes back to life in some fashion, even if it'll never be what it was. I was researching another spur line out in Santa Cruz that terminated in Davenport, where for a while they had 'Gordon's Chute', a clever-terrible idea to deliver cargo from the cliffs directly down to boats in the ocean, a hundred-foot drop. Lots of fascinating rail history out there!

[@alco251b9]

Hopefully the Windsor-Willits segment can be reopened, it seems to be a lot easier to maintain than the northern section.

[@xraceboyex]

Im just visiting Cali passing through Humboldt and couldnt miss the bridges and railroad grades off the 101 just outside of Eureka. So glad this presentation exists to give me all the details and photos in one place organized. Thanks for your work! I learned a lot!

[@Tooflower]

This is so cool, I'm really hoping to float the Eel this next year, I love taking in history like this!

[@charlessimons7445]

The geology of the region swallowed this railroad. The ancient geo processes were not understood at the time of its building. There never was a practical means of maintaining it.

[@echohunter4199]

I lived in Eureka for a couple years and it’s clear that without any railroads that entire area would not have been what it is today, amazing how hard they tried to get lines in even when the cost was insane to lay track eastward.

[@mgbrattland]

Great presentation and history...Class of '70 HSC, History

[@MrRedSoldier1000]

Thank you so much for this!

[@jacobstraessle5874]

Hello from Texas. Enjoyed your presentation. Thanks for sharing.

[@mackpines]

This a great presentation. I'd heard of the NWP and how remote and how much maintenance was needed but, never really knew the history and it's eventual demise. A similar scenario happened to the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad in Oregon where I live. Interestingly, it was also an SP line and connected the Portland area with the coast and also went through a remote area called the Salmonberry River Canyon. The line did get washed out several times throughout its life but was rebuilt. However, in December 2007, a huge storm hit the coast and washed out several large sections of track and caused slides to block some of the tunnels. The cost to rebuild proved to be too much and now the line is just rotting away in the woods. At least the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad now uses the section along the ocean for passenger excursions.

[@malcolmmarzo2461]

Great presentation. And nice seeing a young person who appreciates railroad history. While this part of the SP is out of the area of my railroad videos your presentation informs me on the overall operational history of a great rail system.

[@lawrencepeterson7219]

I went to High School with his older sister. Sean, we met later on while I was attending HSU. Interesting video.

[@edwinstar100]

impressive presentation, thank you

[@seanwitt2463]

Love it! Great job!

[@TheLifePhoenix]

All the graffiti artist in Humboldt notes these wonderful reference points! Thanks

[@kenmunozatmmrrailroad6853]

This is fantastic!

[@RWPeck]

Thank you for the great documentary and all the work you've done to compile all the info. I grew up with the railroad and the SP trains passing through Ukiah. I always wanted to ride a freight through the Eel River canyon and see all that roadless wilderness. No matter our found memories, you can't get around the simple economics that a railroad has to generate more revenue than expense and to saddle taxpayers with a loosing proposition would be an injustice, even if we would enjoy seeing those trains rolling again.

[@mikepriceup]

It's a shame that very few of us are interested in the Northwestern pacific railroad and it's history and that there's no plan to rebuild the line all the way to eureka. I've worked for union pacific since 2004 and are now living in lincoln working out of roseville!

[@331Grabber]

I saw an old TV news story from the late 80s talking about them running tourists and their cars all the way from the Bay area to Eureka. Imagine that? They were so hopeful and cheerful talking about the future of the line just a few years before the storms ended all of it :(

[@nunstersplace]

46:55 My father had to of been the last one over that bridge. He said when he went across it he was forging water. He kept the car in 2nd and the throttle to the floor and some how him in his friend made. This was when it was getting dark so he really couldn't see how bad things were. But once he got his ill friend home in his car. My dad needed a ride home and called the bus station about half our after getting his friend home and the bus station told him that they can't because the bridge was washed out. My father was a bit confused because he just got done driving over that bridge.

[@alexgray8804]

used to watch the trains every summer in fortuna and loleta

[@mackpines]

Just disgraceful that people can build something so large that costs so much work and money to just give up and abandon it. Here, they threw away a railroad.

[@lauratran7638]

My ex worked at Island Mountain back in the 70's.

[@charlessimons7445]

I am a great believer in preserving rail lines. I don't think a horse trail can be preserved in the Eel River canyon!

[@alanmydland5210]

That's some amazing high cost rail to maintain yr in and out. I use to fly from Davis to Murry field 20/25 yrs ago often. My best restaurant ever for airport food and then some. Oyster samwiches and fresh fish❤ I'd stop at the cowboy ranch on the Mad river for swimming games and the barbecue with the deep pit. Life will never be the same, lost times for sure. Flying to Murry field was never easy in the fog and cloud layers. Used Dinsmore as a hangout spot waiting for the fog to lift. Kneeland was another hangout spot higher up. Sad day when the elkgrove car dealer hit the mountain at Kneeland.

[@chineechik]

Interesting video. I lived next to the NWP in mill valley. Used to walk through tunnel 1 to go shoplifting at the Corte madera center. Always saw the train on Saturday evenings. Wasn’t their talk of installing a container port in eureka and restoring the line to ship containers into the Bay Area?

[@mikehawk2003]

Yes there was talk, but it didn't go anywhere. Even had it been approved, most of those containers would've gone down Highway 101 instead as most of the 270mi NWP was 15-35mph territory.

[@scr2392]

can we have links t website

[@cambridgeh.lutece6658]

Poor NWP. Shame nothing will ever run to Eureka ever again.

[@AgentSpockAgentSpock]

They are talking about rebuilding a line to Eureka California

[@imetr8r]

Either the geologist hired to plan the Eel River route or the management dictating the route was incompetent.

[@jamesboykin7319]

With all the history and photos did I miss something, but no photo or mention of the freak such a historic loco.

[@331Grabber]

How far North did this line run? I'm in Eureka once a week for work and have seen the tracks northeast of Eureka in some of the smaller towns.

[@fritzbasset8645]

At its greatest extent, the NWP reached Trinidad; in recent times, it went to Korblex and an interchange with the Arcata & Mad River R.R. In its original construction, of the 40 tunnels on the line, only #30 was fully concrete lined, all of the rest had timber someplace, except for one that was all rock. Those timber lined tunnels bit the NWP continually, with fires in at least in one half dozen of the bores. Perhaps if the AT&SF had stayed on or bought the SP out someone would have made the brilliant decision to concrete line those tunnels, instead of "saving" $$ by investing more money in timber well into the 1950s. No. 27's fire curtain (visible in photos) was removed in 1965 which was not a good move either as it would have stopped the 1978 fire.

[@331Grabber]

@Fritz Basset Thanks for all the info. I have a lot of reading to do on this line. Hard to believe it was functioning not that long ago.

[@331Grabber]

@Fritz Basset Hey. Do you know anything about that old trestle that's to the east of Glendale road just passed Hall Creek? It's a low long trestle built over a stretch of field. Just seems odd. Saw it while picking up a load going back south.

[@fritzbasset8645]

@@331Grabber That trestle is on the abandoned and dismantled Arcata & Mad River RR. Another loss, as it did contribute quite a number of carloads to the North End, even in the Eureka Southern days.

[@331Grabber]

@@fritzbasset8645 When was the Arcata and Mad river RR torn up/Abandoned? That one ran through Blue Lake right? I need to find some books on this area.

[@bernardbunney520]

You couldn't see the end of the tunnel from the west end because it had a curve at the end of the east end of the tunnel.

[@pravoslavn]

You gents need to learn how to speak without saying UH so much. Very unprofessional and VERY distracting/

[@expletivedeleted7853]

Typical of the evil empire that was the SP. The worst railroad in history. Nothing about this road should ever be remembered.

[@davidjackson7281]

Why are you bagging on esspee? The NWP having SMART now is fantastic. I was an SP employee.

[@jotsingh8917]

The people of California must own this railroad and property. Why not revive this railroad for passenger and freight from San Rafael to Crescent City with an adjacent bicycle path as an ecology model for this century? How to pay for this investment? A public investment with railroad station become town hubs. Create legislature that demands with high density Eco friendly residential / commercial car free zones. Solves the housing shortage, add to quality of life, create millions of jobs. California companies become leaders in ecology friendly towns of the 21st century. Time to stop wasting 2 trillion of our tax dollar in Iraq and Afghanistan and other stupid military adventures and invest in California.