The Skunk Train by Zina Abbott

 Those who receive my newsletter also received the opportunity to learn a little about my vacation to the Northern California coast where my husband and I rode the two tours offered by the Skunk Train. Here are more details about how that train started and evolved.

 

California Western Railroad Locomotive no. 45

 

The tracks for today's Skunk Train started being laid in 1885 to carry a logging train owned by the Fort Bragg Redwood Company to carry coast redwood logs from the dense redwood forest around Glenela (today's Glen Blair), about 6.6 miles from Fort Bragg. 

Loading redwood lumber on ships

From the logging site, the train moved the logs to the lumber mill along the coast, where afterward, most were shipped to San Francisco. In 1905, the railroad was renamed the California Western Railroad & Navigation Company. At first, the fleet of steamships were built with wooden hulls, but later the newer ship hulls were built with steel.

Union Lumber Company, Fort Bragg, California

Logs bound for Ft. Bragg, ca. 1890s

In 1891, the lumber company was incorporated into the new Union Lumber Company, but the railroad stayed with the parent company until 1969. To get past the high peaks of the Mendocino Range, which is part of the series of California Coastal Ranges, the rail company employed Chinese tunnel builders to complete a 1,184 foot tunnel from Pudding Creek to the Noyo River, which allowed the rail line to access and transport redwoods farther east once the forest in Glenela was harvested. 

 

Rails roughly follow Pudding Creek and Noyo River from Ft. Bragg to Willits

As each logging area was harvested, the tracks were built in the steep coastal range valleys loosely following the Noyo River. There was an average 3.3 percent grade with five 33-degree horseshoe curves.

 

As an area was logged out, the tracks were gradually built farther east and a new logging camp was created. Using the train, loggers' housing was moved to logging camps.

 

Map of Crowley Cabin Site, courtesy of Skunk Train tours.

 One of those logging camps, Crowley, which is about ten miles west of Willits, California, is now the turn-about point of the Wolf Tree tourist run operated by today's Skunk Train.

 

The completion of a 795 foot tunnel, Tunnel #2, on the summit allowed for the railroad to be extended to the logging and lumber town of Willits, now close to Highway 101 in California. This allowed the California Western to connect with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Willits, which provided a faster and less-treacherous means of travel between Fort Bragg and San Francisco.

 

With the construction of a branch line northward, trains brought logs from the Ten Mile River to the Fort Bragg sawmill until in 1949, the rails were replaced by logging trucks using a road. 

How did the Skunk Train get its name? 

 

As roads were built and both freight and logging diminished on the rail line, many of the older cars were scrapped. To bring in revenue, gas-powered, self-propelled passenger railcards that resembled trolley cars were added to the line. With oil added to the gasoline, the cars emitted a foul-smelling exhaust that many people equated to the stink of a skunk. And, due to the steep canyon walls along the Noyo River, the little towns that still existed along the line claimed that -- like a skunk -- a person could smell the railcar coming before they could see it.  

The cars were nicknamed "Skunks." They continued to provide passenger service between Fort Bragg and Willits until 1949. 

In 2001, all freight service was discontinued. The emergency order by the Federal Railroad Administration effectively removed the California Western Railroad from the national rail network.

California Western eastbound on first crossing of the Noyo River

The train still offered passenger service and tours until fifty feet of Tunnel No. collapsed in 2013. An arrangement allowed the line to continue until the damage caused by the 2015-16 El Nino shut down Tunnel No. 1 until extensive repairs could be made.  

To raise funds for repairs to Tunnel No. 1 so that passenger service and tours between Fort Bragg and Willits might continue, the rail line, which now operates as the Skunk Train as part of the California Western Railroad, offers two short tours--both with diesel locomotives pulling vintage rail passenger coaches and a open cargo car each.

 

One is out of Willits, called the Wolf Tree Turn.

 One is out of Fort Bragg, called the Pudding Creek Run.  

 

Pudding Creek used to hold logs bound for sawmill.

 As a side note, Pudding Creek on the north side of Fort Bragg, which for a time was dammed and used as a holding pond for logs brought from points east by the railroad, was original known as the "Put In" Creek. During stormy or foggy weather, it was considered a good place for ocean-going boats to "put in" and wait out the weather.

 

 

My latest book scheduled for release next week on July 30th is Sophia's Dance Surprise. Helena, Montana, in the 1880s was more gold-mining country. To find the book description and pre-order link, please CLICK HERE

 

 

 

My book, Ardith Yosemite Bride, includes several scenes involving a railroad which originally expected to make most of its revenue transporting tourists to Yosemite National Park. However, in reality, once roads improved and automobile travel became more popular, the Yosemite Valley Railroad--much like the California Western Railroad that eventually became known as the Skunk Train--ended up being a large transporter of logs harvested from the mountains around the national park and the mill in Merced Falls. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Western_Railroad

Mendocino-Railway-completes-acquistion-of-former-millsite-from-Georgia-Pacific-Press-Release-FINAL-A

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noyo_River

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Fort_Bragg,_California

https://www.kelleyhousemuseum.org/tiny-houses-in-the-redwoods-a-century-ago/