Northwestern Pacific Railroad

The SP era

Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Train at Santa Rosa, California in 1911
Reporting mark	NWP
Locale	California's North Coast from Marin County to Eureka
Dates of operation	1907 (1907)–1998 (1998)
Successor	Southern Pacific Transportation Company Eureka Southern Railroad
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge	80 miles (130 km) of system originally 3 ft (914 mm)
Length	271 miles (436 km)
Headquarters	Schellville, California - Operational Palo Alto, California - Administrative
Website	North Coast Railroad Authority Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Passenger service boomed until the 1930s, when improved roads and highways made traveling and shipping by motor vehicle more accessible, and by 1935 both freight and passenger service slowed to a crawl because of the Great Depression. With the onset of World War II, freight shipments rose while passenger service stayed roughly the same. Freight service on the NWP picked up heavily again in the 1950s as a large increase in the demand for lumber came about due to the post-war housing boom.

Branch lines were dismantled during the 1930s. The Sebastopol branch became redundant following purchase of the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad in 1932, and California State Route 12 adopted the former alignment between Leddy and Sebastopol. The Trinidad extension reverted to a logging line after NWP service ended in 1933. Sonoma County's River Road adopted the former alignment of the Guerneville branch from Fulton to Duncans Mills after rails were removed in 1935.^[1] Diesels were being used on all trains by 1953, with the exception of ten-wheelers number 181 and 183 pulling passenger trains numbered 3 and 4 between Willits and Eureka with number 182 on standby. NWP locomotives 112, 140, 141, 143, and 178 plus SP numbers 2345, 2356, 2564, 2582, and 2810 were stored at Tiburon for emergency use;^[2] but steam power had disappeared by 1955. During March 1958, with the exception of the tri-weekly Willits-Eureka Budd Rail Diesel Car passenger service, all mainline passenger service was discontinued. The "Budd car" made its last run in 1969.

1964 flood damage

The catastrophic Christmas flood of 1964 destroyed 100 miles (160 km) of the railroad in Northern California, including three bridges over the Eel River, and permanently changed the topography of the area. The line was closed for 177 days while 850 men rebuilt the railroad through the Eel River canyon. The line was reopened on 16 June 1965.^[3] In the years following the 1964 flood, the rail line was less reliable due to increased landsliding in the Eel River Canyon; but freight traffic remained high until the 1970s, as improvements to US Highway 101 cut hauling times, making trucking competitive with the rail line. An example of a 1970s work day on the NWP might look something like the following: During the final decade of Southern Pacific operation, carloads of lumber left Eureka each morning pulled by six EMD SD9 locomotives called "Cadillacs" by their crews. The train might pick up a refrigerator car of butter from Fernbridge and more lumber cars from Fortuna and Scotia before making a meal stop for its crew at the Fort Seward depot. More lumber cars might be added at Alderpoint during the long, gentle climb up the Eel River canyon. A second crew took over at Willits, where more cars from the California Western typically swelled the train to approximately one hundred cars. Five miles of 2.25 percent grade from Willits to Ridge originally required helpers, but six "Cadillacs" typically moved the train from Willits to Ridge in two sections during later years. The remaining trip down the Russian River to Schellville included a meal stop for the crew at Geyserville.^[4]

1978 tunnel fire

Many Humboldt County mills began shipping lumber in trucks when a fire caused collapse of the Island Mountain tunnel closing the line north of Willits on 6 September 1978, and only half of that traffic returned to the rails when the line reopened on 10 December 1979.^[4] Remaining traffic revenues were insufficient for track maintenance through the Eel River Canyon, at that time the most expensive stretch of rail line in the United States.^[5] In September 1983, the SP announced that it was shutting down the maintenance-intensive NWP line north of Willits. This led to a contentious court battle since the SP did not properly notify the Interstate Commerce Commission of their intent to abandon the line. The line was ordered reopened by the U.S. Circuit Court in March 1984.

Sales and shortline development

In 1984, the SP sold the north end from Willits to Eureka to Bryan Whipple, who ran it as the Eureka Southern Railroad. Under the reporting marks EUKA, the Eureka Southern operated revamped tourist train service as well as promising reliable freight traffic, the line was bankrupt within several years after hardships with the Eel River Canyon. In 1989, the North Coast Railroad Authority was founded by the California Legislature under the North Coast Railroad Authority Act to save the NWP from total abandonment. In June 1990, the Federal Railroad Administration issued Emergency Order No. 14^[6] prohibiting all passenger service on the Eureka Southern due to deteriorated track structure. Repairs were made and the order was partially lifted in October.^[7]

In 1992, what was left of the Eureka Southern was sold to the NCRA, who operated it as their "North Coast Railroad" until late 1996, when severe flooding of the Eel River led to widespread landslide damage and destruction of roadbed. As a result, the north end of the NWP has not been in active service since 1996. FRA Emergency Order No. 21 ^[8] issued in 1998 prohibits any train operation north of Willits. This order was amended in 1999^[9] to allow the connecting California Western Railroad to resume operation to Willits Depot and turn trains on the wye at Willits Yard.

Beginning in the late 1980s, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District began to purchase sections of the NWP's south end from the Southern Pacific Railroad. The SP began to lease the line to the California Northern Railroad in 1993, until the entire south end was purchased by a combination of the GGBHTD and Marin and Sonoma Counties, which operational control was merged on April 30, 1996 with the NCRA.

In 1996, the California Northern Railroad lease was terminated, and the NCRA took over operations of the line between Schellville and Willits. Using "Black Widow" EMD GP9 and SD9 locomotives, the "new" NWP ran from 1996 until 1998 and ran both freight service and occasional passenger excursion service from Santa Rosa and Healdsburg to Willits. Despite the new operations, the line was plagued by a series of harsh El Nino storms, and operational and financial mismanagement. Unsafe operating conditions, including washouts and bridge instability made even slow track speeds dangerous, and caused derailments on many occasions which forced the Federal Railroad Administration to issue Emergency Order No. 21 ^[10] shutting down all operations the entire length of the line. In 1998, after financial problems caused a default on equipment loans, six Black Widows were returned to their lessor Omni-trax, and former Southern Pacific SD9s, leased from BUGX, and former North Coast Railroad GP9s, owned by the NCRA, were pressed into service, as well as sets of maintenance of way equipment. Much of this equipment remained in storage at the Willits and Schellville yards, with the first set being returned to BUGX in December 2016.

In 2001, after a brief rebuild and using three leased locomotives, the NWP resumed service between Schellville and Cotati,^[11] but was shut down after only a month of operatiion. In 2011, after a brief rebuilding process, the NWP was reopened between Schellville and Windsor, California. Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit commuter train construction began shortly after.

North Coast Railroad Authority

Derailed box cars remain adjacent to Outlet Creek at milepost 152 near Longvale.

In 1992, the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) purchased the Eureka Southern and leased the line to the newly formed North Coast Railroad. The NCRA was created by state law in 1989 to preserve the Northwestern Pacific line from future abandonment. In 1996, the North Coast RR and the former "south end", owned by the Southern Pacific RR, became the "new" Northwestern Pacific Railroad under public ownership. The goals of the new Northwestern Pacific Railroad include handling more freight by rail along the Highway 101 corridor, establishing passenger excursion trains, and eventually providing regular passenger commuter service. In 1998 the railroad, which had more than 208 damaged sites along 216 mi (350 km), became the first and only railroad in the United States to be officially closed by the Federal Railroad Administration. In January 2001, the NWP was reopened between Willits and Novato (under the guise of the reporting mark "NWPY"), but service was temporarily discontinued in September 2001 because the operator lacked capital to continue operations. The track from Lombard to Healdsburg is owned by the Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit District; the California Northern Railroad (CFNR) has trackage rights granted from Schellville to Willits.^[12]

On May 31, 2006, NCRA announced that it had selected a new operator for the revamped freight line. The winning bidder was NWP, Inc., led by CEO John H. Williams who had been instrumental in setting up Caltrain service on the San Francisco Peninsula. NCRA announced approval of a 5-year contract with NWP Co. in September 2006.^[13] The new NWP currently operates the line from Eureka to Schellville over the length of the original route of the NWP.

By late 2007, the NCRA was granted 500 million dollars to restore the original line from Napa to Willits. With Marin and Sonoma counties' Measure Q passing in 2008, the new SMART Rail began construction, with regular passenger trains beginning in late Spring 2017 between Sonoma County Airport and San Rafael, with bus connections to the Larkspur ferry landing and city of Cloverdale. Work forces began tie and ballast reconstruction from Schellville to Windsor in 2009.

Line reconstruction work began in early 2009, including electrical work and ballast and tie work. The NCRA and Northwestern Pacific Railroad had originally planned to start regular freight service on the line in late fall 2009, but a lawsuit filed by the City of Novato pushed the date back to early 2010. Reballasting and replacement of bad ties between Schellville and Windsor was completed by October 2009, with Federal Railroad Authority (FRA) inspections finished in early 2011. An earlier target date in 2010 was delayed when the Federal Railroad Administration ruled NCRA's petition to reopen the line was dependent upon approval from Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), with whom the NWP shares trackage. This ruling was reversed in November 2010, with a joint-operating agreement following shortly after.

In June 2011, the Northwestern Pacific reopened the line and began operations over the section of track between Napa and Windsor, California. Service consists of about three trips weekly over the line. The railroad has hauled grain for dairy and poultry farms in Sonoma County, and lumber products out of Windsor and Schellville. Occasional construction trains for SMART have also been an integral part of NWP carloads. At Napa, the railroad exchanges freight carloads with the California Northern Railroad in American Canyon.

The new NWP (2009–present)

Beginning as early as 2009, the NCRA began to rebuild and repair the NWP between Schellville and Windsor. Among the challenges faced in the attempt to reopen freight service including a lawsuit with the City of Novato, as well as operational concerns between the NCRA and SMART. In early 2010, it was announced that NWPco had won the bid for contract service, and in July 2011 the first freight train delivered grain to Petaluma. Trains today on the NWP run from the Lombard interchange with the California Northern Railroad, up to Windsor. Currently, grain and lumber transloads make up the bulk commodity of NWP shipments, however, occasional maintenance of way work for SMART and car storage in Schellville are also common.

Plans for the future of NWP freight are hazy, as plans and rumors about reconstruction of the line north have been spread for years. While SMART will eventually extend commuter service to Cloverdale, NCRA and NWPco have both publicly announced plans to open the line to the Skunk Train connection and major yard facility in Willits, although no timeline has been established. Both agencies plans are dependent on state and federal grants, and the success of the SMART train.^[14] There are no established plans to reopen the Eel River Canyon segment; however, multiple tourist companies have expressed interested in possibly opening an excursion and dinner train that would traverse Humboldt and Arcata bays. These proposals have been faced by many legal hurdles and financial issues.

Steam locomotives

Diesel locomotives 1996–1998

Diesel locomotives 2001

Diesel locomotives post 2006

Route

Mileposts conform to Southern Pacific Railroad convention of distance from San Francisco.^[45]

• Milepost 6.5 – Sausalito^[46][47]
• Milepost 11.7 – tunnel 1
• Milepost 12.6 – Corte Madera^[48]
• Milepost 13.4 – Larkspur
• Milepost 14.7 – Kentfield
• Milepost 16.5 – Junction later known as San Anselmo^[49]
• Milepost 18.3 – Fairfax
• Milepost 20.7 – tunnel 2
• Milepost 23.1 – Nicasio
• Milepost 27 – bridge over Paper Mill Creek and highway^[50]
• Milepost 35.6 – Arroyo San Geronimo trestle^[51]
• Milepost 36.4 – Point Reyes Station^[52]
• Milepost 45.4 – Marshall
• Milepost 50.5 – bridge over Keyes Creek^[53]
• Milepost 51.9 – tunnel 3^[54]
• Milepost 53.1 – Tomales^[55]
• Milepost 53.7 – tunnel 4
• Milepost 54.9 – Stemple Creek trestle
• Milepost 58.8 – Estero Americano Creek trestle
• Milepost 59.5 – Valley Ford
• Milepost 61.9 – Ebabias Creek trestle
• Milepost 62.2 – Bodega Road crossing^[56][57]
• Milepost 62.7 – Salmon Creek trestle
• Milepost 63.7 – Freestone^[58]
• Milepost 65.2 – Salmon Creek trestle^[56]
• Milepost 66.9 – Brown Creek trestle (this 142-foot (43 m) high trestle was reputedly the highest of its kind in the United States when built in 1876)^[59][60]
• Milepost 67.6 – Occidental^[61][62]
• Milepost 68.7 – Maquire Creek trestle
• Milepost 69.0 – Camp Meeker^[63][64]
• Milepost 70.5 – Larry Creek trestle
• Milepost 70.8 – bridge over Dutch Bill Creek
• Milepost 71 – tunnel 5
• Milepost 71.6 – bridge over Dutch Bill Creek
• Milepost 71.7 – bridge over highway
• Milepost 73.8 – Monte Rio^[65][66]
• Milepost 77 – bridge over Russian River^[67][68]
• Milepost 77.1 – Duncans Mills^[69]
• Milepost 82.1 – bridge over Austin Creek^[70]
• Milepost 84.3 – Cazadero^[71][72] The D.H. McEwen Lumber Company operated narrow gauge 2-cylinder Shay locomotive C/N 1823 at Cazadero briefly beginning in 1906.^[73]

Locomotives