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Northwestern Pacific Railroad
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad was a regional railroad serving California's North Coast. The railroad ran from the North Bay at Sausalito to Eureka, California, primarily near the U.S. Route 101 corridor. The NWP ran an electrified interurban commuter railroad in Marin County until 1941. The opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 caused commuters to shift from the train-ferry service to commuting by bus and car. The NWP was merged into the Southern Pacific in 1992, only four years before the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific merger. NWP Frieght is planned on starting in July of 2010, from the California Northern interchange at Schellville, north to Windsor. Plans are set to have frieght trains to Willits, CA by 2014. The Northwestern Pacific will run along the same route Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit, which will travel from Larkspur to Cloverdale California.
Predecessor LinesMesa Grande train station, about 1910 |}
MergerSouthern Pacific Railroad controlled the NWP line from Schellville to Willits while Santa Fe Railroad controlled the northern end of NWP built by Humboldt County lumber companies. Both major railroads wanted rail connection to the redwood lumber mills around Humboldt Bay. Southern Pacific planned to extend its California Northwestern Railway down the Eel River from Willits, while Santa Fe planned to extend their San Francisco and Northwestern Railway up the South Fork Eel River through Lake County to connect with their Central Valley line at Galt. NWP was formed as a jointly owned subsidiary in 1907 to build a shared line after both companies compared construction costs to potential revenue. The line was completed in 1914. Santa Fe sold its interest to Southern Pacific in 1929.[4] The line was prone to problems caused by the elements and tunnel fires, making the railroad expensive to maintain. Keeping freight customers had to be a challenge also, as service was frequently disrupted.
With up to of rainfall each year, unstable geology, and seismic activity, the Eel River Canyon has been deemed unsuitable for economic use. 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 as 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. RouteNWP mileposts conform to Southern Pacific Railroad convention of distance from San Francisco, California:[5]
Eureka Southern RailroadOn September 8, 1983, investor Bryan R. R. Whipple came to rescue the line and his new railroad, the Eureka Southern Railroad, was incorporated. He purchased the line north of Willits from NWP for $4.95 million and on November 1, 1984 the railroad commenced operations. The Eureka Southern operated the railroad with four EMD GP38 locomotives it acquired from Conrail that were built in 1969. The Eureka Southern struggled to make money on the line and on December 15, 1986 they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, however the railroad continued operations. The railroad tried operating excursion trains such as the North Coast Daylight. It should also be noted that during this period environmental concerns severely restricted logging. Logs, lumber, and wood products were the primary commodities carried by the Eureka Southern. In September 1988 the ES purchased the shortline Arcata and Mad River Railroad from Simpson Timber Company for $300,000. The A&MR had been closed for the two-year period prior to its purchase by the Eureka Southern. The death knell of the ES sounded on April 25, 1992 when an earthquake and a related landslide at Scotia Bluff closed the line. North Coast Railroad AuthorityIn 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 , 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, 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 SMART District; the California Northern Railroad (CFNR) has trackage rights granted from Schellville to Willits.[6] On May 31, 2006, NCRA announced that it had selected a new operator for the 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.[7] 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 is being planned between Larkspur and Cloverdale. Operation is expected to commence in 2014. The NCRA and Northwestern Pacific Railroad 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. Work forces began tie and ballast reconstruction from Schellville to Windsor in 2009, and electric crews have replaced and worked on many of the railroad crossings. When the freight service comes back, the North Coast Rail Authority will run eight or less car trains, and carry no hazardous materials. Reballasting and replacement of bad ties between Schellville and Windsor was completed by October 2009, with Federal Railroad Authority (FRA) inspections due to be finished by early 2010. NCRA hopes to have freight service resume all the way up to Willits by the year 2020. Steam LocomotivesDiesel Locomotives
Narrow-Gauge LineThe NWP -gauge line was built as the North Pacific Coast Railroad in 1873 from a San Francisco ferry connection at Sausalito to the Russian River at Monte Rio. Rails were extended downriver to Duncans Mills in 1876, and up Austin Creek to Cazadero in 1886. This narrow-gauge line became the Shore Division of the NWP formed by Santa Fe and Southern Pacific in 1907. The standard-gauge NWP Guerneville branch was extended to Monte Rio in 1907 and the line from Monte Rio to Duncans Mills was dual-gauged in 1909. Summer tourists from San Francisco visited Russian River vacation spots via joint narrow-gauge/standard-gauge NWP "triangle" excursions until automobile travel became more popular. The southern end of the line was standard-gauged from San Francisco Bay to Point Reyes Station at the head of Tomales Bay in 1920. The line up Austin Creek to Cazadero was standard-gauged in 1926. The remaining line from Monte Rio to Point Reyes Station was dismantled in 1930.[30] RouteMileposts conform to Southern Pacific Railroad convention of distance from San Francisco[31]
Locomotives
See alsoFootnotesReferencesExternal links
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