Does anyone know if the McCloud railway will run trains the 24th of December?
Thanks,
Ben.
Nothing on the schedule for that day. They do show a Santa special on Dec. 3 and a New Years Eve special on Dec. 31.
http://www.shastasunset.com/index.php
(Google is your friend)
Are they operating any freight trains that week or in January?
Sorry, can’t help you there. No public schedule for freight.
The trouble with “binary” people is that they know only black and white (yes or no, on or off, etc.). They don’t see shades of gray.
Kinda hard to see the gray from 2000 miles away…[:D]
Hey Chad-
Get your butt up there and take some pictures with trees for a backdrop. Forget about Nevada, Tehatchapi, Siberia and the rest of the desert.[;)]
I’ve got some pictures my dad took around McCloud last year, mostly the cabooses they rent out and the dinner train. I was going through them two nights ago. I didn’t get to go because I had to work (bummer). I am trying to get up that way for x-mas but my time will be spent visiting family.
To tell you the truth, Living in Washington kind of burned me out on trees and greenery. I like the desert and the wide open spaces.
Ben13,
You might want to check out this site:
http://www.trainweb.org/mccloudrails/
Also you might get more info if you ask over on the Altamont Press forum.
Greetings-
Thanks for the plug for my McCloud Rails website in this thread. Nice to see it getting some press.
As for freight operations on 24 December- that is a Saturday, so the answer is that any freight movements are highly, highly unlikely. The McCloud has already received permission to abandon the railroad east of McCloud, which will end most freight movements of any kind. The last run to Burney is likely to happen sometime between December and March. After that happens the railroad will be almost completely out of the freight business, with maybe only a handfull of cars a week, if even that, moving between McCloud and Mt. Shasta City.
This past year has seen the railroad go to Burney once or twice a week, with a corresponding run to Mt. Shasta City. Track conditions are at the point where it takes two full days to make a round trip now. Freight movements are almost always entirely daylight events on weekdays. Saturday movements are very, very rare, occuring only when derailments or other upsets require a movement. The railroad does run dinner trains on most Saturdays, with the 24th being one of the few days they are not running one.
If operations don’t end before then and if you can get to McCloud the week before or the week after you might see something.
Jeff Moore
Elko, NV