So I’ve decided on what I want to model my layout after. Its the Northwestern Pacific which runs just north of Eureka, CA to San Rafael, CA since I have fond memories of seeing the track when I was a kid. I’m actually planning on modeling the upper portion of it from Ukiah to Eureka since the area I have in mind won’t accomidate for such a big layout. I’m also going to model the “Skunk Train” line that runs from Ft. Bragg to Willits and yes, I have ridden it, hehe. So the era which I am planning is the late 40’s to early 50’s there about and have been getting tons of info off the internet on what sort of rolling stock and powerhouses they were using during this era. I’ve got a rough idea on the track plan as well which is starting to take shape on paper and one of the computerized layout designers. One of the major points of this line however, I cannot find hardly any information on and no pictures of it as well. Its the main bridge that crosses the Eel River which was rebuilt after a major flood took out a good portion of it in 1964. I have found one picture of it but it is the new bridge, not the old one unfortunatly. Anyways, I got most of my given and druthers in a row, just gotta make some final measurments to make sure its all going to go as planned. Woo, I can’t wait!
I’m primarily a Colorado railroad modeler, but the Northwestern Pacific was a great line that offers lots of modeling possibilities.
When researching railroads, remember that there’s lots of stuff out there that is not on the internet. I searched using the “advanced search” feature on www.abebooks.com with the key words “northwestern pacific railroad” and found several books that might help. The most obviously helpful was:
Redwood railways, …a History of the Northwestern Pacific railroad and Predecessor Lines, Third Printing
by Gilbert H. Kneiss, Lucius Beebe (Berkeley: Howell-North, 1957)
and several other editions of the same book in various conditions.
There were more that might be of interest, but these may give you info on the old Eel River bridge, as it was still there when they were published.
As a historian, I use abebooks all the time to find older or out of print books, so am just a satisfied customer. Check the listed book conditions carefully, but you can find what you’re looking for at reasonable prices most of the time. Of course, if you want a really collectible book, the price may shock you! But at least you’ll know what you’re looking for and with some luck, you may stumble across it cheaper at a show, for instance. Hope this helps.
You might also try the Northwestern Pacific Historical Society.
http://www.nwprrhs.org/
Used to live up that myself. I’m certain the “Redwood Railways” has a picture of that bridge. As I recall, the new bridge didn’t look much different except they relocated abutments and piers to prevent further washouts from undermining. Didn’t work though. [:(!] It was one of those railroads that was built just before the time highways were becoming common and never did well in its whole history. IIRC, the NWP itself was sold off to what became the California Northern not long after the big floods of 1982. The California Northern never restored the line past Willits and abandoned the line completely except for some trackage down in the Suisun are by about 2000. A transportation commision bought the line from Santa Rosa to Sausalito for commuter service but I doubt it will ever be run. It was a great line to watch while it was still in operation though. I think it had the last unmodified SD-9’s on the SP system. The California Western is a great shortline to model with all the different motive power over the years. Too bad it only hauls tourists now. [:(]
Eric, I’ve been to that site many times, plus a few others that have old pics from the turn of the century up until the mid 90’s. I have the rough map from that site saved on my computer to help with the routing of the portion I’m planning on modeling.
UP- I’ve read quite a bit about the history of the lines especially now. Sad that it had to turn out like that since it was the major transportation for the lumber business. I love the area and have gone camping through the Humbolt area within all the redwoods many times before which is why I am planning to model this area. Very beautiful scenery.
Mike, thanks for the link, I’ll definatly have to check that out when I get home from work tomorrow morning since I always love getting new literature for my ongoing library of information.
Interesting…
I just staretd reading my Fall 2007 Classic Trains and discovered something I didn’t know. The NWP is most closely associated with the SP in the modern mind. But in an article on Charles T. Ripley, later master mechanic of the Santa Fe, it is noted that the NWP was jointly owned by the SP and the Santa Fe until 1929.
I’ve no idea if you have any interest in modeling it that early, but it opens up a whole new set of options. And you can allways “imagineeer” Santa Fe ownership continung past that point. It’s your own railroad.
SP sold the Arcata to Willits section (northern half) to Eureka Southern, I don’t remember the year but 1982 may be right. In the early 1990s, SP sold, or leased, the rest (southern half) of the NWP to California Northern, along with a few other lines. CFNR quickly unloaded the NWP on the North Coast Railroad Authority (http://www.northcoastrailroad.org/). They did operate trains all the way to Eureka until the washout in 1998. They even had GP9s and SD9s painted in Black Widow paint and lettered for Northwestern Pacific, those have been returned to OmniTrax.
Yeah I was also kinda thinking that. I mean, hey, I can do whatever I feel like cause its my layout. At one point or another, I’ll be running my TGV that I got years ago from a relative that lives in France. I mean, 1940’s and a TGV go hand in hand right?[;)] For the most part, I’m going to model it to the location and the era along with having most my lineup in power and rolling stock be for that location but of course, I’ll always make exceptions because thats the way model layouts work!
You might want to check out this site as there are a number of good pictures: http://sunnyfortuna.com/railroad/
In steam, the Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0 comes close to NWP ##112 and #113. You’d have to remover the Walschaert valve gear. Also, the Spectrum 4-4-0 comes close to NWP 4-4-0’s #'s 22 and 23. Here’s a pic of #22: http://sunnyfortuna.com/railroad/images/1997/jan.jpg
Pic of #23: http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/NWP23.JPG
You could probably cobble up a
Thanks, Eric, I had forgotten about the ill-fated Eureka Southern. As I recall, a guy named Whipple founded it primarily for tourist operations from Willits to Eureka but ran only only one train before the FRA embargoed the line for passengers because of bad track conditions. I don’t think the ES ever ran much in the way regular freight service mainly due to lack of traffic. It seems to me there was one or maybe two trains a week to Wilits dpending on how much lumber could be rounded up. Another set of bad floods in 1986 put the entire line out of service again. I last saw the line north of Willits about 2003 and it was in really bad shape. Many landslides, tunnel blocakges, and the grade was completely overgrown with thick foliage. I know the NCRA still has dreams of reopening the line to Eureka but I can’t imagine there ever being enough money in the cofffers to rehab that much railroad. It’s a beautiful area but I can’t think of another Class 1 railroad that had as much bad luck as the NWP. [:(]
As much as I would like to see NWP succeed, I think it is a lost cause. Not only do they need several million dollars to reopen the line, you can count on a major landslide again if the line is reopened.