Southern Pacific Transportation Company The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

formed the Oregon and Eureka Railroad in 1903 in an agreement to use

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

railroads as part of a line connecting

Humboldt County (California) Humboldt County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,463. The county seat is Eureka. Humboldt County comprises the Eureka– Arcata–Fortuna, California Micropolitan Statistic ...

sawmills with the national rail network.

Northwestern Pacific Railroad The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional shortline railroad utilizing a stretch of the 271 mile mainline between Schellville and Windsor with freight and Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter trains. Formerly, it was a regi ...

offered service over the route from 1911 through 1933. The northern of the line remained in use as a Hammond Lumber Company logging branch until 1948.

History

John Vance built a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

near the Mad River community of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, in 1875 with a railroad to transport lumber from the sawmill to Mad River Slough on

Humboldt Bay Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, United States. It is the largest protected body of water on the West Coast between Sa ...

for loading onto ships. This Humboldt and Mad River Railroad had three locomotives and connected with paddle-wheel steamboats from

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...

at Mad River Slough. Vance constructed a new sawmill in

Samoa, California Samoa (formerly Brownsville) is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. It is located northwest of Eureka, at an elevation of 23 feet (7 m). Samoa is located in the northern peninsula of Humboldt Bay and is the site of the Sam ...

, in 1893; and extended his railroad both north and south to bring logs from Lindsay Creek to the Samoa sawmill. The railroad was incorporated as the Eureka and Klamath River Railroad in 1896. Andrew Hammond purchased the railroad and sawmill on 30 August 1900. The Oregon and Eureka Railroad formed through Hammond's 1903 agreement with Southern Pacific was equipped with seven locomotives, two passenger

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, and 166 freight cars. The railroad had 212 freight cars by 1905, and was extended in 1906 to carry lumber from the Little River Redwood Company sawmill at

Crannell, California Crannell (formerly, Bullwinkel, Bulwinkle, Crannel, and Camp Nine) is a former settlement in Humboldt County, California. It is located southeast of Trinidad, at an elevation of . The location was formerly a company town for sawmill workers of ...

. The Oregon and Eureka was included in the

(NWP) merger on 8 January 1907, and extended to

Trinidad, California Trinidad (Spanish for "Trinity"; Yurok: ''Chuerey'') is a seaside city in Humboldt County, located on the Pacific Ocean north of the Arcata-Eureka Airport and north of the college town of Arcata. Trinidad is noted for its coastline with ten ...

on 22 June. Northwestern Pacific trains began operating to Trinidad on 1 July 1911. Hammond Lumber Company was formed in 1912 using some of the Oregon and Eureka rolling stock on logging branches off the former Oregon and Eureka main line. Hammond merged with the Little River Redwood Company on 24 February 1931. Northwestern Pacific ended service to Trinidad on 1 March 1933; and dismantled the line between Korblex and Little River Junction. The southern end of the line linked the Samoa mill complex to the national rail network for another half century. NWP sold the line north of Little River Junction back to Hammond Lumber Company. Hammond extended logging branches northward toward Big Lagoon until a 1945

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

destroyed many of the trestles. The last logging train ran on 23 August 1948.

Route

* Milepost 0 -

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

* Milepost 1 - Samoa Yard * Milepost 1.3 - Carsons * Milepost 2 - Humboldt Northern Railroad crossing * Milepost 4 -

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

* Milepost 6 - Daniels * Milepost 7.5 -

Arcata Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...

* Milepost 8.5 - Normal Junction (to

) * Milepost 9.5 - Janes Creek * Milepost 11 -

Korblex, California Arcata (; Wiyot language, Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok language, Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay (United States), Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, Humboldt County, Californ ...

* Milepost 11.5 - Minor Junction * Milepost 11.9 - McCloskey (water tank) * Milepost 12 - Englehart * Milepost 12.5 -

(4-stall roundhouse and

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

built in 1898 and dismantled in 1920) * Milepost 13 - Shingle Mill * Milepost 14 - Dairy * Milepost 15 - Thompsons * Milepost 16 - Carsons No. 2 * Milepost 17 - Fieldbrook * Milepost 17.5 - Camp 5 * Milepost 20 - Little River Junction (to connection at Camp 9 with Humboldt Northern logging railroad from Samoa) (water tank) * Milepost 21 - Crannell * Milepost 22 - Cole Spur * Milepost 22.5 - Camp 10 * Milepost 23 - Moonstone * Milepost 24 - Luffenholtz (2-stall roundhouse built in 1904 burned in 1906) * Milepost 24.5 - Kalstrom's Siding * Milepost 25 - 25 Junction (with Hammond Lumber Company branches toward Big Lagoon) (water tank) * Milepost 26 - Dead Man * Milepost 26.5 - Culbert * Milepost 27.5 -

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

(2-stall roundhouse and

built in 1913 and dismantled in 1924)

Oregon and Eureka Locomotives

additional Hammond Lumber Company Locomotives used during NWP operation

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon Eureka Railroad Logging railroads in the United States Transportation in Humboldt County, California Eureka, California Defunct California railroads