Northwestern Pacific Railroad

In the late 1800s both the Southern Pacific Railroad (“SP”) and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (“AT&SF”) had great interests in building lines north from San Francisco to Humboldt County to transport lumber south. The Southern Pacific Railroad controlled the southern end of the line from Willits south to Marin and Schellville, while the AT&SF controlled line south from Eureka through Humboldt County. Both railroads planned to build a line north, the AT&SF starting with a boat connection in present-day Larkspur, California, and the Southern Pacific, starting at its interchange in American Canyon, north through Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties to finally terminate in Eureka, California. As plans went forward it became clear that only one railroad would be profitable serving Mendocino and Humboldt Counties, so the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe entered into a joint agreement, and in 1906 merged 42 railroad companies between Marin and Humboldt Bay to create one railroad line stretching from Sausalito to Eureka. Completion of the project was disrupted by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake; plans and right-of-way documents were destroyed in the subsequent fire. After a time-expedient "punt" of the route through the unstable Eel River Canyon, construction was finally completed in October 1914 when a "golden spike" ceremony and celebration was held to mark the accomplishment. There were also dozens of miles of narrow-gauge trackage in Marin and Sonoma Counties.

The depot at Asti

The railroad used ferries of San Francisco Bay for freight transfer until connected to the national rail network at Napa Junction by the Santa Rosa and Carquinez Railroad in 1888. The Santa Rosa and Carquinez remained part of SP independent of the NWP with a primary freight interchange at Schellville. SP's Santa Rosa branch continued from Schellville through Sonoma to a separate terminal yard on North Street in Santa Rosa. Freight interchange was predominantly through Ignacio, but there was a second connection to the SP in Santa Rosa until the line through the Valley of the Moon was abandoned in 1935.[3]

The railroad service became popular; an early daily NWP timetable shows 10 passenger trains each way, plus dozens of freights. The rail line soon replaced steam schooners as the main means of getting lumber from Humboldt County to market. Rail service to inland areas facilitated local development of the lumber industry.

In 1929 the AT&SF sold its half-interest to the Southern Pacific, making the NWP a full SP subsidiary.

The SP era

Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Train at Santa Rosa, California in 1911
Overview
Headquarters	Schellville, California - Operational Palo Alto, California - Administrative
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
Technical
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)
Other
Website	North Coast Railroad Authority Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Revenue freight traffic, in millions of net ton-miles (P&SR not incl)

Year	Traffic
1925	150
1944	348
1960	604
1970	421

Source: ICC annual reports

Passenger service boomed until the 1930s, when improved roads and highways made traveling and shipping by motor vehicle more accessible. By 1935 freight and passenger service diminished because of the Great Depression. With the onset of World War II, freight shipments rose while passenger service remained constant. Freight service on the NWP increased in the 1950s owing to an increase in lumber demand 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.[4]

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 San Rafael and Eureka with number 182 on standby. The #3/#4 trains offered sleeping cars, a cafe-lounge in addition to coach cars. Passengers from San Francisco would take Greyhound Buses from the San Francisco Ferry Building at the base of Market Street to San Rafael.[5] NWP locomotives 112, 140, 141, 143, and 178 plus SP numbers 2345, 2356, 2564, 2582, and 2810 were stored at Tiburon for emergency use;[6] but steam power had disappeared by 1955. On November 10, 1958, all mainline passenger service was discontinued south of Willits.[7] The only remaining service was a tri-weekly Willits-Eureka round trip, operated by a single Budd Rail Diesel Car, which ran until April 30, 1971.[8] When Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail service on May 1, 1971, it did not continue service on the NWP.

North Coast Railroad Authority

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

The California Legislature formed the NCRA in 1989 to save the NWP from total abandonment. NCRA purchased the Eureka Southern in 1992 and leased the line to the newly formed North Coast Railroad[13] which operated until late 1996, when severe flooding of the Eel River led to widespread landslide damage and destruction of roadbed which remained unrepaired as of 2020. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) prohibited any train operation north of Willits in 1998.[14] This order was amended in 1999 to allow the connecting California Western Railroad to resume operation to Willits Depot and turn trains on the wye at Willits Yard.[15]

While Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District began purchasing sections of the NWP's south end from the SP, and SP began to lease the line to the California Northern Railroad (CFNR). CFNR operated one train from Willits to Hopland, where freight cars were transferred to a second train from Hopland to Schellville.[16] The track from Lombard to Healdsburg is owned by SMART, and the CFNR had trackage rights granted from Schellville to Willits.[17]

When the CFNR lease was terminated, the NCRA took over operations using "Black Widow" EMD GP9 and SD9 locomotives running both freight service and occasional passenger excursion service from Santa Rosa and Healdsburg to Willits from 1996 to 1998. The line was plagued by a series of harsh El Nino storms causing washouts and bridge instability until the FRA shut down all operations over the entire length of the line.[18] The six Black Widows were returned to their lessor Omni-trax in 1998, and former SP SD9s, leased from BUGX, and former North Coast Railroad GP9s, owned by the NCRA, were pressed into service. These locomotives and some maintenance of way equipment remained in storage at the Willits and Schellville yards, with the first set being returned to BUGX in December 2016.

In January 2001, the NWP resumed service between Schellville and Cotati using three leased locomotives with reporting mark "NWPY",[19] but service was discontinued in September 2001 because the operator lacked capital to continue operations.

• California Midland Railroad extended the Eel River and Eureka Railroad up the Van Duzen River to Carlotta, and was merged into SF&NW in 1903.
• California Northwestern Railway formed in 1898 for Southern Pacific Railroad to assume control of the SF&NP and extend the line from Ukiah to Willits in 1902. An extension was built from Willits to Sherwood in 1904. Merged into NWP in 1907.
• California and Northern Railway was formed by Santa Fe Railroad to build north from Eureka to Arcata in 1901, and was merged into SF&NW in 1904.
• Cloverdale and Ukiah Railroad extended the SF&NP from Cloverdale to Ukiah in 1889.
• Eel River and Eureka Railroad connected Humboldt Bay with the Eel River town of Fortuna in 1884, and was merged into SF&NW in 1903.
• Fort Bragg and Southeastern Railroad formed in 1905 for Santa Fe Railroad to assume control of the isolated 24-mile (39 km) Albion River Railroad built in 1891. Merged into NWP in 1907, but never connected to the remainder of the NWP system.
• Fulton and Guerneville Railroad constructed the 15-mile (24 km) SF&NP branch from Fulton to Guerneville in 1877.
• Marin and Napa Railroad extended the Sonoma Valley narrow-gauge 8 miles (13 km) from Sears Point to connect with the SF&NP at Ignacio in 1888.
• North Pacific Coast Railroad built a 3 ft narrow gauge line from Sausalito via the Tomales Bay coast to the Russian River in 1876. Became North Shore Railroad in 1902.
• North Shore Railroad formed to assume control of the North Pacific Coast narrow-gauge in 1902. Merged into NWP in 1907.
• Oregon and Eureka Railroad was formed in 1903 for Southern Pacific Railroad to assume control of logging lines around Arcata at the north end of Humboldt Bay.[26] Selected lines to Trinidad were merged into Northwestern Pacific in 1911.[27] The Trinidad extension reverted to Hammond Lumber Company control in 1933 and operated as logging branches of the Humboldt Northern Railway until 1948.[28]
• Pacific Lumber Company built 7 miles (11 km) of track in 1885 to connect their mill at Scotia with the Eel River and Eureka Railroad at Alton. Branch lines were subsequently built up the Eel River; and these lines merged into SF&NW in 1903.
• Petaluma and Haystack Railroad built from Petaluma to Haystack Landing on the Petaluma River in 1864. Purchased by SF&NP in 1876.
• San Francisco and Eureka Railway formed by Southern Pacific Railroad in 1903 to build a connection from Willits to Eureka. Merged into NWP in 1907.
• San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SF&NP) built from Donahue landing on the Petaluma River to Santa Rosa in 1870 and extended to Cloverdale in 1872. Extended from Petaluma to San Rafael in 1879. Extended from San Rafael to Tiburon by the San Francisco & San Rafael in 1884. Extended from Cloverdale to Ukiah by the Cloverdale & Ukiah in 1889. Merged in NWP in 1907.
• San Francisco and Northwestern Railway (SF&NW) formed by Santa Fe Railroad in 1903 to consolidate the California and Northern Railway from Arcata to Eureka, the Eel River and Eureka Railroad from Eureka to Alton, The California Midland from Alton to Carlotta, and the Pacific Lumber Company lines from Alton up the Eel River. Merged into NWP in 1907.
• San Francisco and San Rafael Railroad extended the SF&NP from San Rafael to Tiburon in 1884.
• San Rafael and San Quentin Railroad (SRSQ) was a narrow-gauge railroad formed on 25 February 1869 to connect a ferry landing at Point San Quentin with San Rafael.[29]
• Santa Rosa, Sebastopol and Green Valley Railroad built the 6-mile (9.7 km) SF&NP branch from Santa Rosa to Sebastopol in 1890.
• Sonoma and Santa Rosa Railroad extended the Sonoma Valley narrow-gauge from Sonoma to Glen Ellen in 1882.
• Sonoma Valley Prismoidal Railway was an early wooden monorail that was to be built from Petaluma River landing 5 miles (8.0 km) to Schellville in 1876. However, only the segment from Norfolk landing (later called Wingo) on Sonoma Creek was ever completed. The line ceased operations in May 1877 and was converted to the narrow-gauge Sonoma Valley Railroad beginning in 1878.
• Sonoma Valley Railroad purchased Sonoma Valley Prismoidal Railway in 1878, converted it to a conventional 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge, and extended it into Sonoma in 1879. Extended from Sonoma to Glen Ellen by the Sonoma & Glen Ellen in 1882. Extended from Sears Point landing to rail connection at Ignacio by Marin & Napa in 1888.

Northwestern Pacific Railroad Route in 1931

NWP mileposts conform to Southern Pacific Railroad convention of distance from San Francisco:[30]

• Milepost 40.4 – Schellville (formerly junction with Sonoma Branch)
• Milepost 28.7 – Black Point bridge over Petaluma River
• Milepost 25.8 – Ignacio junction with San Rafael branch
• Milepost 27.8 – Novato
• Milepost 37.2 – bridge over Petaluma River
• Milepost 38.5 – Petaluma
• Milepost 46.1 – Cotati
• Milepost 53.8 – Santa Rosa
• Milepost 58.5 – Fulton (formerly junction with Guerneville branch)
• Milepost 62.9 – Windsor (Currently the northernmost operational and open point on NWP)
• Milepost 67.6 – bridge over Russian River
• Milepost 68 – Healdsburg
• Milepost 75.8 – Geyserville
• Milepost 85.2 – Cloverdale
• Milepost 100.1 – Hopland
• Milepost 114 – Ukiah
• Milepost 120 – Calpella
• Milepost 122.1 – Redwood Valley
• Milepost 131.4 – Ridge summit between Russian River and Eel River drainages is highest point on line
• Milepost 139.5 – Willits interchange with (formerly Union Lumber Company) California Western Railroad (AKA Skunk Train), which is still operational as a tourist line. A reconnection is planned, but as of June 2017, no timetable for this is in place.
• Milepost 166.5 – line enters Eel River Canyon at Dos Rios
• Milpost 194.8 – bridge over Eel River at south entrance of Island Mountain tunnel
• Milepost 206.5 – bridge over Eel River
• Milepost 209 – Alderpoint
• Milepost 237.7 – South Fork bridge over Eel River
• Milepost 255.6 – Scotia (formerly interchange with Pacific Lumber Company)
• Milepost 261.8 – bridge over Van Duzen River
• Milepost 262.7 – Alton junction with Carlotta Branch
• Milepost 266.1 – Fortuna
• Milepost 271 – Loleta
• Milepost 284.1 – Eureka
• Milepost 292.5 – Arcata
• Milepost 295.2 – Korblex (formerly interchange with Northern Redwood Company Arcata and Mad River Railroad)
• Milepost 300.5 – Samoa (formerly interchange with Hammond Lumber Company Humboldt Northern Railway)

Mesa Grande station was served by dual-gauge track.

The NWP 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-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. Freight traffic was heavy as the lower Russian River valley was a major source of redwood lumber for rebuilding San Francisco after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The NWP narrow-gauge obtained additional freight cars from the South Pacific Coast Railroad (SPC) as the SPC was converted to standard gauge between 1907 and 1909. Ferries Lagunitas, Ukiah, and Sausalito carried narrow-gauge freight cars across San Francisco Bay from Sausalito to the dual-gauge San Francisco Belt Railroad.[55]

After the flooded Russian River destroyed the 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge NWP Guerneville branch bridge at Bohemia on 19 March 1907, NWP rebuilt the bridge one-half mile downriver; and extended the Guerneville branch from Monte Rio to Duncans Mills as dual-gauge by 1909. Redwood lumber was then shipped out over the Guerneville branch. A freight transfer shed was built at San Anselmo so narrow-gauge tracks could be removed from the ferries in 1910; and more than half of the narrow-gauge freight cars were scrapped by 1912. A daily freight train operated from Occidental to San Anselmo in the morning and returned to Occidental in the afternoon. The train included a coach for Sonoma County students attending school in Tomales. A freight engine stationed at Duncans Mills was operated by the Guerneville branch freight crew as needed to bring infrequent freight down from Cazadero for transfer to the Guerneville branch until the line up Austin Creek to Cazadero was standard-gauged in 1926.[55]

Summer tourists from San Francisco still visited Russian River vacation spots via joint narrow-gauge/standard-gauge NWP "triangle" excursions until 1927 when automobile travel became more popular. Standard-gauging of the southern end of the line from San Francisco Bay to Point Reyes Station at the head of Tomales Bay was completed on 5 April 1920. Freight service between Point Reyes Station and Occidental was reduced to thrice weekly with freight transfer at Point Reyes Station. Lumber production from the lower Russian River valley was ended by a wildfire on 17 September 1923. After the standard-gauge line was extended to Cazadero, service north of Point Reyes was reduced to a daily (except Sunday) mixed train to Camp Meeker and return until the last narrow-gauge train ran on 29 March 1930; and the remaining narrow-gauge line between Monte Rio and Point Reyes Station was dismantled that autumn.[55] The route of the dual-gauge line from Fulton to Duncan Mills later became the popular River Road connecting all the towns from the coast to the central county.

The Northwestern Pacific Railroad has been featured in several motion pictures and films, thanks to both the historical and natural backgrounds offered by the route.

One of the most notable is in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, which was filmed in downtown Santa Rosa, California in the summer of 1942, using the stone depot and railroad yard as a background, as well as stock footage shot from an NWP passenger train.

The NWP trestle at Greenbrae, Marin County, (MP 14.61) was featured in the 1971 film Dirty Harry. Clint Eastwood made a famous jump from the trestle onto a school bus loaded with kidnapped children passing underneath.[106]

Stock footage of a Eureka Southern "North Coast Daylight" train was used in an episode of ABC's TV show "Moonlighting," starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepard. The episode, titled "Next Stop Murder," aired on March 19, 1985 and was set on a murder mystery dinner train. Footage used included GP-38 #30 winding through South Fork and Shively, as well as a shot of the train passing through Tunnel #39.

A 1991 television remake of Shadow of a Doubt was filmed at the Petaluma NWP depot, using former Daylight passenger equipment owned by the NCRA and Southern Pacific 6051, loaned from the California State Railroad Museum.

In the 2003 film Cheaper by the Dozen, the Santa Rosa Railroad Square and depot area were used as backdrops.

The film Bloodloss or Day of Vengeance utilized the tracks for a filming location just south of Dos Rios in the summer of 2008.

• List of U.S. Class I railroads
• Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit, a commuter line using the Northwestern Pacific's former right-of-way

[1]

• Borden, Stanley T. (1963). Railroads of Eureka. The Western Railroader.
• Codoni, Fred; Trimble, Paul C. (2006). Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3121-9.
• Dickinson, A. Bray (1974). Narrow Gauge to the Redwoods. Corona del Mar, CA.: Trans-Anglo Books.
• Fox, Wesley (1983). Northwestern Pacific Pictorial. Naperville, Illinois: Wesley Fox. ISBN 978-0-9604-1221-1. OCLC 10073363.
• Koch, Michael (1971). The Shay locomotive: Titan of the Timber. Denver, CO.: The World Press. ASIN B0006WIHIE. OCLC 637411163.
• Stindt, Fred A. (1974). Trains to the Russian River. Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.
• Stindt, Fred A. (1978) [1964]. The Northwestern Pacific Railroad: Redwood Empire Route (3rd ed.). Redwood City, CA.: Fred A. Stindt. ASIN B0007F4A2M. OCLC 458861017.
• Stindt, Fred A. (1985). The Northwestern Pacific Railroad, 1964-1985. 2. Kelseyville, CA.: Fred A. Stindt. ISBN 978-0-9615-4650-2.

• Carranco, Lynwood (1982). Redwood Lumber Industry. San Marino, California: Golden West Books. ISBN 0-87095-084-3.
• Drury, George H. (2000). The Historical Guide to North American Railroads. Kalmbach Publishing, Co. ISBN 978-0-89024-356-5.
• Drury, George H. (1984). The Train-Watcher's Guide to North American Railroads. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0-89024-061-2.
• Kneiss, Gilbert H. (1956). Redwood Railways. Berkeley, California: Howell-North.
• Lewis, Edward A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide (5th ed.). Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0-89024-290-9.
• Robertson, Donald B. (1998). Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History - Volume IV - California. Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers. ISBN 0-87004-385-4.
• Sievers, Wald & Stindt, Fred A. (1969). N.W.P. Narrow Gauge. The Western Railroader.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northwestern Pacific Railroad.

• North Coast Railroad Authority Current owner of the new Northwestern Pacific
• Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society A non-profit California corporation dedicated to preserving the heritage of Redwood Empire railroading
• Railroads and the Redwood Empire NWP Pictures
• Northwestern Pacific Today A record of the rehabilitation and operation of the NWP starting in 2009
• Northwestern Pacific Railroad Network A social network dedicated to sharing the heritage of Redwood Empire railroading
• Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company The official website of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad
• Video footage of the Eel River flood
• An NWP official's account of flood damage
• Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company Records. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.