End Of The
Line (formerly Present)
As
with all things that begin with a bang, the
McCloud River Railroad ended with a whimper. By
most fair estimates the railroad should have
ended 20 years ago. Except for the loving
and inventive hands of Jeff and Verlene Forbis,
who bought the railroad when it had finished
it's corporate usefulness, the railroad would
have been nothing but a string of rust in 1990.
But a couple of rough winters coupled with what
can only be called overzealous environmental
regulations and new techniques in construction
all combined to put the railroad in an untenable
economic condition. I give all props to
the Forbis' for their herculean effort in
keeping our favorite shortline running as long
as they could, it was obviously an effort
of love.
Over the the many months
intervening there were many rumors, many
hopes each one of them fading in the distance as
the last whistle blew.
As ever this website is
dedicated to the celebration of the railroad and
not it's demise. If you would like more
information on the scrapping of the McCloud you
can
click here and visit Jeff
Moore's excellent website.
The picture above is of
cars stored in Hambone in 2005.
The connection to the BN (BNSF) had already been
severed by then. |


McCloud Caboose #102

Not much use on this line. Track into rip track in
McCloud |