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McCloud Rails: Freight Operations
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Prior to mid-summer 2006, the McCloud River Railroad Company and the McCloud Railway Company both
were primarily
oriented towards hauling freight. As detailed elsewhere on this site, however, a declining traffic
base finally forced the McCloud Railway to end freight service to the last two regular shippers on
the line, both in Burney, and to abandon the railroad east of McCloud.
The original purpose of the McCloud River Railroad was to provide freight service to
its parent, the McCloud River Lumber Company. However, as the timber industry in the
area grew, the railroad extended service to other sawmills as well. Freight traffic on the road
has almost always been primarily outbound lumber and forest products. Through the 1960’s and
into the 1970’s, no less than six sawmills shipped over the rails of the McCloud River. The
six sawmills were: |
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The combined output of these six sawmills were enough to warrant one train a day over each of the
railroad’s three lines (McCloud-Mt. Shasta, McCloud-Burney, and McCloud-Lookout). However,
by 1980 the only sawmill left operating on the railroad was the Lorenz Lumber Company (by this time
a Fiberboard/Louisiana Pacific property) and service over the railroad dropped to extremely
low levels. California lumber giant Sierra Pacific Industries re-opened the old Scott Lumber
Company sawmill in about 1982 or 1983, providing a significant boost to carloadings and operations.
The McCloud River Railroad and the McCloud Railway Company operated the following basic jobs to
keep the supply of empties in and loads out flowing. The three basic jobs operated by the railroad
over the past 20 years are as follows: |
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