Western Railroad Discussion > McCloud Railway returning?

Facebook page going by McCloud Railway Company has posted a picture from a shop and indicates they have a big announcement coming this week.  The page states "Mt. Shasta Dinner Train coming soon!"

Wish them the best of luck through what they are doing.  There certainly have been some interesting movements in the Williams properties in recent months.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

---

That's good to see those long out of service and vandalized former VIA passenger cars in McCloud getting back into service. 

It looks like you may be running your railbikes out of McCloud now as well?

 

Very creative campaign.
Good to see some action on the old route.

+ Should add that the FB info says railbikes east from McCloud on a flat section of remaining track. The previous Dinner Train was from McCloud to Mt Shasta over some serious grades and a switchback.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/26 13:24 by TCnR.

---

This seems like a 180 degree turnabout from my impression that the McCRRY was basically moribund and in the process of scrapping itself.  Great to hear that I'm wrong.  Evidently there must be a new funding stream for not only rehabilitating the cars but also for clearing the vegetation from the ROW from Mt. Shasta City to McCloud and bringing the roadbed and tracks up to slow speed passenger standards.

I'd love to learn more about the background behind this development.
Oliver Barrett

Topfuel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It looks like you may be running your railbikes
> out of McCloud now as well?
>

No, not us. I researched the route last last year when we trying to find a new home and I determined it would be financially impossible not to lose my shirt operating there.  Everyone thinks they can make a fortune on these machines, but many squeak by.  The problem with McCloud is there isn't enough population density nearby to support a recreational rail product.  Within 100 miles which is the limit most people tend to travel for a day trip there is only 300,000 people.  In addition it gets very hot in McCloud. Hovers around 95-100 most of the summer, your peak time for people getting out to do activities  In fall the weather is nice, but for some weird reason people stop doing activities after Labor Day when the weather gets really nice everywhere. There are also very steep grades that will zap battery life so you need enough batteries to get you over the route and you'll be charging often.  There are also complexities with switchbacks and railbikes that require them to be turned often.  The outlook will be even worse for a dinner train in the area. Before 2008 it was tough going, today the economics are even harder for one with higher food and labor expenses.  You have to charge a lot to make it work and I doubt the region can support that. 

We are operating outside Potlatch, Idaho and our 100 mile radius population is about 1.2 million. Still low, and it is barely enough to break even after we pay labor expenses, equipment positioning, maintenance, railroad's commission, credit card commissions, insurance, and so on.  We have been filling most of our 13 tours weekly, but we only have 8 handcars running and while having a few more would save on labor expenses, it would be negligible. My son has been able to attract millions of views on our social media channels, most local, more than we ever accomplished in Monterey, and people are coming.  We should be doing better than we are with the exposure.  Our machines are completely electrified and you don't have to lift a muscle if you don't want to. That is except, the muscle to push the power button to power the handcar over the tracks.  

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Thanks, Todd for your detailed response.

 I can't think of any track over the  current McCloud that is level. The chances for rear enders going down the  steep grades on either side of the summit would be very high. As for the switchbacks can you run the bikes backwards?

McCloud Wye to Ash Creek is their planned operation.

Ash Creek is where the Rail Trail takes over. The Rail Trail folks own or oversee the old ROW east of McCloud / Ash Creek.

https://www.greatshastarailtrail.org/trail-concept-plan

In other words there are two seperate business entities, the Trail and the remaining RR ( the three parties described in the post below ), no overlap, no shared trackage.

+ edit to emphasis the difference of the Trail project vs the RR project



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/26 09:43 by TCnR.

Possibly a Hatfields vs. McCoys deal brewing ???

clickclack Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>  I can't think of any track over the  current
> McCloud that is level. The chances for rear enders
> going down the  steep grades on either side of
> the summit would be very high. As for the
> switchbacks can you run the bikes backwards?

The section they are running over flat enought that they probably don't need electric.  Scenery is not as spectacular as the other side. The other direction would be a roller coaster run and the railbikes with the plastic wheels would fly off the tracks on curves.  Our former fleet that we built had speed enforcement and would have worked.  We sold them to the V&T where they are perfectly suited for their steep grades there. They arrived last week, rather sad to see them go, but their absense will make room for a new machine design.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

As a near lifelong fan of the road and having written a couple books on the subject, I’ve been following this with quite a bit of interest.

First off, there are at least three parties involved in the current effort. Williams is still the owner of record of the two operating companies, McCloud Railway Company and Shasta Sunset Corporation, including the operating assets. The Forbis family still owns the underlying real estate and structures through their company, 4 Rails Inc. There is a third party in the mix that is the source of the financing behind the current effort, the person appears to have a background mostly in aerospace. There have been no changes with business registrations with the State of California nor filings with the Surface Transportation Board to show that there have been any changes to the underlying ownership structure, at least yet.

The current work started back in late February or early March with brush removal. I’ve heard from some parties in the Mt Shasta area who are very upset that nothing had been done by early summer with the removed brush and trees that had been piled next to the tracks and the resulting firs hazard that represents. By mid-March they had a Trackmobile on site that moved the two VIA coaches into the shop and parked the caboose out front, and some mechanical work started.

One of the things I have noticed is a lack of any obvious motors on the railbikes, that is looking to be a petal powered show. Initial indications are those will be operated on a three or so mile run on the old main line heading east behind the sawmill, which still entails a pretty stiff adverse grade up through the yard.

I’m happy and heartened to see something happening with the railroad, but they have some serious obstacles. To add to what Todd said, the Shasta Sunset Dinner Train at its height carried around 15,000 people a year, and even at that level the late Jeff Forbis, then owner, was frank at times that the passenger business required some subsidy from the freight side to remain viable. The Great Recession of 2008 hit patronage hard, only 8,000 paying customers rode the train in 2008, and around 6,500 in 2009, the last full year of operations. The railroad has now gone 16 years without any maintenance or upkeep, and the investments required in track and equipment alone is going to be in the millions of dollars before they turn revenue wheel one on anything bigger than railbikes. There is also the issue of where an operational base could be built, the railroad no longer owns the depot site in downtown McCloud and the rails now end above the Columbero Street crossing. Hypothetically the tracks could be rebuilt if the railroad could get a right-of-way back from the current owner, but the old rectory structure from the Catholic church now sits where the dinner train’s ticket office and loading platforms one stood. Baring that they will be needing to look at developing new boarding areas and all that entails (parking, bathrooms, ADA access, etc, etc).

I also have some significant questions about customer base, most of the Shasta Sunset’s patronage came from the San Francisco and Sacramento areas, and that’s a long ways to drive to get to McCloud, and given what AI is doing to the tech industry a lot of people who might have had disposable income for a Shasta getaway weekend may no longer have those kinds of resources.

I look forward to seeing how this develops and especially what their big announcement coming later this week is. I don’t expect given the current state of the property and equipment that any actual rail operations (beyond railbikes) are feasible before maybe next summer.

Bottom line, going to be a lot of money thrown at this with some pretty dicey looking prospects for earning any returns, much less an operating profit.

Those are my thoughts.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

Posted from iPhone

Thank you Jeff for that interesting information.
Oliver Barrett

There has been a definate increase in foreign tourism at Burney Falls, which is close by.  It has increased so much that 2026 is the first year you need make reservations to get into the park on the weekends.

I'm amazed that anyone is reporting an increase in foreign tourists. I don't believe I've heard of anywhere else that is experiencing this. 

So color me skeptical that this trend is real. 

march_hare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm amazed that anyone is reporting an increase in
> foreign tourists. I don't believe I've heard of
> anywhere else that is experiencing this. 
>
> So color me skeptical that this trend is real. 

It is not necessarily foreign, it is everyone.  This is influencer tourism. Social media influencers are always looking for something to bring them eyeballs and waterfalls are good for that. For several years Burney Falls along with other falls throughout the country have been under siege by social media followers. In the old days one would have to buy a guide book to find these places. These days a viral video will bring unlimited visitorship. If you are in the tourism business like me you love these people. 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

An article appeared in Railfan and Railroad Magazine on August 4th: https://railfan.com/mccloud-railway-on-track-for-revival/

McCloud Railway On Track For Revival by —Justin Franz 

The McCloud Railway, one of California’s most famous short lines that has been closed for 16 years, is reopening. On August 4, the short line announced that it would soon resume operations, and sources close to the effort tell Railfan & Railroad that they hope to begin offering rail bike rides later this year and diesel-powered excursions in 2027.

The railroad was founded by the McCloud River Lumber Company in 1897 as the McCloud River Railroad Company. The railroad’s primary purpose was to move logs and connect the company’s sawmill near Mt. Shasta with the Southern Pacific. Eventually, the railroad operated a 130-mile route through the woods of Northern California. The railroad was owned by a number of companies before being sold to Jeff Forbis’ 4-Rails, Inc., which renamed it the McCloud Railway. In the 1990s, the railroad began offering excursions, including behind steam. Freight traffic continued to decline, and by the 2000s, it had become a struggling excursion railroad. In early 2010, McCloud ceased operations, and the following year it was purchased by Mike Williams Group. Little has happened on the railroad since. 

Recently, Williams was joined by a new business partner who wanted to revive the line, which today includes about 15 miles of main line between McCloud and Mt. Shasta. This year, workers have been slowly clearing the right-of-way of trees and brush. They have also been working on two McCloud SD38 locomotives and some ex-VIA Rail equipment that will be used on future excursions. The rail bike tours, operating under the name Shasta Railbike Experience, are expected to start even sooner out of McCloud. 

The railroad plans to host a volunteer weekend on September 25-27. Among the projects to be tackled are clearing the right-of-way, replacing ties, repairing buildings, prepping locomotives and cars, and getting three recently reacquired speeders up and running. For more information, visit McCloud Railway Company on Facebook. 



This article was posted on: August 4, 2026