Nostalgia & History > The Late, Great McCloud Railroad

Since we are rollin' towards Winter here's three images from the McCloud, all taken on January 20, 1966 around Milepost 25 (or so the slides say). Keep in mind that in 1966 steam was very hard to find and the post war fans of the time were all heeding David P. Morgan's advice to search out steam wherever one could find it.

These were all taken by the late Jim Wren, who followed Morgan's credo to the letter, forgoing taking photos of diesels like they were vermin. Ironically, most of the steam he shot in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s is still around today! The diesels he shunned (for the most part) are not!

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Regarding those images from that collection, you don't have any side shots or other detail views of the log flats shown in the middle photo, do you?

Thanks!

Jeff Johnston
www.trainvideosandparts.com

Here's a black & white photo I took of this same McCloud trip. Train had 3 cabooses where the passengers rode. Two months later (March 19, 1966) I sat next to Jim Wren in the caboose between Fort Bragg and Willits on a photo trip behind Cal-Western #45. That's the last time I ever saw him.

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It sure is strange what we like and what we wish we had more of.

I've seen plenty of McCloud #25. What I'd love to ride behind is an excoursion on the McCloud behind Baldwin DRS15-66 or RS12 diesel locomotives.

Never thought I'd think that.

Stan Praisewater