Nostalgia & History > Motorcar'n Up the NWP (Part 10 of 13)

Continued...

This was a 3 day trek:  1.Willits-Scotia 116mi  2.Scotia-Samoa-Scotia 90mi  3.Scotia-Willits 116mi.   A fairly hard push for a 50yr old Fairmont M-19, but doable.  On Day 2 Ron was on the Greyhound headed home because he was due out on the next day's Zephyr.  (Hey!  15yrs earlier I used to drive the Greyhound  Eureka turn out of SF- a run I always enjoyed).  I took the Beekeeper Guy along as my passenger-  a fair trade for a soft bed the night before.
SR

Photo 1.  A gorgeous still morning running along the Scotia Bluffs made famous in photos by Steinheimer and others.
Photo 2.  Beads for a ride?  Tempting...    how about magic beans? any magic beans?
Photo 3.  I don't know where this little front street is.  Anyone recognize it?

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Photo #3 looks like Loleta , South of Eureka. I sure miss the N.W.P.

Taller white building behind the white car is the Bank of Loleta.

You sure don't give the 50 yro Fairmont Railway Motors product much credit. With

a little TLC,it may have another 50 in it. Fantastic little machine.

Ha! Yea, I've always held that if they ever dropped The Big One all that would be left would be cockroaches and belt drive Fairmonts.
SR

I suppose the wear was more on me than my car?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/17 10:09 by BoilingMan.

Great shot on the bluffs. #2 looks like Carlotta.

- L.F.

Ref the Bluffs shot, what a stupid place to put a railroad!! Oh and BTW, love your trip shots, hell of
a way to see a railroad.

Out

The whole RR was a dicey proposition- the lure of lumber must have been blinding!
ATSF was probably wise to bail early.
SR

You didn't get to the Loleta Cheese Factory? Shame!

TJY

loleta Wrote:
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> Great shot on the bluffs. #2 looks like Carlotta.
>
> - L.F.


Sorry not Carlotta but Alton, the junction with the branch to Carlotta.

- L.F.

loleta Wrote:
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> loleta Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Great shot on the bluffs. #2 looks like
> Carlotta.
> >
> > - L.F.
>
>
> Sorry not Carlotta but Alton, the junction with
> the branch to Carlotta.
>
> - L.F.

I was in Carlotta awhile back, and there still were a few cars rusting away on the branch, stranded by a combination of 20 foot trees between the rails and several stretches of missing track.

EO

This might be too late for anyone to read it, but some backstory behind the railroad along the bluffs. Fields Landing (not far south of Eureka) was the shipping point for pretty much everything south of Humboldt Bay, including supplies in and then lumber out as the redwood industry matured. Pacific Lumber Company commenced building its mill at Scotia about 1882, and to transport lumber north to Fields Landing the company incorporated the Humboldt Bay & Eel River Railroad, which started negotiating for right-of-ways on the route. However, at this same time the Eel River & Eureka Railroad (itself formed by several prominent Humboldt bay lumbermen, including John Vance and William Carson) started building south from the bay, opening a continuous line from Fields Landing to Hydesville (east of Alton on what later became the Carlotta branch) by late 1884. In order to head off any possible competition on this route, the Eel River & Eureka offered Pacific Lumber an attractive rate on lumber traffic from Alton to Fields Landing; PL agreed, and thus when it built the Humboldt Bay & Eel River north from Scotia, it extended only as far as Alton and the connection with the Eel River & Eureka, which handled traffic north from there. This allowed Pacific Lumber to devote its resources into building south from Scotia along the Eel, chiefly to tap its timber reserves.

Which brings us to the bluffs. It's been reported in a couple places that the Humboldt Bay & Eel River originally planned to take the route roughly following that used by today's Highway 101; however, a greedy and speculative landowner got wind of the plans and bought up the key parcels around Rio Dell, then demanded exorbitant fees to cross the land, which made it cheaper- at least in the short run- to follow the outside bend of the river across the bluffs rather than crossing the river twice and submitting to the highway robbery. The Santa Fe gained control of the Humboldt Bay & Eel River in 1902 and the Eel River & Eureka in 1904, only to merge both of them into the Northwestern Pacific in 1907. Would be interesting to know if the NWP ever reconsidered bypassing the bluffs or not.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

A great addition to understanding what we're seeing on this tour-  I am as much a grasshopper as anyone following along here!
Thanks, Jeff
SR