Railroaders' Nostalgia > Mad Dog Chronicle # 126 Island Mountain Tunnel Fire

#126 Fire at tunnel 27 on the NWP

Late in the afternoon of September Six, 1978 I received a call from Hi Fowler, the District Superintendent of the NWP. There was a report of heavy smoke coming from the mouth of tunnel 27, the tunnel just to the north of Island Mountain. This is the longest of the forty-one tunnels on the NWP, 4314 feet long. Hi told me that he was leaving Eureka headed in that direction and that he had ordered all the water cars that he had to be moved to that location. Jones had already left for home. I called him on the PBX to report. Hi’s initial estimate was that they might be out of service for two or three days.

Reports like this one could generate a lot of additional phone calls. A special work train was called from Roseville with more water cars. Senior B&B supervisors with experience in fighting tunnel fires were sent to the scene from everywhere on the SP.

The reports the next morning were not good. It now looked like we might be out for over a week. This tunnel had several concrete lined firebreaks. However, it was largely lined with wood. It was one of these wooden sections in the middle of the tunnel, which was burning. For those of you who don’t know, tunnels can create their own draft. When on fire, they can burn intensely and some can burn for days.

After several attempts at suppressing the fire with first water and then foam, a decision was made to seal off both ends of this tunnel and starve the fire for oxygen. By this time the estimate was we would be out of service for at least two weeks. Nothing worked. The fire ultimately burned for over two weeks. It then took several days for the rock to cool off before anyone could enter the tunnel.

Ultimately, it was discovered that more than 1700 feet of the tunnel had collapsed, or caved in. Another seven hundred feet was severely damaged. The two hundred foot concrete firebreaks had not done the job, as the fire had bridged the gaps and kept right on going. Part of the problem was that on sections, which had been gunnited over steel tunnel sets, there was timber lagging to brace the roof behind the gunnite. Once the fire got into this timber lagging it could burn for days and you could not even get water on to the fire.

We now began an analysis of how to restore the north end of the NWP to operations. The high costs of maintaining the NWP in operation through the Eel River canyon were well known. The entire railroad had been washed out in floods in 1955 and 1964. Each time it had been restored to service. Part of the consideration was that between Scotia and Willits, a stretch of over one hundred miles there were no customers at all.

A barge operation from Eureka to Oakland was Jones solution. He had me write a report on this option. (Getting this report out in a timely fashion, with all factors documented was the reason for another temper outburst. I didn’t get it done fast enough to suit Jones.)

We also, briefly considered a new railroad, which would have connected Eureka with either Redding or Red Bluff. In the end the decision was made to restore the tunnel and to continue to live with the slides and sinks of the Eel River. A contract was let with Morrison- Knudsen to rebuild the tunnel. The initial construction schedule called for the tunnel to be restored to operation in six months. MK would work two ten-hour shifts for six days a week.

Construction did not start until December of 1978. There were a number of delays as the rock inside the tunnel was in much worse shape than was originally thought. With crews working from both ends, it was September 29, 1979 that the two crews met. It was December 7, 1979 before the first work train operated through the tunnel. The first revenue trains ran through the tunnel on December 10, 1979. Business never came back to the pre fire levels.

When the extent of the damage had been determined, NWP/SP had established reload allowances and reload centers at Redding, Willits and Ukiah. We captured a fair share of the lumber traffic that had moved out of Humboldt Bay before the fire. But by no means all of it. Many of the shippers contracted with truck lines to provide service from the mills direct to the customer. In many cases this service proved to be a better, faster, more reliable service. Most of this traffic never came back to the NWP.

We did not know it at the time. After all the traffic had all come back after both the 1955 and 1964 flood outages. This was actually the beginning of the end of the NWP as an economically viable entity as we shall see in future chronicles.

5/25/05
mdo

For all those who loved the NWP for what it was ( including myself), this WAS the day ( September 6, 1978) that the music died for the NWP. Yes, no more 100 plus car trains six days a week out of Eureka. No more 6 unit SD-9 helpers for Ridge Hill for two north and south trains. The first day of operations after the tunnel opened saw two 100 car trains of empties going north. BUT, as Mike pointed out, once shippers got the taste of door to door service in half the time of transit for a cheaper rate, they never came back to rail. And in less than six years, it was finished as a whole railroad. And so it goes...

BTW, the hauling allowance to Redding, Willits and Ukiah reloads was 30 cents a hundred weight.

Did anyone suggest an abandoment?

bobwilcox Wrote:
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> Did anyone suggest an abandoment?

No, not in 1978. SP was still commited to NWP rail operations at that time.

mdo

Who made the decission the truck trapped locomotives over mountain roads to get them out? It was quite a bold operation.

wharfrat Wrote:
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> Who made the decission the truck trapped
> locomotives over mountain roads to get them out?
> It was quite a bold operation.


Basically, Alan DeMoss, then the VPO of the SP.

The man who had the task of implimenting and excuting this endeavor was E J (Ed) Seil. He was the Assistant Superintendent for Mechanical Operations of the Western Division. Ed was an ex Marine who had been badly wounded during WW II in the Pacific, I thank at either Guadal Cannal or at Iwo Jima. Although not expected to survive, he did.

Ed was a real survivor. He is still alive, although not in good health.

Semper Fi, Ed.

I will cover this little exercise in a short while, complete with pictures.

mdo

For all those who have driven the Ridge Roads over the Coastal Range of Mendocino County will know what Mike is talking about. Some beautiful vistas from up there, but the task must have felt like WWII excerise to Seil.

I once saw some photos of some locomotives... GP-9's, being hauled on that extra heavy-duty moving equipment. Seems to me there was what, at least two big rigs... one pulling and one pushing to get the loco's out to Hwy. 101. Might have even been two big rig tractors pulling. I think they were using Bell Springs Road.

In the summer of '79, I did see several flatcars and boxcars that were hauled out from South Fork, down the Avenue of the Giants, up through Weott, and onto US 101 southbound.

MDO... Were you present when the CDF helicopter cut a phone line with its main rotor as it took off from Island Mtn.? Your next Chronicle should bring back some memories for me!

mdo Wrote:

> A barge operation from Eureka to Oakland was Jones
> solution. He had me write a report on this
> option.

I'm curious as to what your analysis of the barge operation was. Obviously this option was not chosen, but for what reasons? Too costly? Too slow? Not enough capacity? Every time I hear of efforts to reopen the North End, I wonder if it would not be cheaper for NCRA to establish and subsidize a barge operation rather than subsidize the rebuilding and maintenance of the railroad through the Eel River Canyon.

Thanks for the historical essays. They are enjoyable to read.

SW1200

To get to Dos Rios from Alderpoint without taking US 101; (Alderpoint is where they loaded the locomotives), you have to go east and up the other ridge opposite the Eel River and the railroad. That road will take you into Dos Rios... all gravel in those days. CalTrans wouldn't give the SP a permit for US 101 because they claimed the weight was too heavy for the bridges ( locomotives were minus their fuel tanks and trucks)

WR-44 Wrote:
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> I once saw some photos of some locomotives...
> GP-9's, being hauled on that extra heavy-duty
> moving equipment. Seems to me there was what, at
> least two big rigs... one pulling and one pushing
> to get the loco's out to Hwy. 101. Might have
> even been two big rig tractors pulling. I think
> they were using Bell Springs Road.

Could not use Highway 101 for this locomotive move.
Four SD 9 locomotives with their trucks and fuel tanks removed
were moved from Alderpoint to Island Mountain around the blocked tunnel

We could move the empty freight cars via hwy 101.



> In the summer of '79, I did see several flatcars
> and boxcars that were hauled out from South Fork,
> down the Avenue of the Giants, up through Weott,
> and onto US 101 southbound.
>
> MDO... Were you present when the CDF helicopter
> cut a phone line with its main rotor as it took
> off from Island Mtn.? Your next Chronicle should
> bring back some memories for me!

No I missed that particular show.

SW1200 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I'm curious as to what your analysis of the barge
> operation was. Obviously this option was not
> chosen, but for what reasons? Too costly? Too
> slow? Not enough capacity? Every time I hear of
> efforts to reopen the North End, I wonder if it
> would not be cheaper for NCRA to establish and
> subsidize a barge operation rather than subsidize
> the rebuilding and maintenance of the railroad
> through the Eel River Canyon.

IIRC Transit time was one issue, and certainly we would have needed to acquire tugs and barges. I think that the biggest reason was not enough capacity at that time.

Today, I am sure that barge operations from Humboldt Bay would be far cheaper than restoring and then maintaining the RR north of Willits
mdo

Always felt when the mills were still in operation that the railroad should have been abandoned from just north of Willits to Scotia and use barge service to the inland rail heads.

When you wrote, "we captured a fair share of the lumber traffic that had moved out of Humboldt Bay before the fire," does this refer to lumber traffic that had moved by ship previously?

mdo Wrote:
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> IIRC Transit time was one issue, and certainly we
> would have needed to acquire tugs and barges. I
> think that the biggest reason was not enough
> capacity at that time.
>
> Today, I am sure that barge operations from
> Humboldt Bay would be far cheaper than restoring
> and then maintaining the RR north of Willits
> mdo

It is interesting that transit time was an issue. With how lumber moves these days, plus the vastly slower transit time you'd see over the NWP?/CFNR, this wouldn't seem to be a factor. Plus, no mileage to pay!

Also, obviously it would be a whole lot easier to get the necessary tug/tow barge capacity given the existing potential traffic levels.

On the other hand, SW1200 knows all too well how difficult it would be to put a barge slip in the SF bay.

Wonder if SERA could get one in up in the Port of Sacramento?

I stand corrected... I had forgotten that the locomotives did not go via US 101. I'll admit that old age kicked-in on that. Yes, I do remember that the locomotive trucks were removed for the trip.

JohnSweetser Wrote:
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> When you wrote, "we captured a fair share of the
> lumber traffic that had moved out of Humboldt Bay
> before the fire," does this refer to lumber
> traffic that had moved by ship previously?

I suppose that I should have said recaptured. No, I do not think that we ever made a dent in the traffic that was moving via water. before during or after the tunnel fire outage.

Waybiller Wrote:
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>> On the other hand, SW1200 knows all too well how
> difficult it would be to put a barge slip in the
> SF bay.
>
> Wonder if SERA could get one in up in the Port of
> Sacramento?

At the time of the Island Mtn. fire, there were still at least 3 barge/rail slips in SF Bay.

TOTAL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Waybiller Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >> On the other hand, SW1200 knows all too
> well how
> > difficult it would be to put a barge slip in
> the
> > SF bay.
> >
> > Wonder if SERA could get one in up in the
> Port of
> > Sacramento?
>
> At the time of the Island Mtn. fire, there were
> still at least 3 barge/rail slips in SF Bay.
>
>
>
Unfortunately, none on the SP and at least one over in San Francisco.