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McCloud Rails : The Last Two Weeks? Page 5 |
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A few miles west of Bartle the train once again rounds Nebraska Curve. |
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The #37 is seen here coming out of a big cut on the western end of the 1959 line relocation just west of Kinyon. This relocation bypassed the original station point of Swobe, which sat in the trees not far to the left of this picture. The original grade is badly overgrown with young trees but can still be followed. The railroad crosses Edson Creek Road immediately behind the camera location. |
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Rolling on the last few miles into McCloud. The train is approaching the Dry Creek Spur, which today is barely a carlength long. At one time the railroad had a small yard at this point, and the last railroad operations of the McCloud River Lumber Company went south from this spot to points deep in the mountains on the south side of the McCloud River. |
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Rolling into the eastern edge of McCloud the train passes part of the Great Western Railway Museum collection. The crane body and frame on the right side of the photo are a Brownhoist crane originally owned and operated by the McCloud River Lumber Company. At some point the crane got converted from steam to diesel power, and it stayed with the railroad after the lumber company got out of the railroad logging business. The McCloud River Railroad assigned the #72 to this crane and used it up until 1986, when titled passed to the museum as part of a lawsuit settlement. Former McCloud River Burro crane #1851 and flat #501 are also stored here but just out of the picture; at last report these cars are for sale. |
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Back home again. The #37 rolls its ten car train into the two track makeup yard that runs along the east side of the shop building. The car on the left track is one of the loads damaged in the wreck back on 2 June, and it is waiting its turn to go into the shop for repairs before it can be shipped out. |
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Another shot of the #37 about to pass the wreck damaged load. |
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Upon arrival back in McCloud the #37 has a little bit of switching to do before the day ends. Another loaded centerbeam is in the shop, and the work on it has been completed. Flat car #821 is sitting on the same track the load is one and is waiting its turn to go into the shop. The #37 has coupled onto the two cars and is pulling the loaded centerbeam out of the shop building. It will be added to the string of seven loads brought from Burney today. |
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A peak inside the shop building yields this view of steam locomotives #18 and #25 and diesel #36. The #18 is still awaiting shipment to Nevada, which now appears may not happen until sometime in 2007; the #25 is still owned by the McCloud Railway, but its future is an open question; and the #36 is currently considered out of service but could be used if needed. |
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Once the load pulled from the shop has been added to the train brought from Burney the crew prepares to shove the #821 flat into the shop. Caltrans is in the middle of a major reworking of Highway 89 that will consume the next 4-5 years and involve major improvements over the entire stretch between McCloud and the junction with Highway 299 just east of Burney, and part of those improvements involve widening the roadway from two to four lands at the Lorenz crossing. A contractor will be delivering a new crossing guard setup tonight, which will be loaded onto the flat for transport to the job site. |
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The #37 is spotting the flat in the shop. |
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Another day done. Bob has shut down and locked up the locomotive and is seen here walking down the walkway towards the back of the locomotive. |
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The last act before climbing off and going home involves setting the hand brake. |
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