The Caspar, South Fork & Eastern Railroad provided transportation for the Caspar Lumber Company in Mendocino County, California. The railroad operated the first steam locomotive on the coast of Mendocino County in 1875. Caspar Lumber Company lands became Jackson Demonstration State Forest in 1955, named for Caspar Lumber Company founder, Jacob Green Jackson.[1]
The Caspar Mill sometime in the 19th centuryThe forest reclaims the Caspar Lumber Company heavy equipment repair shop at Camp 20 - the eastern terminal of the Caspar, South Fork and Eastern Railroad.
Siegfrid Caspar settled in 1860 at the mouth of a stream on the coast of Mendocino County. The stream and the community which developed at the mouth are named for him. A sawmill was built at the mouth of Caspar Creek in 1861. In 1864 this sawmill was purchased by Jacob Jackson, who had been born in Vermont in 1817. About 1870, Jackson purchased the schooner Cora to transport lumber from his sawmill to San Francisco. A second schooner "Elvenia" was built in 1872. When all timber close to the sawmill had been cut, Jackson build a 1.5-mile (2.4km) railroad north to Jug Handle Creek in 1874. This "railroad" had ties spaced at 6-foot (2-meter) intervals, and the "rails" were 6-by-8-inch (15 by 20cm) wooden beams. Logs were transported to the sawmill from Jug Handle Creek on small cars towed by a horse and 5 mules. The wooden rails were shortly capped with iron straps to improve durability. The animal power was replaced in 1875 by a geared locomotive formerly used to transport sand fill behind the Embarcadero (San Francisco)seawall. The strap rail proved troublesome for the locomotive, and was replaced by French iron rail salvaged from a shipwreck. Two more schooners "Abbie" and "Maxim" were purchased in 1876.[2]
Caspar Lumber Company was incorporated in 1880. By that time the railroad had been extended to a length of 3.5 miles (5.6km) and equipped with ten railcars available for transporting logs. Sawmill capacity was 45,000 board feet per day. A trestle was built over Jughandle Creek in 1884 to reach logs in Hare Creek to the north. The trestle was 1,000 feet (300 meters) long and rails were 160 feet (49 meters) above Jughandle Creek.[2] During dry weather, locomotives sprayed water onto the trestles as they approached to reduce the possibility of smoldering sparks from the smokestack igniting the trestle.[3] The 6-mile (9.7-kilometer) railway from the sawmill to Hare Creek became known as the Caspar & Hare Creek Railroad. Conventional ungeared locomotive number 2 was purchased for better efficiency on the longer rail line. The locomotive was delivered disassembled on schooners. The largest piece weighed 8 tons. The pieces were transported from San Francisco aboard the schooner "Abbie" in 1885 and transferred to lighters for assembly ashore. The steam schooner "Caspar" was built in 1888. Rails had been extended up Hare Creek for a total distance of 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the Caspar sawmill by 1890, and the logging train was making five trips per day. Larger locomotive number 3 was purchased in 1894.[2]
Caspar Lumber Company began using steam donkeys in the early 1890s to load logs onto railway cars. The logs were typically 32 feet (9.8 meters) long and up to 12 to 14 feet (4.3 meters) in diameter. Screw jacks had previously been used to load the logs. Steam Donkeys encouraged laying some branch lines too steep for the locomotives. Cars were lowered or raised over these inclined tramways using steam donkey cables. One steam donkey could do the work of ten oxen skidding logs to railway loading points; and bull teams were replaced by steam donkeys between 1907 and 1915.[3]
Camp One logging headquarters
McGuire Pond as viewed from California highway 20 milepost MEN 13.5. The road on the far side of the pond is the former grade of the Caspar, South Fork and Eastern Railroad.
The railroad was incorporated as the Caspar, South Fork and Eastern in 1903 with authorization to build to a connection with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Willits, California. A 1000-foot (300) meter tunnel to reach the South Fork Noyo River was completed in 1904 passing under the present alignment of California State Route 20 near milepost MEN 7. Camp 1 was constructed on the South Fork Noyo River in 1904; and became the headquarters of logging operations. In addition to redwood logs, carloads of tanoak tree bark were shipped to Caspar and San Francisco from the Noyo River drainage for tanning hides into leather. By 1904 the 15-mile (24km) railroad had 4 locomotives and 58 cars. A proposed extension of the railway down the South Fork to connect with the California Western Railroad at South Fork was never completed; and the railway never reached Willits. Caspar Lumber Company acquired the Redwood Manufacturers Company plant in Pittsburg, California for seasoning and planing lumber milled at Caspar, and preferred to use its own steamships to transport lumber from Caspar to Pittsburg.[3]
The Jughandle Creek trestle collapsed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and was rebuilt. The first Mallet locomotive in the Redwood Empire was delivered in 1910. Like the others, it was assembled in Caspar after arriving in pieces on ships. Wyes were constructed at Caspar and at Camp 1 to turn this large locomotive. Locomotives had previously burned wood, but Mallet number 5 had the capability to burn oil, and locomotives 2, 3 and 4 and the steam donkeys were shortly converted to burn oil.[3] A January, 1914, storm caused a landslide closing the tunnel. The sawmill was closed until the tunnel was reopened that summer.[2] Locomotive number 1 was retired in 1914. Shay locomotive number 6 was purchased to work on an isolated branch line on Three Chop Ridge connected to the remainder of the railway by an inclined tramway. Locomotives 2, 3 and 4 worked on branches out of Camp 1 while Mallet locomotive number 5 pulled trainloads of logs from Camp 1 to the mill at Caspar. On 19 April 1923 locomotive number 5 derailed and wrecked after hitting runaway horses on Digger Creek trestle. Locomotives 2 and 4 were damaged when the Camp 1 engine house burned two months later.[3] The railroad had grown to a length of 30 miles when the last locomotive (Mallet number 7) was delivered in 1924.[2]
The shift to internal combustion
Western route with terminus at Fort Bragg in 1943Eastern portion of route in 1943
The branch line up the North Fork of the South Fork of the Noyo River was dismantled in 1927. Caspar Lumber Company began using gasoline-powered Caterpillar tractors in 1928, and the Three Chop Ridge branch line was dismantled that year. Logging headquarters shifted from Camp 1 to Camp 19 in 1929. The Great Depression closed the sawmill from 1931 to 1934. Geared locomotives 4 and 6 were seldom used after the mill reopened as Caterpillar tractors were used in preference to building new branch lines. The last of the steam donkeys were retired when the first Diesel-powered tractors arrived in 1936. Logging headquarters shifted from Camp 19 to Camp 20 in 1939 when Caspar Lumber Company terminated steamship operations and began trucking lumber from Caspar to Pittsburg.[3]
Hare Creek canyon was so narrow the track had been built on cribbing and trestles over the stream. Mallet locomotive number 7 derailed on one of those trestles and rolled into the creek on 30 April 1940. Locomotive number 7 had to be dismantled, and rebuilding at Caspar was not completed until late 1941. All branch lines had been dismantled by 1944. Trucks brought the logs to Camp 20, and Mallet locomotives 5 and 7 pulled trainloads of logs from Camp 20 to the mill at Caspar. The other locomotives rested unused.[3] A labor strike closed the sawmill and railroad in December, 1945. Rail operations were not resumed when the sawmill reopened;[2] although locomotive number 3 would be fired up once a month to move a tank car of fuel oil into the woods from Caspar through 1948. Most of old growth timber on Caspar Lumber Company lands had been cut by 1947. The sawmill operated until 18 November 1955.[3]
Dismantling of the sawmill commenced in September 1956 and was completed within a year. Railroad equipment which had been kept in storage was largely scrapped when the mill was dismantled; although the two Mallet locomotives survived until it was determined their unsuitability for ICC interchange service made future use impractical.[3] Caspar Lumber Company land was acquired by the State of California for Jackson State Forest. One of the locomotives was preserved for display at Camp 20. Camp 20 was the easternmost extent of the 35-mile (56km) railroad. The locomotive was moved to the California Western Railroad depot in Fort Bragg, California after being damaged by vandalism at Camp 20.[2] In 1978 the locomotive was moved back to the Parlin Fork Conservation Camp (on the site of Caspar Lumber Company Camp 5) for restoration.[4] The former railroad grade may be observed where it closely parallels California State Route 20 from McGuire Pond at milepost MEN 13.5 to Camp 20 at milepost MEN 17.3.
purchased 1875 from City Grading Company of San Francisco; originally called Jumbo, then Dirty and Greasy after the arrival of newer locomotives, officially named Pansy, unofficially the Coffeepot;[2] retired 1914;[3] sold 1945 for potential display at San Francisco Playland[2]
purchased 1925 from Alaska Packers Association; renamed 3rd Caspar in 1930; retired 1939; wrecked in Alaska while being used by United States Army during World War II[2]
↑ Cole, Dana (June 1985). "One Hundred Years for "Daisy" of Caspar". Jackson Demonstration State Forest Newsletter No. 18.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
↑ Koch, Michael (1971). The Shay Locomotive Titan of the Timber. The World Press. p.451.
Related Research Articles
Fort Bragg is a city along the Pacific Coast of California along Shoreline Highway in Mendocino County. The city is 24 miles (39 km) west of Willits, at an elevation of 85 feet (26 m). Its population was 6,983 at the 2020 census.
The California Western Railroad, AKA Mendocino Railway, popularly called the Skunk Train, is a rail freight and heritage railroad transport railway in Mendocino County, California, United States, running from the railroad's headquarters in the coastal town of Fort Bragg to the interchange with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Willits.
The Albion River is an 18.1-mile-long (29.1 km) river in Mendocino County, California. The river drains about 43 square miles (110 km2) on the Mendocino Coast and empties into the Pacific Ocean near the town of Albion, California, where California State Route 1 crosses it on the Albion River Bridge. The river's overall direction is east to west, but it moves significantly in the north-south direction. The tributaries of the river include Railroad Gulch, Pleasant Valley Creek, Duck Pond Gulch, South Fork Albion River, Tom Bell Creek, North Fork Albion River, and Marsh Creek. The river's most inland point is only 15 miles (24 km) from the coast, and its highest elevation is about 1,570 feet (480 m) above sea level. There is a large estuary at the mouth of the river, and tidal waters travel up to 5 miles (8 km) upstream. The Albion River was previously used to power a sawmill on the river mouth, but there are no major dams or reservoirs on the river. The river provides recreation, groundwater recharge and industrial water supply for the community of Albion, and wildlife habitat including cold freshwater habitat for fish migration and spawning.
The Big River is a 41.7-mile-long (67.1 km) river in Mendocino County, California, that flows from the northern California Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean at Mendocino, Mendocino County, California. From the mouth, brackish waters extend 8 miles (13 km) upstream, forming the longest undeveloped estuary in the state.
MacKerricher State Park is a state park in California in the United States. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County. It covers 9 miles (14 km) of coastline and contains several types of coastal habitat, including beaches, dunes, headlands, coves, wetlands, tide pools, forest, and a freshwater lake.
Redwood Empire Council is the local council of the Boy Scouts of America that serves youth in Mendocino and Sonoma counties in California.
A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felled logs to sawmills or railway stations.
Bucksport was a town in Humboldt County, California. The original location was 2.5 miles (4 km) southwest of downtown Eureka, on Humboldt Bay about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of entrance. at an elevation of 16 feet (4.9 m). Prior to American settlement a Wiyot village named Kucuwalik stood here.
Andersonia is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located near U.S. Route 101 on the South Fork of the Eel River 1 mile (1.6 km) north-northwest of Piercy, at an elevation of 541 feet.
Usal Creek is the southernmost drainage basin unbridged by California State Route 1 on California's Lost Coast. The unpaved county road following the westernmost ridge line south from the King Range crosses Usal Creek near the Pacific coast, but the bridge may be removed during winter months. Usal Creek, 9.7 miles (15.6 km) long, drains about 28 square miles (73 km2) on the Mendocino Coast and empties into the Pacific Ocean near the former company town of Usal.
The Fort Bragg and Southeastern Railroad was formed by Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a consolidation of logging railways extending inland from Albion, California on the coast of Mendocino County. The railroad and its predecessors operated from August 1, 1885 to January 16, 1930. The line was merged into the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad in 1907; but planned physical connection was never completed.
Southern Pacific Transportation Company formed the Oregon and Eureka Railroad Company in 1903 in an agreement to use logging railroads as part of a line connecting Humboldt County (California) sawmills with the national rail network. Northwestern Pacific Railroad offered service over the route from 1911 through 1933. The northern 6-mile (9.7 km) of the line remained in use as a Hammond Lumber Company logging branch until 1948.
Hammond Lumber Company was a logging and resource extraction company operating in Humboldt County, CA.
The Hume-Bennett Lumber Company was a logging operation in the Sequoia National Forest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company and its predecessors were known for building the world's longest log flume and the first multiple-arch hydroelectric dam. However, the company also engaged in destructive clearcutting logging practices, cutting down 8,000 giant sequoias in Converse Basin in a decade-long event that has been described as "the greatest orgy of destructive lumbering in the history of the world."
Mendocino Lumber Company operated a sawmill on Big River near the town of Mendocino, California. The sawmill began operation in 1853 as the Redwood Lumber Manufacturing Company, and changed ownership several times before cutting its final logs in 1938. The sawmill site became part of the Big River Unit of Mendocino Headlands State Park where a few features of the mill and its associated forest railway are still visible along the longest undeveloped estuary in northern California.
The Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company (C&TL&F) was formed to move lumber from trees growing along the shore of Lake Tahoe to the silver mines of the Comstock Lode. Between 1872 and 1898 C&TL&F transferred 750 million board foot of lumber logged from 80,000 acres (32,000 ha) of virgin timberland.
The Michigan-California Lumber Company was an early 20th-century Ponderosa and Sugar pine logging operation in the Sierra Nevada. It is best remembered for the Shay locomotives used to move logs to the sawmill.
The Madera Sugar Pine Company was a lumber company that operated in the Sierra Nevada region of California during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was known for its use of innovative technologies, such as the first log flume and logging railroad in the southern Sierra, and the adoption of the Steam Donkey engine in commercial logging. The company had a significant impact on the region, leading to the founding of several towns, including Madera, Fish Camp, and Sugar Pine, as well as the growth of Fresno Flats and the formation of Madera County. In addition, the company contributed to the agriculture in California in California through its production of wooden shipping boxes and was involved in a U.S. Supreme Court case related to employer obligations.
The Sugar Pine Lumber Company was an early 20th century logging operation and railroad in the Sierra Nevada. Unable to secure water rights to build a log flume, the company operated the “crookedest railroad ever built." They later developed the Minarets-type locomotive, the largest and most powerful saddle tank locomotive ever made. The company was also a pioneer in the electrification of logging where newly plentiful hydroelectric power replaced the widespread use of steam engines.
Hare Creek is a small stream in Mendocino County, California, just south of Fort Bragg. It is approximately 12.4 kilometres (7.7 mi) long and all but the final 1.14 miles (1.83 km) of its watercourse lies within Jackson Demonstration State Forest. With its four tributaries it drains an area of approximately 2,400 hectares (9.3 sq mi). Its watershed is bordered on the north by the Noyo River, and on the south by Digger Creek. It is a significant habitat for coho salmon. It meets the Pacific Ocean at Hare Creek Beach, also known as Babcock Beach, owned and operated by the Mendocino Land Trust.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
