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Siskiyou Line Documentary, The Adventure in Railroading by Webber w/DJ
Siskiyou Line Documentary, The Adventure in Railroading by Bert and Margie Webber
Hard Cover w/ dust jacket
190 pages
Copyright 1997
CONTENTS
Introduction 9
The Pacific Railroad Survey; Prologue to the Establishment of a North-South Railroad Route in Oregon. The Field Reconnaissance of 185513
1. Crossing the Siskiyous on a Modern Freight21
The Main Line
2. Oregon & California Rail Road45 Southern Pacific; Central Oregon & Pacific
The Connecting Lines
3. Oregon & Southeastern Railroad
Oregon, Pacific & Eastern Railway Company 83
4. Glenbrook Nickel Company (Short Line)85
5. Superior Lumber Company (Short Line)87
6. California and Oregon Coast Railroad91
7. Medford & Crater Lake Railroad97
8. Pacific & Eastern Railroad99
9. Medford Logging Company (MEDCO)104
10. W C T U (White City Terminal Utility Railroad)109
11. Rogue River Valley Railroad115
12. Yreka Railroad / Yreka Western Railroad139
13. Weyerhaeuser Timber Company [Sutherlin]149
14. Kinneyville Wood Spur152
Appendices
A. Interurbans Along the Siskiyou Line 153
Builders: Ferry Garage Company153
Hall-Scott Motor Car Company154
McKeen Motor Car Company156
The "Whiskey" Local158
B. Wrecks161
C. The Enigma About Buck Rock Tunnel in Siskiyou Mountains 175
D. Lonesome Cabooses179
About the Authors 181
Bibliography 182
Index183
INTRODUCTION
THE INTENTION OF THE PRESENT BOOK IS to consider that part of the north-south railroad in Oregon from Springfield Junction to the California border, then south to Black Butte Junction near year-around snow-covered Mt. Shasta in California. This is the 300.3 miles of track we call The Siskiyou Line. In addition, we will include the various railroads that switch into this main line - those in the past we have been able to discover - and lines presently operating.
For an overview of the intrigue in getting a railroad built from Portland south, of which The Siskiyou Line is but a section, refer to Bancroft Vol. II. pages 695-706. Although the Bancroft was published in 1888, it can be found in many libraries and copies are often available from book-sellers as it was recently reprinted. Other books are listed in our Bibliography.
We highly recommend the Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History by Donald B. Robertson and Backwoods Railroads by C. Jesse Burkhardt. These gentlemen offer concise material about a number of the railroads included in this book, but not all of them. We have traded some correspondence with each of these researchers and we appreciate their input.
Some "Pertinences," as we have titled them, about the O&C railroad will be found on the next page.
A matter of some importance to those writers of history who seek accuracy, is a proper name for that unique valley through which this railroad runs on the south slope of the Siskiyou Mountains. In summer 1996, there were a couple of derailments along here in the vicinity of the site of the once famous Colestin Mineral Springs Hotel. The hotel was so important as a station on the SP, that the Colestin, Oregon post office operated there between 1892 and 1943.
The rankle comes about due to some young television-age reporters who seem to have a tendency to call a place anything that comes to mind. Therefore, all summer long as the saga of the train wrecks continued, it was "Colestin Valley" this and the "Colestin Valley" that.
As most valleys seem to be named for the stream that runs through a valley's cleavage, and the reporters (including the local newspaper's) talked and wrote about the formaldehyde leaking tank car whose goo did not run into Cottonwood Creek because of quick action by Fire Chief Steve Avgeris and his volunteer fire fighters, why didn't these graduate reporters date line their stories as "Cottonwood Creek Valley"? Or just "Colestin" as that site was just a snort away?
Avgeris, Chief of the Colestin Rural Fire District, who lives on the site of the historic Colestin Hotel thought about this naming affair and told the authors, "I have lived here all my life and this valley never had an official name." He said the "Colestin Valley" name seems to have started in the 1970's by some writers "but I don't know why."
The name "Colestin" is identified by McArthur in his Oregon Geographic Names, as is the forerunner post office, White Point, also a station in the SP, about one mile away. McArthur mentions the Cottonwood Creek Valley under his entry "White Point" but does not associate it with Colestin.
After all this flap, the authors go on record by naming this beautiful valley, where will be found the railroad's sweeping bands of steel on which trains gracefully round Gregory Loop then enter California:
"COTTONWOOD CREEK VALLEY"
Bert and Margie Webber
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