Andre:
Dunsmuir itself it in the middle of a grade, but it gets steeper and more
crooked above Dunsmuir (north). Dunsmuir came into being as a helper station—in
fact its original name was Helper. Dunsmuir had a complete backshop with three
shifts a day (24 hours); this all died off when I was 3, but I do have some
memories of it. Most of the roundhouse was taken down when I was about 7, and
the last part (the part I remember) caved in in a snowstorm around 1964. The
turntable, however, is still there and functioning. The Shop buildings came
down when I was, I think, in 8th grade (1967)—there was a try to keep them for
a brewery, but that didn’t happen. North of Dunsmuir, the railroad passes
Mossbrae Falls, source of the Best Water on Earth, and then there’s Cantara
Loop, made infamous by the toxic spill there about 10 years ago. Not mentioned
is it’s near duplicate at the top of the canyon, Sawmill Curve, where the
tracks again head north to go past Mount Shasta.
For modeling purposes, at Weed (north of Mount Shasta) there is a Y where the
“new” “Alturas cut-off” (which it the present-day mainline) takes off from the
old mainline over the Siskiyous. That section of line is nearly abandoned now,
and was the last hold-out of semaphores on the SP, now UP. For a mainline, this
area often looks like a well-kept branch line. There’s still a water tank at
the Y , and until a few years ago, a complete functioning standpipe. I think
4449 was the last locomotive to use it. It got wiped out in a derailment, or it
would probably still be there, as it was used to fill fire trucks.
Other neat modeling details are the many tunnels, and the “daylighted” cuts to
eliminate them. There’s one near Sawmill curve that the end plugs have shifted
and you can climb down in the tunnel. Talk about impressive wood timbers! At
one time there was even a snowshed north of Dunsmuir, just below Cave Springs,
but I think it was taken out in the 1940s.
That’s probably more information than most of you wanted!
Oh, the next station north—depends on your time period. Just above Cave Springs
was Shasta Retreat, with a small station, Shasta Springs also had one, as did
Mott; and then there was Mt. Shasta, that had an unusual “log” cabin type
station—it had a McCloud lumber co. exclusive log siding they made. Looked like
logs, but wasn’t. the station still exits, but has been moved about three miles
north, and way away from the tracks. Also at Mt. Shasta was the interchange
with the McCloud River Railroad, who had a few sidings, and a Y too. The south
part of the Y is still there, as a connection, but the rails are probably about
ready to be lifted (more depressing news).
S’
David D.
PS Helpers are still added at Dunsmuir, one reason the turntable still is
working. I think there’s a live camera on that spot. I used to have the URL,
but that was one computer ago.
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