Oregon and Eureka Railroad


formed the Oregon and Eureka Railroad in 1903 in an agreement to use logging railroads as part of a line connecting Humboldt County sawmills with the national rail network. Northwestern Pacific Railroad offered service over the route from 1911 through 1933. The northern of the line remained in use as a Hammond Lumber Company logging branch until 1948.

History

John Vance built a sawmill near the Mad River community of Essex, in 1875 with a railroad to transport lumber from the sawmill to Mad River Slough on Humboldt Bay for loading onto ships. This Humboldt and Mad River Railroad had three locomotives and connected with paddle-wheel steamboats from Eureka, California at Mad River Slough. Vance constructed a new sawmill in Samoa, California, in 1893; and extended his railroad both north and south to bring logs from Lindsay Creek to the Samoa sawmill. The railroad was incorporated as the Eureka and Klamath River Railroad in 1896. Andrew Hammond purchased the railroad and sawmill on 30 August 1900.
The Oregon and Eureka Railroad formed through Hammond's 1903 agreement with Southern Pacific was equipped with seven locomotives, two passenger coaches, and 166 freight cars. The railroad had 212 freight cars by 1905, and was extended in 1906 to carry lumber from the Little River Redwood Company sawmill at Crannell, California. The Oregon and Eureka was included in the Northwestern Pacific Railroad merger on 8 January 1907, and extended to Trinidad, California on 22 June.
Northwestern Pacific trains began operating to Trinidad on 1 July 1911. Hammond Lumber Company was formed in 1912 using some of the Oregon and Eureka rolling stock on logging branches off the former Oregon and Eureka main line. Hammond merged with the Little River Redwood Company on 24 February 1931. Northwestern Pacific ended service to Trinidad on 1 March 1933; and dismantled the line between Korblex and Little River Junction. The southern end of the line linked the Samoa mill complex to the national rail network for another half century. NWP sold the line north of Little River Junction back to Hammond Lumber Company. Hammond extended logging branches northward toward Big Lagoon until a 1945 wildfire destroyed many of the trestles. The last logging train ran on 23 August 1948.

Route

additional Hammond Lumber Company Locomotives used during NWP operation

NumberBuilderTypeDateWorks numberNotes
1Lima Locomotive WorksShay locomotive19 October 19071952originally Little River Redwood Company #1; sold to Pacific Lumber Company for parts in 1942
2Lima Locomotive WorksShay locomotive26 April 19132636originally Little River Redwood Company #2; scrapped in 1948
4Lima Locomotive WorksShay locomotive5 June 19223172originally Little River Redwood Company #4; sold 1935 to Camino, Placerville and Lake Tahoe Railroad as #2; placed on display at Griffith Park Travel Town Museum in 1955
5Lima Locomotive WorksShay locomotive27 April 19233209originally Little River Redwood Company #5; scrapped 1948
Baldwin Locomotive Works4-6-0~18909298Built for the Colorado Midland Railroad; operated as California Western Railroad #36 after 1918; purchased by Little River Redwood Company in 1929
12Baldwin Locomotive Works2-6-6-2 Tank locomotive192960870Built as Hammond Lumber Company #6 for service in Mill City, Oregon; moved to Samoa and renumbered in 1931; sold as Arcata and Mad River Railroad #12 in 1951; sold 1956 and has recently been on display in Flagstaff, Arizona
13Baldwin Locomotive Works2-6-6-2 Tank locomotive192960871Built as Hammond Lumber Company #5 for service in Mill City, Oregon; moved to Samoa and renumbered in 1931; sold to Crown Willamette in 1937
15Baldwin Locomotive Works2-8-21916originally Humbird Lumber Company #4 of Sandpoint, Idaho; became Hammond Lumber Company #15 in 1941; put on display in Eureka, California's Sequoia Park in 1960
16American Locomotive Company2-8-2 Tank locomotiveFebruary 192967652built for Crossett Western Company in Oregon; purchased as Hammond Lumber Company #16 in 1943; placed on display in Fortuna, California in 1964; recently operational on the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad
17American Locomotive Company2-8-2 Tank locomotiveSeptember 192968057built for Crossett Western Company in Oregon; purchased as Hammond Lumber Company #17 in 1942; isolated in the woods north of Crannell by burned out trestles in 1945; restored at Klamath, California in 1966; recently operational on the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad
31Lima Locomotive WorksShay locomotive10 July 19203087built as Hammond Lumber Company #31; leased to Union Lumber Company of Fort Bragg, California from 1936 to 1940; scrapped in 1948
32Lima Locomotive WorksShay locomotive5 February 19213157built as Hammond Lumber Company #32; scrapped in 1948
33Lima Locomotive WorksShay locomotive3 July 19223180built as Hammond Lumber Company #33; sold to Pickering Lumber Company in 1944; preserved by Northern Counties Logging Interpretive Association