Description:
This route is based on a railway in Northern California, the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, which was operated by the North Coast Railroad in its final years. This line connected the San Francisco Bay area with the Northern California city of Eureka. The line primarily hauled freight, especially timber products, though some passenger excursion trains passed through. The line operated until 1998, when flooding washed out several sections of track. For a history of the railroad companies that operated in the area, read "NCR_History.txt."
This MSTS route contains the track starting from the south at Willits and ending north beyond the city of Eureka. Willits has a yard and engine facilities. These yards are an interchange point, and the California Western Railroad (Skunk Train) uses the station for its excursion trains. The southern stretch of the route passes through rugged, scenic sections of canyon. The tracks closely follow the Eel River for many miles between Farley to the south and Fernbridge to the north. In the northern stretch of the route, the canyon widens and the tracks pass a number of towns as they approach Eureka. Highway 101 follows the tracks here. A short branch line extends from the mainline at Alton to reach a lumber mill at Carlotta, and the Pacific Lumber Company operates a spur from Carlotta to Yager Camp. Eureka contains a yard and engine facilities. North of Eureka, the tracks curve around Humboldt Bay to reach the small city of Arcata. From there, separate branches head towards the sand dunes of Samoa and the redwoods of Korbel. The entire trackage of the Arcata & Mad River Railroad, a logging shortline that traveled northwest from Arcata to a mill at Korbel, is included in the route.
In total, the main line in the route is about 161 miles.
The entire stretch of track that the North Coast Railroad operated on is modeled. As in the prototype, there are no signals along the route.