McCloud River Railroad

McCloud Railway

MCR No. 25, a 2-6-2 locomotive built by Alco in 1925. 2008 photo near McCloud.
Reporting mark	MCR
Locale	Mount Shasta, California
Dates of operation	1897 (1897)–2009 (2009)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Headquarters	McCloud, California

The McCloud Railway (reporting mark MCR) was a class III railroad operated around Mount Shasta, California. It began operations on July 1, 1992 when it took over operations from the McCloud River Railroad. The MCR was incorporated on April 21, 1992.

The MCR provided both freight service as well as passenger excursion trains like the Shasta Sunset Dinner Train.

Freight traffic consisted of outbound lumber and forest products as well as diatomaceous earth. Approximately 3,000 carloads of freight (1996 estimate) were handled annually.

The MCR interchanged with the Union Pacific railroad (formerly Southern Pacific) at Mount Shasta, California.

On June 27, 2005, the railroad applied with the Surface Transportation Board to abandon most of its line. The proposal requests to abandon all MCR track beyond 3.3 miles (5.3 km) east of McCloud, California.[1]

The railroad operated on 95.5 miles (153.7 km) of track. The principal line ran from Mt. Shasta to Bartle. At Bartle, the Burney Branch headed south. The Burney Branch was completed in 1955.

The MCR also had a 19-mile (31 km) branch running from Bartle to Hambone, California. At Hambone the ownership changed to BNSF Railway (Great Northern) but was operated by the McCloud River Railroad. That line extended to Lookout Junction where it connected with the Great Northern Railway (U.S.) mainline just north of Bieber, California. The BNSF track east of Hambone (Hambone-Lookout) was abandoned and removed by A&K Railroad Materials in October 2005.

On June 28, 2005, the railroad petitioned the STB to abandon most of its line. Service on all line east of the McCloud Sawmill (now abandoned) has been terminated. A small section of line between McCloud CA and Mount Shasta CA remained open briefly for excursion and dinner train service. As timber demand declined, the railroad slowly cut back although new ownership also led to its downfall. In 2009, the railroad ceased operation and closed down. The property is now for sale as a rail/trail as of 2012.