Crane Creek Lumber Company
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| Crane Creek Lumber Company | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Modoc County, California |
| Dates of operation | 1928–1930 (tracks removed 1934) |
| Track gauge | Standard |
| Length | 16.5 miles |
| Headquarters | Willow Ranch, California |
The Crane Creek Lumber Company (CCLC) was a standard gauge logging railroad that operated from a junction with the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway (NCO) at Willow Creek, California, running southeast for 16.5 miles into the Modoc National Forest.
The track was constructed in 1928 and was abandoned in 1930. The track was removed in 1934.
The Crane Creek Lumber Company was the first major lumber company to operate in the Modoc National Forest. Its business was located at the mouth of the Crane Creek Canyon. In the 1920s the company moved to Lawson Creek and built the railroad spur in 1928. The spur was built as the result of Crane Creek's successful bid to the National Forest Service, in 1926, for 194 million board feet of timber in the Modoc National Forest's Fandango Logging Unit. Ponderosa Pine was a primary species that was logged. The company built a planing mill and box factory at Willow Creek near the NCO. In the 1930s a fire destroyed the Lawson Creek operations of the company.
The railroad used an oil fueled Shay Locomotive that hauled two flatcars of lumber. The Shay, Numbered #1 (Shay Serial Number 2733) was built by Shay in 1913 at Funkley, MN for the Crookston Lumber Company. The CCLC bought the locomotive in 1928. The locomotive was sold again in 1947.
[edit] Trivia
In 2003, the small Willow Creek Post Office closed, ending its 104-year presence in the town. The 23 postal patrons are now served by the nearby Pine Creek and Davis Creek post offices.
Willow Ranch was named after the 2,200-acre (9 km²) ranch that had a willow bordered creek that ran through the ranch.
[edit] References
- Willow Creek [1]
- Picture of CCLC #1 (Shay)
- Modoc National Forest [2]
- Fickewirth, Alvin A. (1992). California railroads: an encyclopedia of cable car, common carrier, horsecar, industrial, interurban, logging, monorail, motor road, shortlines, streetcar, switching and terminal railroads in California (1851-1992). San Marino, California: Golden West Books, 33. ISBN 0-87095-106-8.
- Walker, Mike (1997). Steam Powered Video's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America - California and Nevada, Post Merger Edition, Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom: Steam Powered Publishing, 8. ISBN 1-874745-08-0.
