Riding the Rails: Stranded Part 3 As we were going left over the Keddie trestle my brother Kris asked me, Lance, are we going to Portola? I hesitated when I answered,No, we are heading to Oregon. The four of us had a quick huddle in the boxcar which we discussed what was going on and where we were going and of course me being the leader, the other three were expecting answers. Fortunately, several months earlier Randy had loaned me a railroad map of the western United States that was printed by Rand McNally that showed all the rail lines. I studied the map many times so even though taking the high line north was new territory for me I had somewhat an idea of where we were going. Randy had told me that the Western Pacific heads north and goes through the remote eastern part of California. The next crew change would be in a small town named Bieber. Bieber still is in California but just south of the Oregon border. Had we turned to the right on the Keddie trestle we would have gone another 40 miles or so where our train would stop at Portola for a crew change. But, unexpectedly we turned to the left at Keddie. My guess was we had another 140 miles or so before we would reach Bieber. It was our first day of our train trip and we didnt need to be back in Oroville till Monday so my attitude was, what the heck, enjoy the ride and see where it goes. After turning left at Keddie we went over a very high trestle. I wasnt sure why this section of the railroad was called the high line but I suspected that it was because we were high up along the canyon wall with a steep drop off. To me, it was a high line. After several miles we left behind the canyon and the rail line opened up in a valley. We rolled through the small logging towns of Crescent Mills and Greenville. After Greenville was behind us we started up a very steep grade. It seemed like we were going so slow I could have jumped off, run along with the train and then jump back on. At times it seemed like our train was going to stahl and come to a stop but slowly we picked up speed. When we put the steep grade behind us we traveled alongside the beautiful Lake Almanor. What a site to see because across the lake was Mount. Lassen, a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1915. After Lake Almanor the country flattened out and was more arid. The pine trees were sparse with a mix of sage brush. Far off, many miles away, I could see the mighty snow capped Mnt. Shasta towering above 14,000 at a distance near 100 miles or more. I was seeing a part of California that I had never seen before. We went over 50 miles or more and I never saw any sign of human life. No homes, no paved roads. Nothing. Just miles and miles of wilderness that is only disturbed by an occasional freight train following a steel thread. We crossed over a trestle that spanned over a river that I later found out was called the Pit River. After crossing the Pit River, the rail line flattened out into a large valley with low lying wooded hills in the distance. It wasnt long before our train began to slow in speed and finally it came to a stop. I couldnt believe what a desolate and lonely place we were at. A cold wind was blowing with an occasional dust devil giving us an eerie feeling of being lost. I couldnt see the town of Bieber but looking up ahead I could see that the locomotives had stopped in front of a small station. We had reached the end of the Western Pacific line and from there on it was the Burlington Northern railroad. We quickly jumped out of our boxcar and within minutes the air brakes released and our familiar ride was gone heading north to Klamath Falls leaving us feeling alone and deserted. It was late afternoon and it wouldnt be long the sun would set and the temperature would drop. Okay Lance, what do we do now? asked Steve. Part 4 tomorrow. Please refer to my timeline to read parts 1 and 2 of Stranded.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 15:32:26 +0000
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