The Yreka Railroad Company was incorporated in May 1888, with a capital stock of $100,000, and opened in January 1889, connecting Yreka to the Southern Pacific Company lessor Central Pacific Railroad (ex-California and Oregon Railroad). The decision to build the Yreka Railroad was due in part to the Southern Pacific's decision to bypass Yreka in favor of a shorter, and more level route through the Shasta Valley and the city of Montague. Not to be left without a rail connection, the citizens of Yreka formed their own railroad. The railroad hauled passengers and local freight. In August 1933, the railroad was re-incorporated as the Yreka Western Railroad Company. The railroad was acquired by Willis Kyle in 1953 who eventually formed the Kyle Railways empire. Eventually, the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad acquired the SP connection at Montague in 1995. In 1999, Kyle Railways sold the Yreka Western Railroad to the Rocky Mountain Railway and Mining Museum of Denver Colorado, who in turn, sold the company to Railmark Holdings, Inc. in December 2016.
Operations
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2024)
The railroad is no longer an active freight railroad. The freight traffic on the Yreka Western Railroad was primarily wood chips, forest products, propane, and machinery and bulk commodities. The railroad had provided excursion trains pulled by steam and diesel locomotives from the 1950s until 2008.
In 1986, the YW started operating a steam passenger train excursion known as the "Blue Goose" between Yreka and Montague. The railroad offered scenic views of Mount Shasta, the Shasta Valley and the Siskiyou Mountains. The trip took about one hour in either direction, with a 60 minute layover in Montague for lunch.[citation needed] While passengers explored and ate in Montague, the crew took the train to perform a runaround move so the locomotive would pull the train back to Yreka.
The most famous locomotive to run on the line was 2-8-2Baldwin 90 ton logging mikado #19. #19 is nicknamed "Pancho" due to its time spent in Mexico in the 1920s and possible squabble with the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. #19 has starred in many movies, the two most famous being "Emperor of the North" and "Stand By Me". The locomotive was built in April 1915 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Caddo & Choctaw River Lumber Company in Arkansas. She served in Arkansas until 1920 when she was sent to Mexico where she is believed to have been converted to oil. In 1924, she was purchased by the McCloud River Railroad. She served many years there hauling log trains until being sold to the Yreka Western Railroad in 1953. On September 19, 2016, it was announced that #19 would be up for sale in an upcoming auction and on October 6, 2016, was purchased by the Age of Steam Roundhouse, and is currently being restored in her Emperor of the North paint scheme.
Other locomotives include an SW8 #21 (Former Southern Pacific #1115). #21 is unique because it has dynamic brakes, not usually found on switching locomotives. YW 20 (SW8) and YW 244 (ALCO MRS-1) were also on the roster, but scrapped in the 2010's.
