California Western

Company History: The CWR runs 40 miles of line from Fort Bragg to Willits, California. It was built as the Fort Bragg Railroad in 1885. The name was changed to California Western Railroad & Navigation Company 20 years later. They dropped the “& Navigation” in 1947 (having closed their lumber schooner operations 8 years before.) Timber products were the major source of traffic. The first of the “Skunk” motor cars (one built by Mack) arrived in 1925. There would be three different Skunks over the years. The CWR actually offered through Pullman service until 1929! Baldwin diesel switchers arrived on the property in 1949. They would be joined by second hand Alcos in later years. As the lumber business waned in the 1960s, the tourist trade picked up. The Kyle Railways group was brought in in the mid-60s to operate the line and purchased it outright in 1987. In 1996, Kyle sold the line to local interests.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.