Projects

A Phase I ESA was prepared for an easement along the McCloud River Railway in Shasta and Siskiyou Counties. The subject site is identified as the 84 miles of the historical McCloud River Railroad easement located between McCloud and Burney. The former rail corridor is proposed for use as a “Rails to Trails” public trail project. The rail grade and associated easements were developed beginning in 1897 as the McCloud River Railroad. The rail grade is no longer in use. The McCloud River Railroad Company ceased operation in 2005, and ties and rail were removed between 2008 and 2010. Remaining site improvements include 14 lubricators and grease boxes, 5 timber spans and 2 trestles, 2 timber culverts, 4 tool houses, 2 abandoned rail cars, and a former engine house. Also found at various locations along the railgrade were waste rail ties, abandoned empty 55-gallon metal drums, rusted metal culvert pipes, and cement boxes.

 

The lubricator assemblages consisted of the paddles located below the railhead, a buried box on the outside of the ties, and spray nozzles mounted on the inside of the rail with hoses running out of the box to the nozzles. Heavy grease was transferred to the box from drums. Pipes running down into the grease in each box moved the grease to the rail nozzles. When a train passed over the device, flanges would depress the paddle and cause a small amount of grease to be sprayed onto the area where the wheel and flange meet the railhead. Lubricators such as these are commonly used on curved areas along the track. The grease lubricates the flanges, which served to reduce the amount of wear on both the flanges and the rail and reduce the amount of energy needed to drag the wheels around corners.

 

The tool houses were used to store miscellaneous maintenance tools for the trains and tie plugs. The tool houses located along the railroad went out of active use in the early 1970s when “high rail” trucks (i.e. pickup trucks with both highway wheels and railroad wheels) became usable.

 

Other environmental conditions that were identifed included the possible presence of sodium arsenic that was historically used along the tracks and railroad ballasts to control weeds until the 1970s and visible creosote staining that was observed on the support beams of several of the timber spans.

 

VESTRA staff identified the 14 lubricator locations and the 4 tool houses as the areas of most significant environmental concern. Soils samples taken during the site visit at the lubricator locations indicated the presence of diesel, motor oil, gasoline, benzo (a) pyrene, and benzo (b) fluoranthene. Soil samples at the former tool house locations contained detectable levels of diesel.