Considering what a group of volunteers have done in Niles Canyon, why doesn't the NCRA lease parts of the NWP ROW to local rail groups to maintain and use? They have no immediate plans to restore the north end so why not lease the tracks up there to a historical group (or groups)? Some ideas:

There has been a story about the Timber Heritage Musem moving equipment to Samoa. why not lease the tracks around the north end of the bay to them?

How about a group forming and restoring one of the diesels trapped in Eureka and operating into the Eel River Canyon. There must be some flat cars trapped up there that they can convert to open cars.

How about the Roots of Motive Power guys in Willits operating the tracks north of town?

It's true that these groups may only use a few miles of track but that would be a few miles that would see regular maintance and would be operable if and when the NWP ever gets operating to that area again.