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MODOC ADVENTURE
Part 1
October 3rd 2017

I met my friend Troy and his daughter Savannah in North Reno at about 0700. We drove up to Wendel with his side by side in tow. Our goal was to ride the Modoc from Wendel to MacArthur and back.

We off loaded at about 845 in a dirt pull out next to the beginning of the Modoc Rails to Trails and began our adventure. It was about 40 degrees and no windshield made for the initial part of the trip cool but not intolerable.

We immediately began ascending Viewland Hill (MM 365). There still are several mileage markers posted along the drive to the summit. Of interest was the noticeable track re-alignment near the top. You can see the original cut the N-C-O had made. When the line was re-gauged they had moved around this cut that was wide enough for narrow gauge only. At the US 395 crossover there are cattle gates on either side of the highway that necessitated opening and closing. We crossed over US395 and began the trip along the right of way that very few non railroaders have ever seen as it diverges from the highway towards the west.
The right-of-way was void of vegetation and as smooth as you could expect for an old rail bed. We cruised along between 20 and 35 mph watching US 395 go into the distance.
At what I believed was the west end of Karlo siding there is still a communications shed/box standing. The locating of all the sidings we would drive thru were difficult to definitely identify. Although I had an Altamont timetable we half expected noticeable widening of the right-of-way to indicate the presence of a siding. This was not the case and as the day progressed we passed thru Karlo, Crest and Moran sidings without really seeing a proof positive signs they had been present at one time.

We passed over two large washes with the trestles still standing and in good shape. As we began climbing to the west we past a “Kaczynski “type enclave with two or three occupants plus a lot of dogs. I noticed several cars not on blocks but could not see any road that would lead back to 395. We continued in a northwest direction climbing. After several miles we leveled off and started north seeing ponds and mini canyons I never would have imagined out there. At about 15/20 miles into the trek we entered what I can best describe as an anything but straight canyon. Also at this point I believe we were at our farthest point west from 395. We saw an occasional pole or building footing but otherwise the “sanitation” of the right of way was complete. Of note was when we traversed the bottom of the canyon near a large meadow we encountered a bath tub on a hillside with a plastic skeleton sitting in it. You can find humor anywhere.

We exited the canyon and began climbing up grade again. We started finding cattle on our path. A few at first. As we climbed a very long pull up we saw boxcars sitting at the bottom of the ravine we had been exiting. This of course meant we had to go explores further. We hiked the down the hillside and identified at least 3 box cars and their hardware strew about. Considering the isolated location I assumed the railroad was concerned about reopening line and not any car recovery efforts.

Once we started rolling again we came across a herd of 50 to 60 cows that we gingerly passed by. We leveled off and were heading almost east but were still in a large cut with no view on either side of us.

Again we came across the site of another derailment site with broken boxcar sides and associated parts strewn about. We did not stop at this time.

We broke into the open (Cres-MM393) and could see US395 which we were more or less paralleling. We entered the metropolis of Ravendale and saw the pump house for the long gone water tower as well as the footing for the tower. We said good bye to Ravendale and continued north more or less alongside 395.

By now the weather was ----perfect 70s, blue skies forever and no wind!

About a mile or so north of Ravendale Troy asked me to look at the right side tires and see if we had a flat. I did and we did. The right rear tire was all distorted. We stopped and found a nice rip between the knobbies. After failing to plug it we swapped it out with one our spares and continued.

Just before Termo we crossed 395 where the tracks use to and continued north on the east side of the highway.

This is where things got “weird”. Up until this point the right-of-way/trail was more or less void of any vegetation. As soon as we crossed 395 at Termo we stared “bucking and dodging sage brush. The further north we progressed the thicker it got. It got old real quick getting sprayed in the face with sage brush seed and flax.

Does anyone know how we went from zero to 100 with regards to roadway vegetation?

We stopped for lunch at about 115 near or on the Moran siding (MM408). After eating we looked to the north and found the vegetation appeared to remain thick and consistent. Since it was almost 2 when we reloaded all of our gear we decided to leave the remaining segment of our adventure until next spring.

We headed south and back away from 395. We stopped at the site of the second derailment and walked around it for a while before continuing our trek back to Wendell.
So on this fall day we travelled about 100 miles from Wendel to Moran siding and back. Trying to roundtrip it to Macarthur would have been too much and would have put us back in Wendel well after sunset.

Having been a rail fan since 1977 I had the opportunity to see the WP in action, the last Alco S6 on the SP operating and ride the 3985 across Nevada. I have to say seeing the Modoc from this view point was by far in the top two or three events for memory!

PART 2 NEXT SPRING!