Way back, "Jefferson" was only the northern tier of California counties and the southern tier of Oregon. More recent conceptions of it seem to have dropped the Oregon counties (after all, Oregon is for practical purposes a Red state, except for all the people in Portland making it Blue). California side now seems to include nearly everything north of Sacramento, the northern half of Sonoma and on up the coast, and the foothills as far as Mariposa County. The leafy green North Coast is borderline Jefferson, but a seaport is needed (Eureka if not Coos Bay) and when you really push a pot grower you'll find a libertarian.

As for the rail line, both north and south of the Delta SP used to have a "West Side" line that was maintained in good condition and used for a lot of through passenger and freight traffic. That ended during the shortlining era at SP, UP seems to have no interest in resurrecting it a la Stampede Pass. Amtrak has to run on the tracks the freight lines are willing to maintain for 79. Cal Northern isn't one of those lines.