I worked in the area in 1964. At that time, Pickering had cut back the railroad to Lyons Reservoir and was using the right of way east of there as a private haul road with big off-highway logging trucks (their 11-foot wide bunks were not legal on highways). At Lyons, they had a big LeTourneau diesel-electric log loader which could pick up a whole truckload of logs and transfer it to a flat car.

A few miles east of Lyons Reservoir, PG&E had built an inclined railroad at Spring Gap which ran from the Pickering railroad straight down the hill to the site of the Spring Gap Powerhouse. For many years the incline was the only way to get to the powerhouse. Traces of the incline are still visible on Google satellite views along the east edge of the clearing for a transmission line from the powerhouse to Spring Gap.