Unfortunatly you are right. Even thought we lived in the area all our lives we didn't ride it because of the cost. My wife graduated with some of the employees from McCloud High. It is sad, as I've watched the Railroad from the time Flake Willis was president in the 1950's, to the present, slowly die.
-------------------------------------------------------
Realist Wrote:

> Come on, Ken - economics did in the McCloud.
>
> The Lookout branch died when the bridge traffic
> between Lookout and Mt. Shasta dried up. There
> was absolutely no on-line business on that
> branch.
>
> The Burney branch was built when there were at
> least four mills on the line (Pondosa, Lorenz, and
> a couple in Burney), and a one-time use for
> hauling a lot of pipe to build the gas line from
> Canada.. At the time it was scrapped there was
> one mill in Burney and the diatomaceous earth
> loading at Cayton. There just wasn't enough
> business to support that much track.
>
> Tourist railroads are nice. I mourn the McCloud's
> passing as much as anybody. But realistically
> they either need repeat business (and a lot of it)
> to pay the bills, or a continuous fresh infusion
> of new customers. The Napa Valley Wine Train is
> close enough to San Francisco that it can draw
> lots of new customers, and has a relatively short
> line with fairly easy maintenance demands
> (relative to the McCloud). The McCloud obviously
> is not within day-trip range of a major city, and
> with the prices they had to charge for dinner they
> would not get much repeat business from the locals
> who for the most part probably do not have that
> much disposable income.