Rio Grande aside, before tourist railroads caught on in the West, Cal Western and the Skunks had it over everyone. Made popular by Sunset and the post WW II tourism boom CWR was a major part of the Redwood Empire tourism economy by the early 1960's. Four unique railcars that looked like antiques and smelled like skunks......the isolated mail and passenger service they provided.....a ride short enough not to bore most non railfans, out of the summer heat between two active lumber towns close to California population centers with easy access from Highway 1 or 101 at either end......how could you lose!! Just about every kind of railroad geography was found in the 40 miles of track. Adding steam in the mid 1960's when it was rare made it even more popular.

By contrast was the nearby short lived "North Coast Daylight." Well marketed initially, the realities of the length of the trip coupled with the condition of the equipment and the track made it more like operating a real passenger train in a third World country. The sixteen hour round trip (if there wasn't a problem) through the heat of the Eel River Canyon, punctuated by a cold foggy night in a Eureka motel made for a train full of "dead people" back in Willits.
A railfans dream for some, for the average drinker and non-railfan it was a bit much.......

OK.......have at it.
ARD
ARD