"The railroad has agreed to sell the right of way to Rails to Trails."

Correct, except the Rails to Trails organization is not involved. A local land trust has been working with four local community organizations in the McCloud and Burney areas to make this trail happen.

"Does this include the line over the mountain from Weed to McCloud?"

No. This action involves the section of the railroad abandoned in 2006/2007, which extends from the Pilgrim Creek Road crossing (about three miles east of town) to Burney, including parts or all of the Sierra branch and the portion of the old Lookout Line from Bartle to Hambone.

"Are the rails still on the ground in that section? If yes, are there plans for salvage?"

Yes, tracks are still in place from Pilgrim Creek Road through the McCloud yard and then to Mt. Shasta City. 4-Rails, Inc. (McCloud Railway's parent company) sold the track materials and all equipment to the Mike Williams Group (Railroad Materials Salvage, Inc., plus a half dozen or more shortline railroad operations scattered from Missouri to South Dakota to Washington State) late last year. The new ownership has operated a few scrap trains, mostly (at this point) cleaning up a lot of the scrap material that has accumulated around the property over the last several decades. All equipment except for the SD38's is for sale, though the only transaction I am aware of to date is the sale of a fire car to the Pacific Loocomotive Association for preservation and use on the Niles Canyon Railway. Everything save for the passenger equipment will probably get cut up this coming spring/summer, and efforts to sell the passenger cars continue.

The Mike Williams group may have plans to re-open the shop and do some car repairs and storage, though things may just be staying in place until scrap values pick up again. Time will tell the way this situation goes. There is currently no freight business on the line, nor are there any reasonably forseeable sources of freight traffic that could be generated.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV