Eureka Southern's staying on track

HE Eureka Southern, formed in November 1984, to fill a void on the Eel River section of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad in Northern California is proving that it's "the train that can," The Merchont Magazinelearnd in an exclusive interview with company officials.

The transformation of a nearly abandoned line plagued by floods, washouts, slides and tunnel fires to an optimistic, determined line serving the communities south of Eureka, Ca., has taken a lot of can do spirit.

The 168 miles of main line plus branch lines were acquired from the Southern Pacific's Northwestern Pacific Railroad subsidiary for $5 million last fall by Bryan Whipple, a railroad entrepreneur. Southern Pacific, which still operates the Northwestern Pacific between the end of Whipple's line at Willits and the San Francisco Bay area, financed part of the purchase.

The 70 year old line was in poor shape physically. After tunnel fires forced the line to close several times, the railroad announced plans for abandonment. A suit brought by the California Public Utilities Commission forced repair of the tunnel and resumption of service. The abandonment proposal was denied by the ICC, but a $l,ZD surcharge per car which had been imposed by the NWP virtually halted operations.

These were the problems assumed by Whipple as he boarded the first Eureka Southern train traveling down the Eel River Canyon to Willits. Now, eight months later, with a lot of hard work and blessed with a mild winter, his line seems to be on the right track.

"We'll make it work. But no one said it's going to be easy," Whipple said a few weeks into operation. Today he is able to point to a string of accomplishments.

Eureka Southern has established a regular schedule with train #l moving south from Eureka to willits and trun tr2 moving north from Willits to Eureka each day. The two trains meet halfway to exchange crews, a move which sends the employees back to home base and cuts expenses. Each train averages 25 to 30 cars a day. Forest products travel south with northbound cars returning empty except for a few loads of cement each week. Plans are in the making for hauling logs on the northern trip.

'Ihe line began operation with locomotives borrowed from Southern Pacific, but now has four of its own acquired from Conrail. Three are freshly painted in corporate colors of orange, red and deep yellow, carrying Eureka Southern's logo of a redwood tree and a bridge. Cars also are being refurbished in orange and yellow with black stripes and black lettering.

Eureka Southern recently received a federal grant of $486,000. Half of this will be used for building a proposed locomotive and maintenance facility with the rest going to upgrade the roadbed, according to Michael Strider of the engineering department. "Improvement of grade crossings is underway in cooperation with the

Story at a Glance

Railroad upgrades line, equip. ment & service...two trains a day...25 to 30 cars each...forest products predominate.

City of Eureka," he added.

Now operating at a 65CI to 6600 annual car level, about two-thirds of capacity, the railroad has its sights set on 10,000 carloads annually in the next few years. "And that's only based on average years for the forest products companies which we serve," Whipple emphasizes.

Whipple says that the railroad, which is "hungry for business," is concentrating on building shipper confidence as well as establishing better rates. "Other priorities are work on improving the connecting service and upgrading our equipment," he continues.

The railroad also hopes to convince shippers that service to them can be improved if they make rail oriented investments such as purchasing equipment for loading chips. Eight Eureka area forest product companies are regulars on the Eureka SouthernLouisiana-Pacific, Simpson Timber, Sierra Pacific Industries, Schmidbauer Lumber, Eel River Sawmills,' Pacific Lumber Co., Arcata Redwood and Bracut International.

Although, as Whipple points out, forest products will probably continue to be their major cargo, efforts are being made to develop other customers. Since Exxon has signed with a Eureka firm for the manufacturing of oil drilling platforms, there is a possibility of getting contracts to haul pipe and materials for the job. Eureka Southern also is seeking a contract to haul rock for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which is rebuilding a jetty in Eureka.

Whipple, who has a strong background in engineering, business and railroading (Southern Pacific and Western Pacific) has brought several new faces aboard. Strider joined the organization in early spring to supervise engineering. John Kosack is manager of administration. The line has recently expanded to 30 employees.