Route Review: The Skunk Train
Running through the Pudding Creek estuary below the coastal town of Fort Bragg, California, the California Western Railroad has recently commenced their second season of railbike tours. The 7-mile (11.3 km) round-trip takes riders across several small bridges over the milky Pudding Creek and under patches of redwood trees, all surrounded by the nature of coastal California. I rode this route on March 9th, the second day of the 2019 season, which lasts until November.
The Site
Check-in was in downtown Fort Bragg at the “Skunk Train” station, named for the former gas-burning, self-propelled railcars that ran along the line, said to emit such an odor that the locals would quip, "You can smell 'em before you can see 'em." Upon arrival, the excursion train was was out on a run, but there was still one historic passenger coach in the yard to admire. The Mendocino Coast Model Railroad and Historical Society is next door.
The railbike route starts at a short walk across downtown, which has an active business district for lunch and shopping. Note that this is one of only a few examples of lines on which railbikes and tourist trains are run by the same outfit, so ticketing and other operations are completely integrated.
The Route
Leaving town, the line runs down a relatively steep grade to the Pudding Creek estuary. It was raining when we rode, so we didn’t see any of the native heron or osprey but, as noted above, the creekside and redwood forest scenery were outstanding.
The turnaround is in a clearing called Glen Blair Junction where there a is switch for a former branch to an erstwhile logging camp. There is no turntable or other mechanism for turning the bikes around, they are light enough for two people to lift and turn themselves.
As noted by the Chief Skunk Robert Jason Pinoli, “the thing that is so cool about the Railbikes as it meshes with the 134-year-old Skunk Train operation is that someone who has been a previous passenger of ours and has ridden the rails countless times and loves the Redwood Route™ will surely want to come back for this new experience.” He also notes that the railbikes speak to people of all ages and are a natural extension of of the open-air rail cars, in that they provide “that same awe-inspiring sense of being amongst the giant redwoods, coupled with your inner kid being unleashed on a bike.”
Past, Present & Future
The 3.5 miles (5.6 kms) of track used for the railbike route are part of the 40 miles (64 kms) of the California Western Railroad (CWR), which runs inland from the Pacific Coast at Fort Bragg to meet the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Willits, California. The CWR started as the Fort Bragg Railroad in 1885 to move timber from nearby logging operations to the coast for shipment. Over the following 25 years, it was extended in sections to Willts and passenger service was introduced. While the route flourished in the first half of the 20th century, passenger services gradually declined to only tourist excursion trains while freight services ended completely by 2001.
In 2016, Tunnel #1, which connects the Pudding Creek and Noyo River valleys, was blocked from storm damage, isolating the 3.5 mile (5.6 km) Pudding Creek section from the rest of the line and the national network. The Skunk Train runs tourist trains on both sides of the blocked tunnel, and, according to Pinoli, “we are looking to build 12 more bikes and run them in the Noyo River canyon. Not to mention we are looking to build some to run out of Willits whereby you’d take the train to the ‘launch’ point, do the ride and then catch the returning or next train.”
The tunnel is currently under repair and will eventually reconnect the line to Willits, where there are proposals of connecting to expansions of either the Northwestern Pacific Railroad or the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART). Moreover, when the tunnel is repaired, Pinoli also intends to run his railbikes through the 1,122-foot (342 m) tunnel.
The Vehicles
Skunk Train built their own frames from scratch, using urethane wheels from RailRiders in Colorado and electric assist drivetrains from the the Australian Engineering firm Dillenger. I tested the assist a bit on the return climb and could feel a significant boost up the hill. It was also fun being able to see our speed displayed along the way.
On another note, it rained fairly heavily on our return ride, which gave me the opportunity to test hard braking of urethane wheels on smooth, wet tracks. I was able to get the vehicle to slide, but only for a short distance before it came to a stop.
Travel Notes
Fort Bragg is 170 miles (275 kms) north of San Francisco and best reached by car (unless the Skunk Train is ever connected to the SMART). Fort Bragg and the surroundings in Mendocino County are rich with sights to round out the trip, including noteworthy points along the Pacific Coast Highway such as the Point Arena Light, the Point Cabrillo Light, and the 1812-built Russian Fort Ross. Further south on the bank of the Russian River is the cultural center Russian House #1, where you can get borscht and other delights from a home cooked buffet and pay “according to your heart.”
