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| Abandoned SP line Igerna, CA | |
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| | Abandoned SP line Igerna, CA | | | |
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Abandoned SP line Igerna, CA
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| Hiking | 4.49 Miles |
194 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.49 Miles | 2 Hrs 26 Mns | | 1.85 mph |
| 194 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | My buddy Anthony and I explored an abandoned railroad right of way just south of Weed, California. This area is now within the Weed city limits, but in the 1880’s was known at Igerna. The founder of Weed, Abner Weed, had a lumber mill here before founding the one that is now a Roseburg Lumber facility. The Southern Pacific built this line into Weed in 1886, then proceeded to continue onto Medford, Oregon, up along the west side of the Shasta Valley and over the Siskiyou Pass at the border with Oregon. That route though has an extreme high grade, and so the SP built a line from Weed to Klamath Falls, then to Eugene, which has a much gentler grade. That line opened in 1926, from what is known as Black Butte, on the southeast edge of Weed. The segment from near the present Interstare 5 crosses over the now Union Pacific line to a spot just south of the present Crystal Geyser water plant in Weed. The “Siskiyou Line” to Medford was reconnected to the new line at a wye at Black Butte. The Siskiyou Line is now operated by the Central Oregon and Pacific (CORP) Railroad.
We were able to easily trace most of the abandoned segment. We found a few railroad ties along the route, and came across a pair of bridge abutments on a long ramp that climbs south to a point near a little pond called Summit Lake. During the brief tenure of this segment, the SP maintained a turntable and supervisor’s residence here, but we couldn’t find traces of either.
This area is slated for development, and I wanted to record what could of the area before any more traces of this segment disappeared. |
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Route Editor
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