Mallets on the Mendocino Coast: Caspar Lumber Company Railroads and Steamships

First edition (Trans-Anglo Books) of this classic book describing the Caspar Lumber Co.'s railroad in fascinating detail. Illustrated throughout with black and white photos of the locomotives in action as well as the ships. On the rough and rocky Redwood Coast of California lies the tiny settlement of Caspar, 125 nautical miles north of San Francisco and about five miles south of Fort Bragg. Operating from 1861 until 1955, the Caspar Lumber Company's mill at Caspar was supplied with timber for 75 of those years by the company's own private railroad. Originally known as the Jughandle Railroad (which ran on wooden rails), the standard-gauge line twice changed its name during its existence-first to the Caspar & Hare Creek Railroad and later to the South Fork & Eastern Railroad-and operated a fascinating array of motive power over the lightest of rail, crossing streams on tall timber trestles, to bring in virgin redwood logs from the forest. The Caspar Lumber Company also operated a fleet of coastal schooners, both sail and steam, to carry lumber from the "doghole" landing at Caspar to San Francisco and elsewhere. This facet of the operation makes for a fascinating story in itself. The railroad and the mill are now memories, but author Ted Wurm brings them back to life in this volume. With schematic diagrams of the locomotives and trestles that should delight any modeler. With foldout map of the railroad and bibliography. 136 pages with index.