Dunsmuir to Klamath Falls

On Friday I picked my Dad up from work and with much enthusiasm we headed for Roseville. Upon arriving we asked a carknocker who was working on what looked like a Eugene train, when they were going to knock it out. He said that he wasn't sure but would find out and we should get out of the yard. With that we did and sure enough about a half-hour later he came roaring up and yelled out "around 2:00 am". Not wanting to wait around we decided to drive to Dunsmuir and catch out from there.

Got into Dunsmuir around 10:00 pm, parking at the depot. Being late we decided to march directly into the yards via the tracks, rather than hike through town. As we rounded the bend into the yards, we were overcome by the brightest lights in the world (geez). We made it about five feet into the yards when we felt the spotlight of the Siskiyou County Sheriff on our backs. Coupled with the yard lights, the spotlight illuminated everything. Spoke to the Deputy who was just checking the yard for tramps, and after telling him of our plans to camp in an "undisclosed" site, he wished us on our way.

We settled down in a nice jungle and proceeded to watch the stars and quench our thirst. What a great spot... too great. A raccoon and her young kids thought it was a killer spot, too, and not feeling like spending the evening getting a rabies shot, we packed up our stuff hastily and found a new spot.

Now in a new spot, we drift off to sleep...

At around 5:00 am, I awoke to the sound of an eastbound working his way up the canyon. The train pulled in on the siding around 5:45 am, so we packed up and began walking the train for a ride. We found an empty boxcar with both doors wide open about three cars from the end of the train.

7:00 am and we are motoring past the depot and out of town. The sun is shining and we are pumped...

Our train took the siding at Mott and we sat waiting for a new crew. Our crew died at Mott! Not a good sign. Anyway, we spent the time at Mott talking to a tramp three cars up. With a new crew on board we are heading to Black Butte where our train has some work to do.

Saw North Bank Fred at Black Butte, chatted for awhile and now we are off. Beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. We spent the ride to Klamath watching the world go by and grooving on the spectacular views.

Got into Klamath around noon, saw Roger talking to some tramps in the south end of the yard. Bailed off and marched out of the yard with Gino's Market on our minds. Had a great lunch (huge cheeseburger/fries $2.99 and no sales tax). We finished up, grabbed some beer and marched back to the yard to check out the train.

Only three rides (an empty I-beam lumber car, and two grainers). We chose a grainer and are now standing off to the side in between our train and a string of cars. The southbound had some work to do and around 4:00 pm we hopped on and are off.

Had a quick ride back to Dunsmuir and bailed off in the yards around 8:00 pm. Great trip! Great weather!