The year 2014 marks the centennial of the completion of the Northwestern
Pacific Railroad (NWP), celebrated by driving a golden spike at Cain
Rock in October 1914. This achievement was the culmination of a massive,
six-year engineering effort to connect rail lines ending at Willits with
the early lumber company railroads of the Humboldt Bay region. When it
was completed, the NWP linked Eureka with San Francisco by rail, a
milestone in the history of Humboldt and Northern Mendocino Counties.
This book examines the impact of the NWP on Northwestern California.
Although no longer operational, the railroad today symbolizes the
ongoing struggle to connect this isolated region with the wider world.