Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Northwestern Pacific Railroad
NWP #1922 running freight near Petaluma, California; October 21, 2011
Overview
StatusOperational (partial)
OwnerSonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit
Termini
  • Schellville
  • Samoa
WebsiteSMART Freight
Service
SystemNWP
Operator(s)NWPco
Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit
Depot(s)Freight: Schellville
Passenger: Mark West
History
Opened1907 (1907)
1989North Coast Rail Authority established
2011Service begins under NWPRA
Technical
Line length271 mi (436 km)
62 mi (100 km) (operational)
Characterfreight and commuter railroad
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Map

Main line
000.0
Closed section
000.0
462.6
461.1
455.8
Mad River Slough
449.8
447.4
444.6
Bracut
441.8
438.8
Freshwater Slough
438.0
436.4
430.4
Elk River
426.3
424.0
418.9
Salmon Creek
416.8
Tunnel 40
415.4
414.9
Swauger Creek &
Eel River Drive
411.7
408.4
407.6
405.7
Strong's Creek
405.0
402.1
400.6
396.2
393.0
Nanning Creek
391.7
391.6
391.5
Wildwood Avenue
390.8
387.9
385.6
384.2
Stitz Creek
376.8
Tunnel 39
376.3
Panther Creek
375.7
Shively Creek
374.8
371.8
Tunnel 38
369.0
Larabee Creek
368.5
365.1
Weber Creek
361.8
361.5
359.8
Dyerville Loop Road
356.2
Tunnel 37
350.2
Sonoma Creek
347.9
Tunnel 36
346.6
Tunnel 35
345.0
Tunnel 34
342.0
336.6
Brock Creek
328.4
321.8
Tunnel 31
320.5
Fort Seward Creek
317.1
Tunnel 30
316.2
315.4
Zenia Road
312.2
303.3
Tunnel 29
302.3
301.8
Kekawaka Creek
301.5
Tunnel 28
300.5
Queatchumpah Creek
294.9
294.0
Tunnel 27
293.3
293.0
282.8
Tunnel 24
277.8
Bell Springs Creek
276.7
274.8
Tunnel 23
274.4
Blue Rock Creek
269.8
268.5
Tunnel 22
266.8
Shell Rock Creek
263.4
Tunnel 21
262.6
262.3
Tunnel 20
256.2
Woodman Creek
256.1
Tunnel 18
255.6
252.8
Tunnel 17
249.6
Berger Creek
249.0
Tunnel 16
248.2
243.6
Tunnel 15
239.3
Tunnel 14
237.2
234.8
233.5
233.3
231.6
231.4
Tunnel 13
225.8
225.1
223.6
222.8
221.8
Tunnel 12
220.6
218.9
218.2
217.4
214.9
214.7
Tunnel 11
210.7
207.8
Little Lake
205.0
Willits California Western Railroad
Closed section
200.5
194.9
191.9
180.2
Laughlin
177.5
177.2
174.6
174.6
173.8
169.0
167.4
Ackerman Creek
167.1
Presswood
166.1
164.2
160.5
158.4
Robinson Creek
142.0
141.4
Feliz Creek
139.6
133.6
Tunnel 9
132.2
Tunnel 8 Squaw Rock
128.4
Commiskey Creek
124.4
Tunnel 7
122.6
Tunnel 6
121.0
118.8
Tunnel 5
reroute c. 1990s
Cloverdale (NWP)
118.1
Cloverdale Depot
(planned)
111.9
105.0
103.1
96.8
90.6
Healdsburg
(planned)
90.0
89.3
88.3
88.0
85.8
82.4
Windsor
(planned)
79.3
Sonoma County Airport Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport
SMART
Rail Operations Center
77.0
75.4
Santa Rosa North
67.9
Santa Rosa
67.5
67.3
P&SR Interurban
Sebastopol Branch
62.9
Todd Road
59.7
Rohnert Park
55.6
Cotati
47.4
Petaluma–North
(planned)
45.7
45.4
44.5
44.0
43.4
Petaluma
41.9
41.3
31.9
Novato San Marin
26.3
Novato
24.2
23.1
22.9
22.0
18.1
17.9
3.6
0

The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a 271-mile (436 km) mainline railroad from the former ferry connections in Sausalito, California north to Eureka, with a connection to the national railroad system at Schellville. The railroad has gone through a complex history of different ownership and operators but has maintained a generic name of reference as the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, despite no longer being officially named that.

Currently, only a 62-mile (100 km) stretch of mainline from Larkspur to the Sonoma County Airport in Windsor and east to Schellville on the “south end” is operated by Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), which operates both commuter and freight trains with plans for future extension north to Cloverdale. The “north end” from Willits to Eureka (which includes connections to the California Western Railroad) is currently out of service, but saved by 2018 legislation to be converted into the Great Redwood Trail.[1][2]

Vegetation encroaches on Swauger Creek trestle near Loleta.
  1. ^ "Gov. Brown signs Great Redwood Trail bill". Times-Standard. September 30, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  2. ^ Sims, Hank (January 8, 2019). "Marin Judge Orders the Remains of the North Coast Railroad Authority to Pay Humboldt Environmental Groups Nearly $2 Million". Lost Coast Outpost. Retrieved February 22, 2021.