(The San Jose Mercury News posted the following Associated Press article on its website on March 8.)
FORT BRAGG, Calif. — The North Coast’s Skunk Train, a historic tourist draw that trundles through redwoods between this logging town and the town of Willits 40 miles to the east, may stop operating next week if it can’t pay its monthly insurance premium.
Fort Bragg officials told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that the 118-year-old train must come up with $11,000 to pay the premium or close next week. They said the train needs about $250,000 to stay in business this year and to buy time to find someone to purchase the struggling business.
The owners of the train, a group of mostly Mendocino County investors, filed for bankruptcy in December. The railroad has continued running a limited schedule for tourists.
The train, which got its name from the strong smell of its gasoline-powered cars, originally hauled timber inland from the Pacific Ocean, about 150 miles north of San Francisco. It added passenger service and connected to other rail lines in Willits in the 1920s.
As many as 70,000 passengers a year once rode the train through rugged Mendocino County, and its possible closure has city officials concerned.
“The Skunk Train is a significant visitor draw to our community and the coast in general,” Fort Bragg City Manager Connie Jackson said. “It has a significant impact on our community.”
The train once carried passengers by day and lumber by night, and almost one-third of its annual $2.5 million in revenue came from hauling freight. When the Northwestern Pacific Railroad closed in 1998 and the Georgia-Pacific lumber mill in Fort Bragg closed last year, the Skunk Train lost a significant amount of freight revenues.
The city of Fort Bragg plans to hold a meeting Monday so residents can hear from the trustee appointed to create a reorganization plan for the railroad to erase its $1.2 million debt. The city is also looking at ways to help get funding for the railroad.
“The trustee is looking for a short-term survival because it’s easier to sell a running railroad,” said City Councilman Dave Turner.