In the fall of 1903, Western Pacific Railroad surveyors invaded the Honey Lake Valley and the region west of Susanville. This led to speculations regarding a new route to bypass Beckwourth Pass. If that was the case, the railroad would not have to build the 6,002 foot-long Chilcoot Tunnel under Beckwourth Pass, but even an additional longer tunnel at Spring Garden towards Quincy. It was decided on the Beckwourth Pass route, though the Susanville route would later gain traction.
On May 28, 1912, a fire broke out on the west end of the Chilcoot Tunnel. The heat was so intense WP crews were unable to suppress it. Newspapers, both local and regional, were quick to attack the WP over the costly Chilcoot and Spring Garden tunnels. It would take nearly a year before the Chilcoot tunnel could be repaired. To keep the trains moving, an expensive shoo-fly (temporary track) was constructed over Beckwourth Pass.
The Susanville route, now referred to as “cut-off” was debated. On September 13, 1912, Susanville’s Lassen Advocate wrote: “The Chilcoot Tunnel is still too hot that men cannot work in it. That tunnel will yet make it so hot for the pocketbooks of the Western Pacific.” It took nearly a year and a half before the tunnel reopened.