You probably have never heard it, because it was a short lived designation that would later become Wendel. When the Fernley & Lassen Railroad was being constructed to Westwood, when it crossed the NCO railroad’s tracks, north of Amedee it created a dilemma to name its new station at that point, due to the fact the. NCO kept changing their station’s name for that location. While today, many might not think it was a big deal—but it was—so much of the nation’s mail traveled by rail.
The Fernley & Lassen decide to name the crossing Caloreta, it being a combination of names that stands for the California and Oregon Transfer. In 1914, Manuel Jose of Alameda County, California had the Caloreta Townsite laid out at the present site of Wendel. On June 6, 1914, Jose leased a lot that was adjacent to the Fernley & Lassen to Gail H.V. James for $10 a year, which was the site of the Purser Post Office. On February 10, 1915 the post office name was changed to Wendel and Caloreta went out of existence.