In December, I wrote that I would reading the Lassen Advocate for 1898 and 1914. From time to time I will publish extracts that it may be of interest.

Lassen Advocate 2 January 1914 5;4 – Is Some Railroad, Sure. For a railroad that has been running trains for twenty-eight or thirty years, the NCO railroad has a “peacherino” as the following from the Reno Journal of December 27 will attest.

“Traveling at a rate of about twenty miles per hour, the NCO passenger train due in Christmas evening was wrecked that afternoon at Chat, a small station situated one mile south of Plumas Junction.

“Fortunately the wreck did not cause injury to the train hands or passengers, excepting slight hurts by fireman Bert Pratt, who sprained a leg where he jumped from the engine.

“The wreck was apparently caused by a spreading rail and the engine overturned, after plowing up the frozen ground to a depth of four feet distance of a car length.

“The mail car was partially overturned although the remaining coaches to the train remained on the track. The wreck occurred at 5:05 o’clock Thursday afternoon and the passengers reached Reno 25 hours late.”

It should be noted that Mother Nature played on a role. The Christmas Eve storm dumped 3 1/2 feet in Susanville. Reno is the banana belt” so to speak in terms of weather. Due to rain shadow effect of its location, it is much drier than other east slope communities of the region.

Tim