Yesterday, I came across an article in the New York Times about the Wendel family. However, while quite interesting, it was not the same Wendel clan for the railroad town of the same name.  The Nevada-California-Oregon Railroad (NCO) named it after German investor Charles de Wendel. Some twenty-five years ago, Armin Wendel a family descendant contacted me about this town, which he thought was a major U.S. city. He assigned an assistant to make arrangements for a visit. That person contacted me about the Wendel International Airport, and was there a Holiday Day Inn where her boss could stay among many other inquiries. Needless to say Armin was disappointed when I relayed the conditions of the town along with photographs and he never made the journey.

It should be noted, there were two Wendels on the Nevada-California-Oregon Railroad (NCO). The first Wendel Station was established in 1913 in Lake County, Oregon and its existence was brief. In October 1914, the Lassen Advocate reported that the NCO and Southern Pacific (SP) Junction name was to be changed from Caloreta to Wendel. In addition, the post office located there was known as Purser, and that name would also be changed to Wendel. While the NCO adopted the name change, the SP did not change it to Wendel until 1917.

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