Ephraim Van Buren Spencer (1836 -1904) was a staunch advocate to have Susanville serviced by a railroad. Without one, the town in his opinion would be just another “Sleepy Hollow.”
The first glimmer of hope came in 1880 with the establishment of the Nevada & Oregon Railroad at Reno. The fledging railroad struggled in its early years. A dramatic change occurred in 1884 when the railroad was acquired by the Moran Brothers—New York bankers. The following year the railroad went through a name change first as the Nevada & California and eventually the Nevada-California-Oregon.
With Morans at the helm, Spencer saw hope and the residents of Susanville raised $500 to send Spencer to New York to meet with the Morans. The meeting went well, but the Morans stated they had no funds to extend the line. Spencer felt confident that the Morans would eventually build north to Susanville,
In March 1887, Spencer and the community of Susanville were blindsided when the railroad announced it would build a 47 mile extension from Junction (Hallelujah) House to Brubeck’s on the east shore of Honey Lake. Spencer hastily arranged a meeting with Daniel Moran and Edgar Heriot, the latter the railroad’s general manager. Spencer urged them to reconsider, and a route through Susanville would be more profitable. One of the railroad’s concerns was a route out of Susanville to the north. In June concerned Susanville residents met to come up with a plan to convince the railroad to change its mind. Not only did they offer to survey the route, but obtain the necessary rights-of-way, a donation of a depot site in Susanville and more. It was all in vain, due to an unusual circumstance. The NCO fired Heriot, and was replaced a temperamental Erasmus Gest. Gest could care less about the Susanville proposal. He was determined to build the railroad line with the most direct route to Oregon, thus the railroad built on the east side of Honey Lake.
Not be undaunted, Spencer would make one last final attempt with the railroad. In 1899, when the NCO extended its line northward, as construction was stalled during the 1890s, Spencer proposed a feeder line from Hot Springs Station (Wendel) to Susanville. When he contacted the Morans the answer was no. However, Susanville residents could construct the feeder line at an estimated cost of $100,000. That was not going to happen, since community could not even raise $450 to build a public hall.
Nearly eight years after Spencer’s death in 1913, the Fernley & Lassen Railroad arrived in Susanville. The town went through a major transformation and it was no longer a Sleepy Hollow.