In 1940, with the Red River Lumber Company making plans to log north of Westwood in the Poison Lake and Blacks Mountain region further discussions were held as to construct a railroad line to Burney to harvest their extensive Burney Tract that contained two billion board feet of merchantable timber. An initial railroad survey was conducted with a starting point at Poison Lake. The major barrier was that of Hat Creek Rim. It was determined to follow the rim and slowly make a descent at Cassel and then onward to Burney. It was estimated it would cost one million dollars to construct the line. Fletcher Walker, the resident manager of Westwood was eager to build and wrote, “We would increase the Veneer Plant output and get good logs to operate it and this alone would more than pay for the cost to build the railroad.” However, no one else in the Red River family shared Fletcher’s railroad proposal. In 1941, Red River made the decision to sale Westwood and the Burney Tract.
In 1944, after intense negotiations, Fruit Growers Supply Company purchased Westwood and the Burney Tract. They, too, contemplated to build a railroad line similar to the one proposed by Red River. As late as 1951, Fruit Growers still considered the option of a railroad to Burney. Yet, changes were occurring rapidly with the conversion to cardboard boxes, that forced Fruit Growers to reconsider its future plans, as the needed for wooden boxes to ship citrus would eventually be eliminated.
