Susanville and the Nevada-California-Oregon Railroad (NCO) had an awkward relationship since the railroad’s inception. At first it was idyllic as the initial railroad survey would enter Susanville. Then things deteriorated when in 1887, the NCO decided to bypass the west side of the Honey Lake Valley, to the remote east side of the valley.
The strained relationship never improved. In 1899, when NCO extended its line north to Hot Springs Station (Wendel) Susanville residents reached out to the NCO with a proposal. They tried to persuade NCO officials to build a feeder to line Susanville. They cited the potential to tap the vast timber resources to the west. The answer was no. However, if the residents wanted to finance it at a cost of $100,000 the railroad would be agreeable. That was not going to happen, since the community could not even raise $500 to build a town hall.
Fast forward twenty-one years later. The NCO was in financial shambles. In 1917, it sold the southern segment of its line from Hackstaff (Herlong) to Reno. In 1921 the NCO petitioned the Interstate Railroad Commission to abandon its line, due to substantial operating losses. After several public hearings the commission denied the request. It said the railroad could reduce its costs by operating a tri-weekly service instead of daily, eliminate the president’s $10,000 a year salary and close its New York office.
Ironically, Susanville once again courted the Morans, owners of the NCO. This time it was Russell Brownell of the Lassen County Chamber of Commerce who spearheaded the movement. He wanted the NCO to reroute its line from Snowstorm across the Tablelands to Belfast thence to Susanville as the terminus. This would provide Susanville with an alternate railroad to serve the northern sectors. The plan received wide spread support, and the Fruit Growers Supply Company donated its services and surveyed the proposed route. However, the NCO’s president, Charles Moran balked at the idea. Brownell informed Moran that if Susanville was the terminus it could double that line’s tonnage, and save the financially troubled railroad. Brownell died suddenly in January 1923, and with his death the proposal also died. In February 1923, Moran changed his mind and said he would like Susanville to be terminus, but the railroad could not finance it. It was a costly delay on Moran’s part, since the old offer was no longer valid.
In 1925, the NCO entered into an agreement to sell the beleaguered line to the Southern Pacific. In 1926, Lassen County officials approached Southern Pacific with Brownell’s proposal, though it went nowhere.
