Home > California > Dorris vicinity > Southern Pacific Railroad Natron Cutoff, Tunnel No. 18, Milepost 410, Dorris, Siskiyou County, CA
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Item Title
Southern Pacific Railroad Natron Cutoff, Tunnel No. 18, Milepost 410, Dorris, Siskiyou County, CA
LocationMilepost 410,
Dorris vicinity, CA
Find maps of Dorris, CA
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1968.
Notes
Survey number HAER CA-219
Significance: The Southern Pacific Railroad Cascade Route, built as the Natron Cutoff between Black Butte, California and Natron, Oregon was one of a series of major rebuildings and realignments of the original Central Pacific Railroad. Begun in 1905 under railroad magnate E.H. Harriman to replace the original Central Pacific route over the Siskiyour Mountains into Oregon, the Natron Cutoff had to overcome both natural and political obstacles. Stalled by government anti-trust lawsuits against Harriman, by World War I and the ensuing federal takeover of the nation's railroads, the Natron Cutoff finally overcame the rugged Cascade Mountains of Oregon to reach completion in 1927, at an ultimate cost of nearly $40 million. For the purpose of the current project, the Natron Cutoff was found likely to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places at the state level of significance under Criterion A for its significance in engineering, transportation history, and the economic history of central Oregon, and in the development of the West, and under criterion B for its association with E.H. Harriman. The Natron Cutoff's period of significance is 1905 to 1945, from the beginning of construction in 1905, through the years of its role in the economic development of the central Oregon, to the conclusion of the railroad's achievements in World War II. Built in 1909, Tunnel 18 is a contributive element of this property.
Collection
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. West portal of Tunnel 18, contextual view to northeast, 210mm lens.
2. West portal of Tunnel 18, oblique view to north-northeast, 135mm lens. Note the use of concrete face and wingwalls, with dressed stone voussoirs, wingwall coping, parapet with stone belt course and coping, and coursed stone masonry slope protection flanking the portal.
3. East portal of Tunnel 18, view to west-southwest from milepost 410.5, 210mm lens. The single-lens searchlight-type block signals are Southern Pacific Common Standard signals, a type in use since the 1920s. Many of these have been replaced system-wide as a result of various mergers since the 1980s.
4. East portal of Tunnel 18, contextual view to west-southwest, 135mm lens.
5. East portal of Tunnel 18, view to west-southwest, 135mm lens. The train exiting the tunnel, though northbound toward Portland, is considered an eastbound train on the Southern Pacific (see explanation above).
6. East portal of Tunnel 18, view to west-southwest, 90mm lens.
7. Detail, beaded mortar joint, stepped wingwall coping at the east portal of Tunnel 18, 135mm lens with electronic flash fill.
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