Black Butte, California

Railroad junction in California, United States

Place in California, United States
41°23′30″N 122°21′40″W / 41.39167°N 122.36111°W / 41.39167; -122.36111CountryUnited StatesStateCaliforniaCountySiskiyouElevation
3,911[1] ft (1,192 m)Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)Area code530GNIS feature ID1658067[1]

Black Butte is an unincorporated location and important railroad junction in Siskiyou County, California, United States. Black Butte is located along a Union Pacific (UP) rail line north of Black Butte and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast of Weed. The location is named for nearby Black Butte, a cluster of lava domes adjoining Mount Shasta.[1]

History

From 1887 to 1911, Black Butte Summit was the name of a station on the Southern Pacific (SP) Siskiyou Line near Summit Lake, about a mile south of the present-day location of Black Butte.[2] In 1924-1926, the Natron Cutoff was built by SP as an alternative to the steep Siskiyou route and a small rail yard, wye, and train orders office were built at the present site of Black Butte on the rerouted line.[2] The station opened on September 1, 1926.[2] In the early 1940s, the station was moved to the opposite side of the tracks and the yard was expanded.[2] The station included a water tank, and housing for the railroad workers; the water tank still exists on the site.[2] SP workers and their families, including railway signal maintenance workers, lived at the station until the early 1970s.[2] The train orders office operated until 1966, when Centralized traffic control (CTC) replaced the train orders operator; the train orders office was destroyed by a derailing freight train on October 31, 1970.[2]

In 1992 the SP suspended operations over its Siskiyou line in favor of the Cascade Line.[3] The Siskiyou Line was leased to Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad (CORP) in 1995 (the line closed again in 2008).[3] The Southern Pacific was taken over by Union Pacific on September 11, 1996.[3]

The Coast Starlight derailed at Black Butte on December 7, 2000; one Amtrak engineer was injured.[4]

The Coast Starlight occasionally does crew changes at Black Butte instead the usual location of Klamath Falls.[4]

Railroad

The Black Butte Subdivision of the UP starts in Klamath Falls, Oregon and ends in Dunsmuir, California.

The Springfield Junction wye at MP 621.9 in Glenwood, Oregon is the point where the UP's Cascade Line and Siskiyou Line through Siskiyou Pass diverge. The lines do not rejoin again until Black Butte at MP 345.

Black Butte is the site of the Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Black Butte". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. January 19, 1981. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Black Butte Then and Now: Part 1 (1901-1987)". Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Black Butte Then and Now: Part 2 (1987-1999)". Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Black Butte Then and Now: Part 3 (2000-2015)". Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  5. ^ "History - 800 Black Butte Road". Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture. Retrieved June 25, 2024.