Pacific Lumber Company
Number Builder Type Date Works number Notes
3 Pennsylvania Railroad 4-4-0 1886 1031 originally Pennsylvania Railroad # 452 ; then Chicago , St. Louis and Pittsburgh Railroad # 452 ; then Pittsburgh , Cincinnati , Chicago and St. Louis Railroad # 8298 ; renumbered # 298 ; renumbered # 343 ; sold 1902 to Eel River and Eureka Railroad as # 4
2nd # 3 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-6-2 1922 55248 formerly Humboldt Northern Railroad # 3 purchased 1950 ; sold 1953
9 Heisler Locomotive Works 2-truck Heisler locomotive 1920 1446 originally Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway # 9 ; then Siskiyou Lumber Co. of Macdoel , CA ; then Humboldt Northern Railroad # 5 ; purchased 1950 ; retired 1953 and placed on display in Scotia
19 Baldwin Locomotive Works 0-6-0 Tank locomotive 1875 3739 purchased from Excelsior Redwood Company
20 Marshutz & Cantrell 0-6-0 Tank locomotive 1882 purchased from Excelsior Redwood Company
21 Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works 4-4-0 1881
22 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-4-2 Tank locomotive 1887 8792 purchased as # 2 ; renumbered
23 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-4-2 Tank locomotive 1886 8007 purchased as # 1 ; renumbered ; wrecked in 1938
25 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-4-2 Tank locomotive June 1904 24317 purchased as # 5 ; renumbered ; sold to Holmes-Eureka Lumber Company
26 Lima Locomotive Works 2-truck Shay locomotive 14 July 1906 1615 purchased new ; scrapped 1950
27 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-6-2 1909 33339 purchased new ; scrapped 1955
28 Lima Locomotive Works 2-truck Shay locomotive 24 February 1910 2268 purchased new ; sold to Pelican Bay Lumber Company Algoma , Oregon
29 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-6-2 1910 34484 purchased new as a wood-burner ; later converted to oil fuel ; in 1986 placed on display in Eureka , California
30 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-6-2 1911 36173 purchased new ; scrapped 1955
31 Lima Locomotive Works 3-truck Shay locomotive 6 April 1911 2419 formerly California Western Railroad # 10 purchased 1917 ; sold 1920
32 H.K . Porter , Inc 0-6-0 1920 6533 fireless sawmill switcher with steam reservoir periodically refilled from the sawmill boiler ; sold 1921
33 Climax Locomotive Works 3-truck Climax locomotive 1923 1633 original locomotive c/n 1592 built in 1921 was returned to builder and replaced ; scrapped 1952
34 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-6-0 1913 39760 purchased 1921 from Ocean Shore Railroad ; sold 1942 to Red River Lumber Company Westwood , California
35 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-8-2 October 1923 67538 purchased new ; retired 1966 ; sold 1971 Now on static display at the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum in Boulder City , Nevada
36 Lima Locomotive Works 2-truck Shay locomotive 3 May 1907 1836 formerly Metropolitan Redwood Lumber Company # 1 ; purchased October 1935 ; scrapped 1953
Railroads -- Locomotives
The Pacific Lumber Company, officially abbreviated PALCO, and also commonly known as PL, was one of California's major logging and sawmill operations, located 28 miles (45 km) south of Eureka and 244 miles (393 km) north of San Francisco. Begun in 1863, PALCO was carefully managed over most of the twentieth century by generations of the Simon J. Murphy, Sr. Family or managers chosen by the Murphys from 1905 through 1985. Primary operations existed in massive log storage and milling operations at the historic company town of Scotia, California, located adjacent to US 101 along the Eel River. Secondary mills were located in nearby Fortuna and Carlotta. PALCO had extensive timber holdings exceeding well over 200,000 acres (890 km²) in the Redwood and Douglas-Fir forests of Humboldt County. For generations, it was one of the largest private employers in the entire region, appropriately known as the Redwood Empire. The company was transformed into a wholly owned subsidiary of Maxxam, Inc for its two final decades. In January 2007 the company filed for bankruptcy protection. On July 29, 2008, the Final Order from US Bankruptcy attorney, Judge Richard Schmidt, led to the transfer of the assets of the bankrupt PALCO and all its subsidiaries to the Mendocino Redwood Company and the town of Scotia to Marathon Structured Finance. After 145 years as PALCO, the new company is known as the Humboldt Redwood Company. Some of the affected parties, including Bank of New York Trust Company, filed an appeal and on September 29, 2009 the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit modified this judgment. However, the asset transfer and resulting companies were little changed by the modification and no other adjustments of any significance have occurred since.