Yreka to Montague

The entire line is in Yard Limits, with speed limit 20 mph, from the terminal facilities at Yreka (MP 4.5), where there is a yard and a locomotive repair facility, with the depot on the east side of the line, heading north-northeast, and then turning northeast, out of the little valley surrounded by wooded hills that Yreka nestles in, and entering onto the broad Shasta Valley through which the Siskiyou line and the Shasta River pass. Clearly visible across the valley is Mount Shasta, still with its cap of clouds. The YW twists its way south along a hillside, then east, northeast, and southeast, descending to the valley floor, with Mt. Shasta now to the left, now to the right, and now dead ahead. Eventually, the railroad heads more or less directly east, with Mt. Shasta firmly to the right. The line passes through a large lumberyard, which seems to provide the major traffic source for the line. We observe some of the facilities and operations at the lumberyard as we pass through. The majority of the way along the line, it passes through open fields, with cows, a few bulls, and various kinds of wildlife visible. A stream crossing provides a view of turtles sunning themselves on a dead tree stump by the water.

At Montague (MP 0.0), the line comes along the west side of the original Southern Pacific line through the area, later the  SP Siskiyou Line and now operated by the Central Oregon & Pacific, sharing a depot on the west side of the latter.