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The following website should answer your questions:http://www.trainweb.org/mccloudrails/News.htmlThe situation is this...STB approved McCloud Railway Company's petition for an exemption to allow for the abandonment of the entire railroad east of McCloud. The decision was to become effective on 13 November 2005; however, a few days before the STB issued its decision an unknown party out of Floriday (Seaside Holdings, Inc.) filed a Notice of Intent to File an Offer of Financial Assistance. In their filing they requested current documentation establishing a net liquidation value and minimum purchase price for the part of the line to be abandoned. The next business day after the STB approved the abandonment the McCloud filed a request for extension of time, stating that they would not be able to get the documents requested by Seaside Holdings to them before the deadline the STB set for all offers of financial assistance to be filed. STB agreed, and the railroad must now serve notice to the board once the information is provided to Seaside. All offers of financial assistance will be due 10 days after that date, and if no OFA's or other appeals are received the decision will become effective 20 days after the railroad gives Seaside the requested documents. The McCloud Railway Company will continue common carrier operations over the remaining trackage between McCloud and Mount Shasta City. Since the sawmill in McCloud closed back in 2003 there has been no on-line traffic originating on this stretch- only overhead stuff from Burney. The Shasta Sunset Dinner Train will likely operate indefinately- but freight shipments will depend on if one of the shippers now in Burney elects to establish a reload in McCloud or if Nestle Waters ever gets to build their proposed water bottling facility in McCloud. Nestle purchased the old McCloud River Lumber Company sawmill site and signed a contract with the McCloud Community Services District to purchase water, but a group of citizens opposed to the plant in McCloud got a judge to toss out the water purchase agreement on the grounds that the MCSD violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Nestle and the MCSD are still publiclly committed to getting the project done...one wildcard in all of this is how much Nestle will use the railroad. A while back I asked them, and they told me they saw themselves shipping mostly on trucks. This may have changed, and the current owner of the McCloud has indicated that his railroad could be used to handle freight for Nestle. However...he also said in the same breath that if freight traffic does not appear on the abbreviated railroad that it may be abandoned in the near future as well. The railroad has been on the sale block for quite some time now, but the few parties that have entered into negotiations failed to reach purchase agreements. There is a slim chance that the line east of McCloud might be saved...but I am not holding my breath. The McCloud Railway has told the few remaining shippers in Burney to expect rail service to cease by the end of this year. The #18 last ran on 7 August 2005. McCloud Railway management has been pretty vocal in stating that it will run no more. It should be trucked south to Virginia City this winter or spring. The #25 is sitting in the back corner of the shop building...it needs a lot of work before it can steam again. The #25 may be sold with the rest of the railroad, if a buyer can be found...otherwise it will probably be sold to someone under a separate deal. I hope this answers your questions.Jeff MooreElko, NVhttp://www.trainweb.org/mccloudrailsh ... esertrails