The 5 Mile Railroad will depict a 4.8 mile narrow gauge section of the North Pacific Coast Railroad
(NPC), in western Sonoma County California from approximately 1876 - 1906. This 4.8 mile section of the
NPC began in Occidental, CA (Elevation 570 ft.) and ran northbound, descending through a dense redwood
forest along Dutch Bill Creek to a stop near the Tyrone saw mill (Elevation 62 ft.). This 508 ft. decent
in elevation equates to a 5.7% grade. The mainline on the layout will be built without any grade and will
include the areas listed below that existed according to extensive research and my 20 plus years of
travel along the same route. There will be one fictional section of track that connects Streeton's Mill
to Occidental directly for logging locomotive operation.
Back in the day, a traveler, would pass two towns/villages, two saw mills, cross two wood trestles
(one curved, one straight), cross three bridges (one wood and two steel), go through one tunnel, and see
creeks and towering redwoods. A lot of cool stuff in 4.8 miles. Perfect for a HOn3 layout.
Note: Newspaper articles found on this website are courtesy of: California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside.
