Dunsmuir, CA (DUN)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2012

$361,623

Station Ridership

FY 2012

5,385

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

To preserve Amtrak service in its city, Dunsmuir used grants from the James Irvine Foundation to lease from Union Pacific Railroad what had been a dilapidated train depot. The now-renovated building was formerly the Union Pacific crew quarters. Since 2006, Amtrak passengers have enjoyed the painted and well-lit waiting room in an enclosed building which replaced an unprotected shelter, thanks to the hard work of a dedicated team of civic volunteers.

The Dunsmuir Railroad Depot Historical Society opened a display area in the station adjacent to the waiting room and once a month showcases photographs, railroad memorabilia and equipment. The society also participates in the annual Dunsmuir Railroad Days, held each July at the station. In fall 2012, the depot museum became home to the Southern Pacific (SP) Shasta Division archives, which includes maps, historic photographs, drawings and other memorabilia. The documents chart development along the former SP rail line in northern California and southern Oregon. When the railroad closed its Dunsmuir engineering office in the early 1990s, much of the material was slated for the trash. Fortunately, local railroad historians convinced the company to donate the items and create the independent archives.

Dunsmuir lies on the old Siskiyou Trail between the Central Valley of California and the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The area has been inhabited for several thousand years prior to Europeans arriving in 1820 as trappers and explorers for the Hudson Bay Company. The California Gold Rush led to the first non-native settlers at Upper Soda Springs (now in north Dunsmuir) in the early 1850s. Discovery of gold at nearby Yreka dramatically increased traffic through this part of the Sacramento Canyon, leading to the construction of a toll bridge and stagecoach hotel at Upper Soda Springs.

The Central Pacific Railroad (a Union Pacific predecessor) completed its line along the Siskiyou Trail in 1886, leading to the founding of a town to support the railroad’s division point at Upper Soda Springs. At that time, the settlement was called Pusher. However, the first station -- opened that year in a railroad boxcar -- was called Dunsmuir. The station moved up to the engine house at Upper Soda Flats in January of 1887, and the town renamed itself Dunsmuir. Newspapers of the day noted that a member of the Dunsmuir family of wealthy coal barons from British Columbia suggested two years later he would send the town a fountain, which indeed appeared in October 1889. The fountain may still be seen at the entry to the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens. The Dunsmuirs had invested heavily in the Central Pacific at the time the stop was established, so the railroad station and the town might have been named in their honor.

In the early twentieth century, Dunsmuir prospered as a tourist destination, and so the town retains much of its 1920s and 1930s charm, having been largely designated as a historical district. Located on the upper Sacramento River, within sight of Mount Shasta and the Trinity Alps, the town is still both a cultural and outdoor destination, given its lovely setting.

Amtrak does not provide ticketing or baggage services at this station, which is served by two daily trains. The city provides a caretaker who opens and closes the station.