Dunsmuir, population just under 2,000, is as much of a railroad town as exists in America. It owes its creation to trains, built around a division point where crews and equipment were changed, now just out of earshot of I-5 traffic darting between Redding and Yreka. Steam locomotives once stopped among these pines, adding 鈥減usher鈥� engines to give them enough power for the northern climb toward Mt. Shasta.
In the early 20th century, nearly everyone worked on or around the rails. Those were good jobs that workers could raise a family on. And the town still gives thanks.
On a hot afternoon in early June, Sandra Hood, president of Dunsmuir鈥檚 committee, announces the start of celebrations which have occurred in this valley for most of the last 80 years. Locals and visitors line the town鈥檚 main street for the annual parade to celebrate the region鈥檚 history with trains. The brick storefronts, some closed or close to it, look like a town that could have been forgotten for a time but is in the process of being remembered, with young families dipping into new cafes and breweries.
A lot鈥檚 changed since the first Railroad Days.
鈥淲e don't have the trains like we used to. But the spirit of those engineers and rail workers is still here,鈥� says Hood.
New technology and new ownership means fewer people are needed to keep the trains moving. There鈥檚 less timber to haul.
Nina Alameda, greeting visitors at a in a small Amtrak building, remembers a different era of Railroad Days 鈥� when Southern Pacific ran the tracks.
鈥淪outhern Pacific really supported the town and supported Railroad Days. They would bring the Shasta Daylight down and park it here so that we can see it,鈥� says Alameda, who鈥檚 lived in Dunsmuir for all of her 85 years. 鈥淏ut they don't do any of that anymore.鈥�
Union Pacific now operates these rails and Alameda isn鈥檛 the only local unhappy about it. She says the company is less involved, not only in Railroad Days but the town. There鈥檚 fewer jobs you can raise a family on. Not as many people from the company live in Dunsmuir.
And there鈥檚 been another change in train culture over the years: those riding the rails. Alameda says the town has always attracted them, like during the Great Depression when people traveled in boxcars searching for work.
She remembers, as a child, one of them knocking on her family鈥檚 door to ask for a pair of shoes.
But a different population now rides the rails. Although they no longer resemble Halloween costumes inspired by the Grapes of Wrath, they have a general uniform 鈥� tattoos, worn overalls, piercings 鈥� that make them easy to pick out from the family crowds in Dunsmuir.
They can make Alameda weary.
鈥淚t's a little more scary. You don't really know who they are and what they're up to,鈥� she says.
What some of them are up to tonight is watching a band play in a decommissioned boxcar at the , around 15 miles up the tracks from Dunsmuir.
This weekend the land becomes a sort of a haven for those in love with underground elements of train culture: labor organizing, folk music and train hopping. Boxcar riders travel from around the country to get here.
One traveler from Tuscon goes by the name of Turtle. He didn鈥檛 want to give his real name as his preferred method of travel is illegal. For him trains mean freedom, if only from the Arizona desert.
鈥淚 never got to experience the seasons. I got to chase the leaves and it was beautiful,鈥� Turtle explains. 鈥淚 got to look outside this train bro, and see from yellow to red to dead. And it was beauty to me.鈥�
Tonight Turtle and his fellow travelers are partying outside a repurposed train depot. On this property there鈥檚 a communal kitchen with signs reminding them to call their moms and 50 acres of forest where they can unroll their sleeping bags.
Within boxcars, the Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture also hosts a library on train culture and an exhibit on labor organizer and singer Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips.
When a train passes by, those gathered tonight hurry out to the rails with beer in hand for praise.
鈥淲e all love trains. And we get to meet here. I get to shake hands with our homies we haven't seen in a while鈥� because if you travel bro, there's a lot of hi鈥檚 and byes,鈥� Turtle says.
Sandra Hood with the Railroad Days committee says locals have mixed feelings about the annual arrival of boxcar riders.
鈥淢any of them that come in are wonderful. They're helpful, they're pleasant,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd then you have those that are a little edgy. But then, of course, all towns have edgy people.鈥�
There鈥檚 been some brawls and public drunkenness in the past. Nothing Dunsmuir hasn鈥檛 seen before.
Hood says one year a local came across a stash of old Railroad Days buttons, which they make every celebration. Some dated back to the 40s. Hood says they decided to sell them to raise funds. They were a big hit with the travelers.
鈥淭hey were probably one of our biggest buyers. Because it was a simple token to take along with them and pass along to people that they met,鈥� says Hood.
Back at the parade, the travelers and locals share the sidewalk to watch the trainless train celebration.
Turtle, the train hopper from Tucson, sums up a sentiment likely uniting those here today: respect for what the country鈥檚 rails once were and what they can still mean.
鈥淭hese tracks cut through America. These are the veins of America,鈥� says Turtle. 鈥淪o explore your railroads. Get to know America. That鈥檚 real America. And it鈥檚 beautiful. Straight up.鈥�
