Tag: Historical

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Ride the Shasta Daylight – a gorgeous rail trip

Some time back in a more graceful age, you could ride the Shasta Daylight from Redding. Riders watched Mt Shasta go by in daylight hours from a comfortable railcar with an observation dome, and enjoyed meals in the articulated Pullman diner-tavern-lounge car, which offered 3 railcar length unimpeded interior space.
shasta daylight in redding ca
This from Wikipedia:

The Shasta Daylight was a train operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was inaugurated on July 10, 1949 between Oakland Pier in Oakland, California and Portland, Oregon and was SP’s third set of “Daylight” lightweight streamlined trains. The new Shasta Daylight operated on a fast 15 hour 30 minute schedule in either direction for the 713 mile trip through some of the most beautiful and spectacular mountain scenery of any train in North America… The scenic route of the Shasta Daylight passed by its namesake mountain in daylight hours; in fact, the Shasta Daylights ran on the very flanks of Mount Shasta.

There is good short article about this flagship run of the Daylight rail service at the American Rails site:

Starting off in Oakland the train passed through beautiful northern California and then through the Cascades towards its final stop at Portland along the way passing locations like Mount Hood, Odell Lake, Crater Lake, and other spectacular features of the Pacific Northwest. What made the trip even that much more memorable was the extra large windows built into the Pullman-Standard cars for maximum sightseeing and outdoor viewing… The popularity of the Daylight was incredibly high, even through the early 1960s although by the latter half of that decade the SP began greatly reducing services and amenities on the fleet as patronage declined.

Amtrak took over in 1971, and so we at least still have some rail travel from Redding, even if it blows through here in the dead of night. Not quite the same experience. It’s pleasant to imagine the return of the Shasta Daylight, and the tourism it might provide.
train crossing in redding ca
Redding has always been a rail town. For the past several decades, we have been a car town too. Of course, things change…


oil use graph in redding ca

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A Redding school becomes a nightclub

Here is Redding’s Pine Street School, not long after it was built many years ago.
PineStSchool

And here it is now as Coco Loco, a restaurant and nightclub. The rest of the school was converted to offices and one other restaurant as well. The restaurant Pio Loco is in the northwest section of the old school. Thanks to the Shasta Historical Society for the older image.
BarCocoLoco

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Saloons in 1904 Redding

I was looking for some information about the long vanished Golden Eagle Hotel in Redding when I stumbled upon a Business Directory for Redding from 1904 at a Genealogical Site. I absolutely love reading through genealogy resources. You can learn so much about the history of an area and the people that lived there nowadays. To be honest, I have been thinking about doing some work on my own family tree as I would like to learn more about my ancestors. A friend of mine told me that she found some brilliant resources, including a census dating back to the 1900s, on the Genealogy Bank website so I might have to take a look to see what I can find. Do you have any experience researching your family history? Let me know if so as I would love to hear your stories! Anyway, looking through the list of the businesses from 106 years ago, I was struck by how many Saloons there were in town back then. As a proportion to the population size, it would be like Redding today had a hundred or more places to wet one’s whistle. Interesting to consider. Market and California Street must have been quite lively on occasion, shall we say. Below are the listed establishments, along with a few local saloon images courtesy of the Shasta Historical Society (consider joining us). Most of these images are not named, but this first one below is labeled the Royal Saloon.

Redding ca saloon from 1904 era
American Saloon, W. H. Murdock, Proprietor, 417 Market Street.
Black Diamond Saloon, J. P. Brass, 526 California Street.
Borbeck E., Saloon, 405 Market Street.
Buffalo Brewing Co., Barner & Riebe Props., N. End Center Street, W. Side.
Burns’ Saloon, Charles Burns, Proprietor, 418 California Street.
Clinkenbeard Saloon, 505 Market Street.
Redding ca saloon from 1904 era
Columbus Saloon, A. Rassella, Proprietor, 301 California Street.
Favorite Saloon, Reilly & Albrecht Proprietors, 410 Market Street.
Griittner Saloon, A. Merrill Proprietor, Cor. Tehama and Market Streets
Italian Hotel and Saloon Pedrelli & Cleone Proprietors, 219 Cal St.
Jaegel Tony, Saloon, 523 Market Street.
Redding ca saloon from 1904 era
Leavre Saloon, J. Gretz Proprietor, 513 Market Street
Olney Saloon, Mrs. Jane Olney Proprietor, 512 California Street
Our House Saloon, J. F. Tige Proprietor, 414 California Street
Parlor Saloon, L. A. Blodah Proprietor, 500 Market Street
Reception Saloon, W. A. Schroter Proprietor, 409 Yuba Street
Redding ca saloon from 1904 era
Redding Beer Bottling Works, Hoefer & Mevius Props., North End Center Street
Redding Ice Bottling Works, Zeis & Sons Proprietors, 704 Oregon Street
Royal Saloon, Dennis & Lammon Proprietors, 4515 Market Street
Redding ca saloon from 1904 era
Sacramento Saloon, A. Seiger Proprietor, Tehama Street
Star Saloon and Restaurant, Coakley & Monga, 404 California Street.
The California Saloon, J. S. Wheeler Proprietor, 410 California Street.
The Mug Saloon, P. Murphy Proprietor, 406 California Street.
The National Beer Hall. K. M. Quadrus Proprietor, 406 Butte Street.
Redding ca saloon from 1904 era
The Palace Saloon, H. Frickinger Proprietor, 517 Market Street.
The San Francisco Saloon, E. L. McGarity Proprietor, 420 California Street
The Snug Saloon, C. E. Ferrell Proprietor, 701 California Street.
The Turf Saloon, W. C. Litle Proprietor, 412 CalifornIa Street.
White Star Saloon, J. Ritchie Proprietor, 414 Tehama Street

So, what’ll ya have?
Redding ca saloon from 1904 era

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My favorite veteran on Veteran’s Day


Seen above is my dad on October 18 1950 with the motor pool of his company, the 14th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squad. They are in Japan prior to deploying to Korea for bomb disposal duty as part of the US Army support for the Marines. My dad is fourth from the left in the top row. Seen here as a young man of 18, he’s now 77, and living in Redding along with my mom Pauline.

According to my dad, only 5 of these soldiers seen here survived the “forgotten” war in Korea, with its 54,229 US killed in action. See The Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Unfortunately, not many people talk about this war. However, so many Americans were lost in this battle, so people should show support for those who sacrificed their lives for us. To show support this Veteran’s Day, people could fly some army flags from their houses to remember those who lost their lives whilst fighting for us.

Click on the image to see a larger view of these young men. Today is a day to consider the faces of those soldiers, and the lives not lived. It’s a big photo, so may require patience to load.

Young George Murphy

He’s not one to talk about it much. I try to imagine disarming weaponry in the freezing cold on the border of China. I guess I can understand not wanting to dwell on it.

Thanks Dad. Thanks to all veterans.

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Photographic reminder

Our hearts go out to the families of those killed in the 9/11 attack.
World Trade Center
This photo of Karry and me in New York is on my desk. It’s a daily reminder that every time you kiss or hug a loved one goodbye for even the most mundane separation, it may turn out to be the last time.

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Rare historical Drag Racing video from Redding CA 1962 or 63

I posted a very rare short video of a day at the races in either 1962 or ’63 at the Redding Dragstrip in Redding. It’s fascinating to see what it looked like back then. The video appears to a be a dub of an 8mm film titled “Drag Day”, and made by the Sparman family. Shot in “Sparmascope” no less. Really fun to watch:

Our great thanks to the Sparmans for preserving this bit of our history about 45 years ago. I am tracking down another one like this that is also very interesting, and hope to post it soon. If you have any old movies or videos of the Redding Dragstrip, I’d appreciate hearing from you. As of now, it looks like our dragstrip is the oldest continuously operating drag racing facility in California. Redding has always been a big car town, and these images reveal a glimpse of our past.

As an aside, I run the website for the Redding Dragstrip, since a neighbor found out I had the ability, and their previous web person bowed out. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve met lots of nice folks. You can view that website HERE.