The sound of steam whistles has long since faded from the forests along California’s north coast. A century ago, more than 40 railroads served Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, carrying logs from the woods to mills along the water. Just one line connected the region to the outside world—and that railroad is gone, too. The Skunk Train is the sole surviving railroad, now taking visitors on scenic rides through Mendocino County instead of hauling lumber. Redwood and tan oak bark were its main cargoes; apart from timber, trains carried lumberjacks and occasionally their families on picnics. Economic downturns and the rise of trucking eventually swept these railroads from the landscape, like steam dissolving into the air.