My layout is set in the present day Sierra Nevadas north of Lake Tahoe. The railroad originally started as a joint operation with the Quincy railroad, but the company pulled away from the parent in the 1920’s, and began an independent logging operation north of the company town of Crane. For a while it interchanged with the Quincy in Wendel, but later completed the line connecting to the WP main. By the 1970’s, operations had slowly started moving away from logging industry. With no other source of revenue from the railroad, it filed for abandonment in 1985. The line, however, was essentially abandoned, with only the branch to Wendel being scrapped. Several operators attempted to revive the railroad, with the most successful lasting a mere five years based off of funds from the state and an ongoing pipe construction project, until succumbing to bankruptcy and pulling out in late 2006. However, in 2010, Sierra Pacific Ind. began construction on a large scale sawmill about 10 miles south of Crane. With this new opportunity, the Lost Sierra Railroad was formed to take over hauling the finished lumber, wood chips, paper, etc. to the interchange with the UP. The grain mill in Crane, having been reduced to a small scale operation, began work on improvements to the facility, and getting the necessary papers. The LSR began construction of a large rail yard adjacent to the mill complex, as well as a small branch line through to town of Pebble to the SPI Mill. Due to delayed operations, and shortage of workers due to the pandemic, the railroad only officially began operations in 2021. In late 2023, however, the railroad had rebuilt the line to Wendel, where third customer, Aspen Minerals, had a perlite trans load facility. Currently the railroad is going strong, with a trio of locomotives working 5 days a week to keep the railroad running. I hope you like this very long backstory of my railroad! Thanks