80
Stations on the Promontory Route
LUCIN (OLD and NEW LUCIN) Track Reached Here: March 24, 1869 Track Reached Here: March 24, 1869
Established Original Station: April 1870
Milepost: (new station on mainline 1905:) 684 miles from San Francisco
Milepost: 688 miles from San Francisco
Established as New Junction of Branch: August 29, 1916
Lucin was reached by CP crews on March 24, 1869. 1 The original location became a station in 1870 and remained such until 1905 when it was moved one mile south onto the Lucin Cut-off, part of the SP mainline from San Francisco to Ogden. At that point in time the terminus of the Promontory Route line, or Old Line, as it came to be known, became a place called Umbria, and later, Umbria Junction, located 1.4 miles west of new Lucin. In 1916, Umbria Junction was abandoned as a station and the terminus became new Lucin until the Promontory Branch Line was abandoned in 1942. Lucin did not catch the eye of many tourist guides of the late 19th Century. Crofutt's 1872 Trans-Continental Tourist's Guide provided little, but seemingly more than most. The Guide said,'' Lucin. Thirteen miles west of the last station [Bovine], Elevation, 4,494 feet. At this point we find water tanks, supplied by springs in the hills at the outlet of Thousand Spring Valley".2 The 1869 CP "Inventory of Buildings" describes a section house and water tank built at "Lucine". 3 The section house measured 16 by 30 ft with a kitchen measuring 10 x 20 ft. A telegraph office was also written in next to the structure measurements, meaning the section house probably served both as residence, office, and telegraph office. The water tank consisted of four tubs with a capacity of 10,300 gallons.
Abandoned Original Station: January 1, 1905 Milepost: (New Junction of Branch:) 680 miles from San Francisco
The water source at Lucin was developed by constructing a pipeline from springs in the Pilot Mountain Range, located to the southwest, whose water was used to fill ponds near the station. The original pipeline laid from the Pilot Range to the southwest of Lucin was likely redwood bored pipe, similar to the one originally used at Terrace, Kelton and Blue Creek. In 1873 this wooden pipe was likely replaced by one of iron, as it also was at Terrace, Kelton, Rozel and Blue Creek (see discussion of this in Terrace Chapter). The pipeline was once again replaced by 4 in welded iron pipe in 1903.4 When the old station moved in 1905, the pipeline was extended to new Lucin, a mile south of the original station. The next year, the 1870 census for Lucin Section counted two foremen, one from England and the other from Ireland, along with 14 Chinese workers, including a Chinese cook. The foremen are 33 and 30 years old and the Chinese range in age from 28 to 46, averaging 32.5 years old. Interestingly, also among the population in Lucin at the time were four miners, three from the U.S. and one from Canada.5 By 1880, the small station consisted of the original Section House, plus an 18 by 20 ft China Bunk House, a 12 by 14 ft China Cook House, a 14 x 22 ft hand car house and an in-ground water tank. For some reason a new section house was built in February 1884 for a cost of $774.67.6 Interestingly, it appears that this
