Simpson Investment Company

Simpson was a prominent forest products company in Northern California for much of the 20th century, after first acquiring California timberland in 1945, eventually managing more than 450,000 acres of forest in California, in what was then known as the Redwood Division and is now mostly part of spinoff Green Diamond Resource Company. Simpson was most prominent in Humboldt County, with Simpson Timber operating lumber mills in Korbel, Brainard, Orick, and Klamath, and Simpson Paper operating pulp and paper mills in Samoa and Eureka. Significant portions of the original 1968 Redwood National and State Parks and its 1977 expansion were former Simpson Timber Company land. Simpson Timber also ran the Arcata and Mad River Railroad for over 30 years.

The Simpson Company built and operated a logging railroad known as the Simpson Railroad. When it closed in July 2015 it was the last logging railroad operations in the continental United States,[10] and dates back 120 years. The railroad was once extensive and branched out into several hundred miles of forestland in the Olympic Peninsula but at the end was limited to just ten miles of operational track. The rail line was to transport lumber and as a transportation network to remote logging camps and towns. Construction of the railroad line was an engineering feat as demonstrated by the large and complex bridges built to span gorges and the mountainous terrain the railroad traveled through. The Vance Creek Bridge and the High Steel Bridge were built in 1929 and used until 1985 when the line was abandoned. The Vance Creek Bridge still stands, and the High Steel Bridge is still in use as a forest road. The High Steel Bridge is one of the tallest rail bridges in the United States and has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[11]

In January 2019, Green Diamond Resources leased the railroad's remaining 10 miles, plus sidings, to the Peninsular Railway and Lumbermen's Museum, a locally based 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The all-volunteer group is advancing plans to operate several Simpson locomotives and other rolling stock for tourist trains designed to highlight the significant role lumbering and the railroad played in developing the economies of the local area, the Olympic Peninsula, and the entire Pacific Northwest. The name “Simpson Railroad” and associated graphics and logos have been licensed by Simpson for the museum's use. [12]

During the summer months portions of the track are also used for pedal car tours by the Vance Creek Railriders.