http://www.wx4.org/to/foam/shortlines/coc/coc.html
California and Oregin Coast Railroad
An obscure footnote in the history of the "Octopus", the California and Oregon Coast Railroad was founded in 1911 by the city of Grants Pass, Oregon for the same reason that many other shortlines were projected - the monopolistic practices (read: high freight rates) of the Southern Pacific. The town fathers' idea was to build new trackage southwest out of Grants Pass to connect with a 1906-constructed, 15.7 miles long logging railroad, the Crescent City and Smith River Railroad operating out of Crescent City, California. Crescent City had grand plans of its own, hoping to become a major Pacific Coast seaport.

As things sorted out within a few years, the railroad was underfunded, the terrain prohibitive, and the traffic potential inadequate. On the north end, rails only made it 15 miles to Waters Creek by World War I, and it spent most of its history in receivership. Every few years, various parties attempted to raise funds to complete the line to the coast, but the 72 mile gap between the two segments never was closed. 
The Grants pass line never amounted to much, but managed to struggle on with various owners for more than four decades. Passenger service, such as it was (see The Yellow peril, below) gave out in 1924 and the southern end of the railroad fell into disuse. The year prior, the Beaver Portland Cement Company (later, Ideal Cement Company) had assumed operation of the C&OC and had constructed a four mile branch and short incline railway to a limestone quarry south of Wilderville. From then on, the railroad survived primary by hauling rock to the cement company plant at Gold Hill, which the trains reached via trackage rights on SP. In 1950, the line's mid-route Applegate River bridge washed out, and the railroad remained only to serve a handfull of industries south of the Rogue River bridge in Grants Pass. This modest operation ceased on October 31, 1954, and any chances of resumption were washed away with the Rogue River bridge on Christmas day in 1955. The line officially quit on November 26, 1956.
(map 1) is an entry in the Official Guide for December 1, 1916, when optimism about the C&OC was at its pinnacle. When construction began, the line was called the Grants Pass Municipal Railway. before that, the line apparently was projected as the Oregon and Pacific Railroad <oregon_and_pacific1911.jpg>. An old photo shows engine # 1 lettered for the "GP&RRR", presumably the Grants Pass & Rogue River Railroad.
One reason why the C&OC was never finished...
(map 2) Southwest Oregon / Northwest California has mountains - lots of them - as you can see from this old postcard view of the Redwood Highway. The projected route generally followed watersheds, but required a half mile tunnel in one spot to keep grades reasonable. The tunnel expense doomed the overall project project.
The south end...
(map 3)If the Grants Pass operatios were obscure, the Crescent City ones were doubly so. The C&OC founders planned to utilize the last few miles of the Crescent City and Smith River Railroad to reach the main prize, Crescent City's Municipal Wharf, the right-most pier in the postcard view, below.
(map 4, 5)The CC&SM's main reason for being was to feed logs to the J. Hobbs Wall Company Saw and Shingle Mill in Crescent City. Its rails also served warehouses near the Municipal Wharf, as well as the Wharf itself. Info on this line is scarce,with one source saying that the line fell into disuse during World War I, and another stating that it wasn't abandoned until 1940. The 1915 Sanborn Insurance Company map below shows the general arrangement of the railroad within Crescent City's limits. The links immediately below show portions in detail.
(map 6)North End Equipment 
(map 7)The "Yellow Peril" 
For the first few years, passengers rode in conventional passenger cars, but in late 1914 C&OC purchased the above motor car, dubbed the "Yellow Streak" due to its color. As the the railroad's conditions declined, the car came to be known as the "Yellow Peril", a play on words of a xenophobic term of the day. The car served most occasions until passenger service was dicontinued in 1924. Postcard photo: E.O.'s collection
(map 8)Old Number 1
Engine #1 remained a wood-burner throughout her life. Here we see her at Grants Pass in September, 1939. How long she had been out-of-service by then is anybody's guess, but probably at least since the aquisition of #301 (below) in 1927. The railroad also owned an ancient diamond-stacked 4-6-0, numbered 201, whose tenure is unknown. (Photo: Ken Frick; negative in E.O.'s collection)
(map 9)A year later, Engine #1 was now becomming overgrown with blackberry vines, and we can catch a glimmer of other C & OC equipment, the car on the right apparently being a log car. The engine is said to have fallen victim to a WWII scrap metal drive. Too bad, eh? Photo: Ken Frick; negative in E.O.'s collection
Number One's Vital Statistics 4-4-0 / 17x24 cyls / 63" drivers / 130 lbs. b.p. / 72,100 lbs. total weight / 43,200 on drivers / 12,166 TF / Rogers #2078, 10-1872, in service 11-4-1872 Built as Central Pacific # 180, to Southern Pacific # 1287, to SP # 1524, vacated 11-10-10; to Grants Pass & Eureka # 1 3-13-11 via dealer, N.B. Livermore, to C&OC #1; scrapped 1942. Thanks to logging and shortline info guru Jerry Lamper for ferreting-out the stats from the SP Steam Locomotive Compendium, Shade Tree Books, 1987.
(map 10)The mainstay, Number 301 
Number 301 came from the Hetch Hetchy Railroad (#3) to Grants Pass in 1927, about three years after passenger service was discontinued and about half of the line fell into disuse. The remainder was operated by the Beaver Portland Cement Company (later Ideal Cement) as an industrial carrier. Here we see her in September, 1940, shortly before she was replaced as first line power by Ideal Cement # 103, a larger piston-valved 2-8-2. (see roster, below). Photo: Ken Frick; negative in E.O.'s collection
(map 11)Here's an earlier photo of # 301 taken on June 16, 1936 in almost the same spot as above. Note that she had a more conventional headlight then, but was otherwise pretty much the same as in 1940. Info on the back says that she was found "in service" in April, 1945. Presumably, she was retired after the Applegate River brige washed out in 1950, ending C&OC's limestone hauling business. D.S. Richter photo, E.O.'s collection 
# 301's Vital Statistics 2-8-2 / 21 x 24 cyls. / 46" drivers / 165 lbs. BP / 167,000 lbs. total weight / 131,000 lbs. on drivers / 31,330 lbs. TF / Baldwin #35780, 1910 Built for Youngstown & Ohio as #1; to Hetch Hetchy Railroad #3, 1919; to C&OC #301; 1927; to Ideal Cement Company #301, 1941; probably retired in 1950 after limestone hauling ceased.
Other Motive Power 

# 201 / 2-8-0 / 51" drivers / ex Central Pacific # 48, SP # 2508 / acquired 4-21-11 / scrapped 1942? or earlier?
# 103 / 2-8-2 / 48" drivers / ex Pacific Portland Cement / acquired 1941 / lettered for Ideal Cement / scrapped 1957