But just as quickly as it all started, it came to a temporary halt when the US became involved in World War II. The resort had few guests and Schroll retired as president of Sugar Bowl in 1945 after the war and moved to San Francisco. Gone, too, were the Snowball Specials, the Southern Pacific Railroad had decided to stop train passenger service to Donner Pass during and after the War and the Norden station became a place for storage of equipment.