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Western Railroad Discussion > Yreka Western MP4Date: 05/14/19 06:54 Yreka Western MP4 Author: photobob The tracks still join Yreka to Montague but all has been silent for some years. I took this shot at MP4 a few years ago but it still looks the same however the the Blue Goose milepost board is long gone. Are there any plans to remove the tracks?
Robert Morris Dunsmuir, CA Robert Morris Photography Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/19 15:20 by photobob. Date: 05/14/19 08:48 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: locogimp Date: 05/14/19 09:06 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: wjpyper I rode the Goose a couple of time in the 1990s. Great fun. So sad to see its demise.
Bill Pyper Salem, Oregon (former SLO) Date: 05/14/19 09:12 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: ShoreLineRoute Thank you Bob!
This need to be IOTD whenever Todd can squeeze it in. Oliver Barrett Date: 05/14/19 14:00 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: wp1801 Atmospheric!
Date: 05/14/19 14:07 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: BoostedFridge This is a great image.
Its a shame that G&W or another group can't buy the line and restart carloads coming from the mill on the line. Date: 05/14/19 14:43 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: CPRR BoostedFridge Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > This is a great image. > > Its a shame that G&W or another group can't buy > the line and restart carloads coming from the mill > on the line. Does this idea come with problems attached? Is that is the reason why no one has done it? Just wondering, how much to purchase you think? Is the mill still going? Date: 05/14/19 15:09 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: modocboo CPRR Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > BoostedFridge Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > This is a great image. > > > > Its a shame that G&W or another group can't buy > > the line and restart carloads coming from the > mill > > on the line. > > Does this idea come with problems attached? Is > that is the reason why no one has done it? Just > wondering, how much to purchase you think? Is the > mill still going? The mill, Timber Products, is still going strong producing veneer that is trucked into Oregon to at least two other company mills. Both of those mills still have rail access I believe. Date: 05/14/19 17:19 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: CPRR Another question: When did the tracks get ripped up between the shop area and further south into town? Google sat view looks like it went to another mill. Any good books on this railroad?
Date: 05/14/19 21:35 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: JDLX Three good books that I can think of off the top of my head. The most available one is titled Yreka Western Railroad by Matt Starman and Tim Stricker, published by Arcadia in their Images of Rail series. Mostly a picture book, but a lot of real good pictures and a lot of historical information and background conveyed in the picture captions. Kent Stephens wrote the second book, a softcover 8.5x11 book titled The Yreka Western Railroad- A Centennial History, published by Northstate Publishing in 1992. YW sold it in their gift shop, it's probably very hard to find now. Third book is the classic Short Line Junction by Jack Wagner, it had a chapter on the YW along with several other California and Nevada short lines. I think it was first published around 1955, followed by a slightly revised and expanded edition about 1970.
To answer a few questions, at one time there were several mills out at the end of the line, but save for a couple spradic carloads to or from a moulding company there really weren't any shippers beyond the propane dealership just past the depot area after about 1980. The railroad's shippers after 1980 in order of importance were Hi Ridge Lumber (1-3 lumber and 6 or so chip loads a week), Timber Products (3-5 chip loads a week), the propane dealership (sporadic and seasonal), and a mine up in the Trinities that would very occassionally load a gondola or two of concentrate. The traffic these four generated, plus the passenger revenues and the willingness of the Kyle organization to subsidize operating losses kept the railroad running through the end of the 1990s. Then Hi-Ridge Lumber abruptly shut down in 1999, victim of a sudden crash in one of the principle species they cut. The YW recieved permission to abandon, but a new ownership group stepped in and bought the property. As noted, Timber Products had only ever shipped a small amount of woodchips; their mill on the YW produced veneer and peeler cores, which trucks handled north to their plywood plants in Medford and Grants Pass. Central Oregon & Pacific elected to go after this business, which they got moved to rail based on the promise of same day delivery. The YW boomed, as traffic soared to something bettern than 2,000 cars a year, but it didn't last. First came the Tunnel 13 fire on the Siskiyou Line in 2002, which effectively shut the YW down until CORP reopened the tunnel in 2005. Timber Products shifted their traffic back from trucks to rail, which revived the YW again, but that only lasted until 2008 when CORP shut down the line over the Siskiyous. The Timber Products traffic shifted back to trucks and has stayed there since. YW lifted the trackage around the depot and beyond around 2009 or 2010, around the time they scrapped pretty much everything left on the property not siezed by creditors. The Timber Products traffic is still there and might come back to rail if the right situation developed, but in all reality the YW dug itself into a really deep legal and financial hole after 2008 that was well covered on this board and elsewhere. There are simply too many legal entanglements and other issues related to the property now. Jeff Moore Elko, NV Date: 05/15/19 14:35 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: modocboo JDLX Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > Three good books that I can think of off the top > of my head. The most available one is titled > Yreka Western Railroad by Matt Starman and Tim > Stricker, published by Arcadia in their Images of > Rail series. Mostly a picture book, but a lot of > real good pictures and a lot of historical > information and background conveyed in the picture > captions. Kent Stephens wrote the second book, a > softcover 8.5x11 book titled The Yreka Western > Railroad- A Centennial History, published by > Northstate Publishing in 1992. YW sold it in > their gift shop, it's probably very hard to find > now. Third book is the classic Short Line > Junction by Jack Wagner, it had a chapter on the > YW along with several other California and Nevada > short lines. I think it was first published > around 1955, followed by a slightly revised and > expanded edition about 1970. > > To answer a few questions, at one time there were > several mills out at the end of the line, but save > for a couple spradic carloads to or from a > moulding company there really weren't any shippers > beyond the propane dealership just past the depot > area after about 1980. The railroad's shippers > after 1980 in order of importance were Hi Ridge > Lumber (1-3 lumber and 6 or so chip loads a week), > Timber Products (3-5 chip loads a week), the > propane dealership (sporadic and seasonal), and a > mine up in the Trinities that would very > occassionally load a gondola or two of > concentrate. The traffic these four generated, > plus the passenger revenues and the willingness of > the Kyle organization to subsidize operating > losses kept the railroad running through the end > of the 1990s. Then Hi-Ridge Lumber abruptly shut > down in 1999, victim of a sudden crash in one of > the principle species they cut. The YW recieved > permission to abandon, but a new ownership group > stepped in and bought the property. As noted, > Timber Products had only ever shipped a small > amount of woodchips; their mill on the YW produced > veneer and peeler cores, which trucks handled > north to their plywood plants in Medford and > Grants Pass. Central Oregon & Pacific elected to > go after this business, which they got moved to > rail based on the promise of same day delivery. > The YW boomed, as traffic soared to something > bettern than 2,000 cars a year, but it didn't > last. First came the Tunnel 13 fire on the > Siskiyou Line in 2002, which effectively shut the > YW down until CORP reopened the tunnel in 2005. > Timber Products shifted their traffic back from > trucks to rail, which revived the YW again, but > that only lasted until 2008 when CORP shut down > the line over the Siskiyous. The Timber Products > traffic shifted back to trucks and has stayed > there since. > > YW lifted the trackage around the depot and beyond > around 2009 or 2010, around the time they scrapped > pretty much everything left on the property not > siezed by creditors. The Timber Products traffic > is still there and might come back to rail if the > right situation developed, but in all reality the > YW dug itself into a really deep legal and > financial hole after 2008 that was well covered on > this board and elsewhere. There are simply too > many legal entanglements and other issues related > to the property now. > > Jeff Moore > Elko, NV Thank you very much for the explanation as complicated as it, is it makes sense to me now. Date: 05/15/19 15:37 Re: Yreka Western MP4 Author: callum_out As Jeff says, even if G&W/Timber wanted to resume service, there's no clear deed to the property. Sad
situation. Out |