Western Railroad Discussion > POVA suffers a blow

One of the Pend Oreille Valley RR's largest customers is shutting down indefinately. The Ponderay Newsprint paper mill at Usk, WA was already under a temporary 2 week shutdown that has now been extended indefinately. The plant owned by Lake Superior Forest Products and 5 major newspaper publishers originally opened in 1989 and is among the most modern paper mills in the US. But as circulation of newspapers has diwndled, so has the outbound shipments. Twenty years ago the POVA was moving a dozen cars every weekday in and out of the plant on average. But lately it's been a handful of cars three days a week. Top photo is from 2004 and the lower one is 2017. This endangers the original MILW line north of Newport, WA as the only active "customer" up there is the shops which contracts locomotive rebuilding and painting with Western Rail Inc.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/24/ponderay-newsprint-shuts-down-paper-mill-in-usk-th/

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/20 15:14 by funnelfan.

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:(

That's sad to see. I'm a retired printer, and I hate to see the printed word going away. I prefer it, and there's no batteries required.
Bill Pyper
Lacey, WA
 

Sorry to hear that Ted!

Larry

Yes, but we old guys can set the type size, don't have to try to find it in the driveway regardless of the weather, nor add it to the trash bin.
By the way, I have owned two newspapers and my first job was writing a kiddie column for a weekly in 1945. Now write a weekly column for a local daily.
Times change!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA