Eastern Railroad Discussion > "Last Pull from the Clay Hole" ..... Luke, MD - 31 May 2019

George's Railway pulled the final time from the Clay Hole at the Verso paper mill in Luke, MD as paper production ceased on Friday the 31st.

1) The final Switch Order for GCK.

2) GCK #101 idling at the papermill waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive.

3) Before the last cars are pulled from the Clay hole, GCK would have to spot a couple of boxcars in the mill.

... More to Follow ...

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1) Spotting the boxcars within the mill yard.

2) and 3) Coming out of the mill with the last tank cars from the clay hole.

... More to Follow ....

 

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1) and 2) The last cars from the Clay Hole being spotted for CSX to pick up later...

3) In the background by the stack is the mill power center. The last boiler will go off-line in mid June. They received their last loads of coal by truck the day before.

... More to Follow ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/19 05:12 by DTWilson.

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1) Done in 45 minutes...... Less than an hour after starting, Engineer Matt locks up the cab of GCK #101 to end the switch....  GCK is still on call to move any outgoing material from their part of the mill so the "official last switch" may still be a couple of day off.

2) Rare partial view of the track arrangement in the Mill Yard... the cars enter from the right and the clay hole is to the left... Photo courtesy of a mill employee. 

Thanks to the GCK staff for the heads up...

Tim W.
 

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Fascinating but sad photos and captions.
Bob

Thanks for sharing this fascinating, but sad event.  The things, people, events we take for granted.....
Doug

What is the future of the GCR and this plant?  Will the employees be transfered to other plants?

 Great Post, sad situation. Nice to see, thank you for sharing these pictures, and the information.

      REK

seaboardc30-7 Wrote:
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> What is the future of the GCR and this plant? 
> Will the employees be transfered to other plants?

None if any were offered transfers... 675 union employees were shown the door... another 600 or more are affected, including wood cutters, coal and other raw material suppliers, outside construction and maintenance suppliers... and lets not forget the folks that own and operate the gas stations, shops, restaurants, and convenience stores around the area...

I agree that your photos and stories are always great.  It's really sad that this paper mill has closed and that the George's Creek Railroad has no more freight to switch.  Let's hope that somehow they find some new business to keep that part of the Western Maryland alive.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Tim, thanks for posting the excellent photos!

Did they close the mill a month earlier than the June 30 closure they had announced?
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/verso-announces-closure-of-paper-mill-in-luke-maryland-300839995.html
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/19 06:49 by CSX602.

CSX602 Wrote:
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> Did they close the mill a month earlier than the
> June 30 closure they had announced?
> https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/verso-ann
> ounces-closure-of-paper-mill-in-luke-maryland-3008
> 39995.html

A week after the June 30th. closure was announced, Verso came back and announced that the date production would cease was moved back to May 31th.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/maryland/articles/2019-05-12/production-to-end-a-month-early-at-maryland-paper-mill



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/19 02:36 by DTWilson.

Great images Tim and thank you for your recording of this over the last couple of years


Gary

Posted from iPhone

Thanks for the pics...

There is always hope for the mill to be revived under a different owner.  The Verso mill (ex-Westvaco, then NewPage) mill in Wickliffe KY was reopened under new ownership after being closed for two years.  From a RR ops standpoint, the mill did receive chemicals and some wood by rail and shipped some finished product by rail as well.  FYI, Wickliffe is on the Mississippi River just south of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.   I do know that sometimes the public entrance to the mill has been very damp as in underwater!

Bruce
Columbia MO



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/19 04:29 by BCutter.

It is interesting, and yes sometimes sad, how times are evolving for the once great Westvaco plants...  Some are now thriving under other owners.
Maybe one of he other paper manufacturers will see it as an opportunity to expand.

It looks like a modern mill, so I'm surprised to see it closing--very sad.  That's ALOT of employees out of a job.

Hopeing it turns around..........

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/19 23:15 by coach.

coach Wrote:
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> It looks like a modern mill, so I'm surprised to
> see it closing--very sad.  That's ALOT of
> employees out of a job.
>
> Hopeing it turns around..........
>
>

The Luke Mill was first built in the 1880's... constantly updated and enlarged. The last paper machines,  #8 and #9 were built in the late 1950's  to early 1960's