Well, they only had that business due to the railroad line closure. So it's not really being taken away, as such. It will be interesting to know what else might develop. Only a couple of years back, thoughts this line would reopen were pretty darned negative.... Times change. Makes a person wonder about other tracks now gone. Only yesterday I was reading about Farmrail having re-opened a twelve mile stretch of line, which had been disused. Maybe this will pave the way for Yreka Western to some day again haul freight?
The article also misses (and a member of the CORP yahoo group emailed the author) all the railroad related positions this opens up and the spending those Railroaders will do. It also doesn't address the shipping improvements this has for outside the immediate Rogue River/Siskyous area. Southwest Wa/ Willamette valley actually represented a better connection to the southwest states than products coming out of Southern Oregon, because the shipping was more direct and less time consuming. The reopening of the line is a major boon to southern Oregon.
Hopefully the expected huge El Nino won't impact their ops. I think generally, for Nor Cal and Trains, the Sacramento Valley to the soth through the trinities is going to be the bigger concern, but still.
Yesterday, the 28th I attended a meeting, (like a fly on the wall) in Yreka regarding the revival of CORP's Siskiyou line and to determine if and when it may have an impact on the Yreka Western. To summerize the meeting: A. CORP will send its first train over the line on November 1st. It will run at night so the MOW can work during the day. It is not clear if the train will run early AM or late PM on that date. B. Because of limited motive power, train length/tonnage will be limited (undisclosed); C. Roseberg Forest Products in Weed recently purchased 5 locomotives. Their role in the operation of the Siskiyou line is not certain. The CORP rep who was present said she was not at liberty to comment on it: D. Timber Products in Medford, OR has expaned their operation to more than plywood and at this time does not have the room or capacity to accept railcars even if the YW should re-activate. It was estimated the problem in Medford would not be able to accept shipments until mid 2016 as they are in the process of constucting new drying facilities; E. CORP and another unnamed entity will hold additional meetings with Timber Products and Fruitgrowers to determine if an agreement can be reached on shipping fees if and when the YW restarts operations. The initial information indicates they will not do business with the YW as long as Court Hammond is in any way involved with the YW. As an aside, there has been some activity around the YW. Court Hammond has been in and out of town, and it appears there has been some weed abatement in progress on the line. It is rumored that Hammond wants to store cars on the line. Also, Hammond failed to do something to maintain the YW name, and it was picked up by another person, (I cannot divulge his name) who participated in the meeting. There is an interest by anotther person(s) group to purchase the YW. But it is so entangled in legal issues they will not even try to buy it until the issues are settled. The good news is ... the YW still has a faint heartbeat. Number 19 remains in the engine house covered with dirt, and 21 has been parked at Timber Products for a couple of years. That's all I have for now.
Just shows once again how sick our "legal" system has become, that such things can be drawn out for ridiculous periods of time.
Maybe with Genesee and Wyoming running things service will improve. They have done a great job here on theSP&S "A" Line
Trains have been going through to weed for some months now. As they did back in the railtex days, the north and southbound trains swap power. I forget the location.
I believe it's 5 days a week, but I'd need to ping the corp facebook page or the yahoo group to confirm.
