I just heard a story on my local news about SPI shutting down the mill in Quincy,CA. They also run the Quincy RR there that utilizes two ex Amador Central locos. #5 & #12 ex AMC #11 & #12. #12 was recently brought back to service from the Western Pacific Railroad Museum. She was placed in "storage" there after the SPI mill in Susanville had shutdown. Anyhow, found a Sacramento Bee article concerning the shutdown: http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1670037.html Published Wednesday, Mar. 04, 2009 QUINCY - Sierra Pacific Industries is closing its small-log mill in Quincy, eliminating about 150 jobs in this Plumas County town. Officials of the Anderson-based timber company blamed the challenging lumber market as well as protracted litigation over timber harvests on nearby national forest lands. "We are deeply saddened over this announcement, as many hard-working, dedicated employees who have been with the company for a long time will be unemployed," said Matt Taborski, Sierra Pacific's Quincy-area manager. The shutdown, scheduled for May 4, is the first closure of a Sierra Pacific sawmill since 2004, when it permanently shuttered its facility in Susanville for a loss of about 150 jobs. Three years before that, the Loyalton sawmill in Sierra County closed, putting 180 employees out of work. The Quincy facility is part of a two-mill complex, said Mark Pawlicki, a spokesman for the family-owned company. The closure affects the section that cuts small-diameter logs, he said. The large-mill facility, which produces lumber for domestic consumption and an adjacent biomass electrical generation plant, will remain in operation, keeping about 160 workers employed, Pawlicki said. Although Sierra Pacific owns about 1.9 million acres of timberland in California and Washington, the Quincy sawmill relies on national forest timber sales for its raw materials. The company built the small-diameter sawmill in the 1990s when company officials believed the Quincy Library Group, a local community coalition, would influence federal legislation that would generate the sale of small-diameter logs from the Plumas, Lassen and Tahoe national forests. The Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act passed in 1998, promoting a program of widespread forest thinning to reduce the threat of wildfires, but the promised volume of small-diameter logs has not materialized. The program approved by Congress and now entering its 10th year has achieved less than 20 percent of its volume goals, Pawlicki said. He blamed appeals and lawsuits brought by "environmental activists." Nearly two-thirds of the current year's timber sale program is under a court injunction or withheld from sale pending the outcome of litigation, he said. Craig Thomas, executive director of Sierra Forest Legacy who has been involved in several of these lawsuits, said it is the housing market, not litigation, that is harming the timber industry. With no demand for homes, there is little demand for lumber, he said. Company officials informed workers at the Quincy mill of the closure Friday. They will consider these employees for other potential opportunities within the company, Pawlicki said
I still havn't heard anything about what this will do to the status of the railroad. Here is another article though: From the Plumas County News Sierra Pacific Industries to close small-log mill 3/2/09 About half of Quincy workforce to be laid off Sierra Pacific Industries announced Monday, March 2, that it will close its small-log sawmill in Quincy May 4. According to SPI, the challenging lumber market, combined with litigation over timber harvests on nearby national forest lands, were the primary drivers behind the decision to close the plant. "We are deeply saddened over this announcement, as many hard-working, dedicated employees who have been with the company for a long time will be unemployed," said area manager Matt Taborski.
Quincy #12 Just for fun, here is a shot I got of #12 back in service in Quincy,CA during a trip to Reno last year. Note she is still lettered for Susanville ops. Not sure why the stacks are covered. #5 was inside the shops. I have yet to get a pic of her.
Sad news. Even worse, when we do finally emerge from this current state of affairs, there will be too few mills left for handling demand. Litigation will keep new ones from being constructed, old ones from re-opening. That's the long term damage. Boxcab E50
John, my guess is that those "stack covers" are really spark arrestors that have been applied to the standard EMD stacks...
good news! SPI will restart small log mill at Quincy By David Benda Posted February 22, 2010 at 11:55 p.m. One year after the economy prompted Sierra Pacific Industries to shut down its small-log sawmill in Quincy, the timber giant will reopen a portion of the operation. Sierra Pacific Industries of Anderson will restart the mill in early May, bringing 35 workers back inside the operation. Recent improvement in the lumber market - should it hold - is a primary driver behind the company's decision to reopen the Quincy plant, spokesman Mark Pawlicki said Monday. "The lumber market for structural wood products has gone up lately," Pawlicki said, "but we don't know if we will have sufficient log supply to reopen the other two plants (in Camino and Sonora). We are continuing to assess those mills, but no decisions have been made yet." Sierra Pacific Industries, the nation's second-largest timber producer, also closed its Camino and Sonora sawmills last year. Combined, the closures in Quincy, Camino and Sonora left about 430 jobless. Approximately 120 worked at Quincy's small-log mill before it closed in May. To restart the mill in Quincy, Sierra Pacific will take a shift off the large-log mill in Quincy and bring back some of the small-log workers. But Pawlicki on Monday couldn't say how many workers will return and how many will move over from the large-log mill in Quincy. "These are union mills and there are contract provisions governing the rehiring of laid-off employees versus transferring employees from the large-log mill," Pawlicki said. "It will be a couple of weeks before that all gets sorted out, but the net effect is 35 more people will be employed." Reporter David Benda can be reached at 225-8219 or at dbenda@redding.com. -------------------------------------------------------- I never did hear any news on the railroad but this shouldn't hurt anything.
There are no other shippers on line, correct? Here's hoping it means railroading on that line stays alive. Boxcab E50