As of Friday, 9 April 2004 work continues to clean out the tunnel bore from both the north and south ends. Work is hampered by continued cave-ins and believe it or not .. there is still evidence the fire continues to smolder somewhere in the 3,100 foot long tunnel. Another problem that continues to plague repair efforts is snowmelt running into the north end of the bore. Water was about 5 feet deep at the northern most cave-in, but, (after having some problems with an environmental group) is being pumped out now. All of the rail and ties within the bore will have to be replaced. CORP is estimating that there will be sufficient repairs made to allow a train through by the end of May. Lets hope so.
Sure is a long haul to get the tunnel reopened. Hope it happens soon. After all the effort, they deserve to get it running again
Any hints on how the future looks for CORP financially? I know that this must be crippling them immensely. Over the long run, will they survive? And revive? Boxcab E50
CORP will be fine. Remember that they are owned by Rail America, so there are fairly substantial corporate pockets behind the company. The road has lost little traffic as a result of the tunnel closure, as most of the stuff that was handled south to Weed/Black Butte now goes north to Eugene. Some traffic has shifted to trucks, most notably the veneer that was handled between Yreka and Grants Pass (involved the Yreka Western) and the raw log traffic that ran between Roseburg plants in Weed and Dillard. JDLX Elko, NV
I can tell you for sure that no</> veneer or peeler cores are being shipped by train from Timber Products in Montague, CA. Trucks are hauling all of those products to White City or Roseburg, OR. The Yreka Western RR has been severly affected by the closure of tunnel 13 for the past 6 months, resulting in the loss of over 60% of revenue each month. Where we used to ship 12 to 16 cars per day .. now we ship about 4 to 5 chip cars every other day. Loss of this freight revenue also will cause our summer excursion train, "The Blue Goose" to be canceled entirely this year.
Bill- What is the future outlook, insofar as recovering that shipper? After the tunnel is finally opened, then.......? Boxcab E50
Recovery should be in full Boxcab. They get a good price to ship by rail between CORP and the YWRR ... especially with fuel prices going up the way they are .. and during the winter months, trucks have a very difficult time getting over the Siskiyous. Right now though, the YWRR is hanging in there by the skin of the teeth .. but I feel confident that the owner will stay with it. After all, we have the reputation of being "The Little Railroad That Refuses To Die!"
Bill Sorry to hear about the Blue Goose being cancelled this year. I guess that answeres my question. Well maybe not. I guess I should ask the question before I think I have the answer? My wife and I will be traveling in your area on April 24 on the second leg of out trip back to Fresno. Will there be anything going on that day and if so will you be there? Shannon WP LIVES (no matter what the UP says)
Shannon .. I don't think anything will be going on on Saturday the 24th. However, if you will give me a call, I'll be happy to pop over the hill and meet you there to show you around. Just let me know about what time you will be in Yreka and give me about 35 minutes to get there. I have sent my home phone number to you via private message / e-mail.
So, I saw my First CORP diesel the other day. In San Diego. I think it was a 38 or 40. Any thoughts on why it was so far south?
Wow YoHo .. I have no idea. Maybe Rail America has something down there OK Shannon .. I'll be watchin for ya.
I thought I'd been clear that the veneer movement was one of the traffic sources shifted to trucks in my message above...sorry if the way I worded it sent another message. Rail America does have the San Diego & Imperial Valley railroad in San Diego...it was one of the operations they inherited from RailTex. Prior to RailTex the line was operated by Kyle as the San Diego & Arizona Eastern. JD Moore Elko, NV
Naaa JD ... I did not mean to sound like I was jumping on you either. Only was for information, and I appreciate your input very much.
My fault JD ... my wife says that I even now, I write with the tone of a cop, still! That's the problem with communicating through this medium ... one can not see the others' face, nor hear the tone of his voice. I have been trying to think of a way to somehow get shortline railfans to come together and give the YWRR a helping hand. I am thinking in terms of organizing a special train, free for those who would care to make a donation to the YWRR toward the restoration of old #19. Anyone have any suggestion(s)?
Bill- Such an idea has been discussed at length on the Yahoo CORP fan list. Dan Hanecow seems to be the semi-head organizer, and the idea has been discussed with YWRR management. So far no concrete plans have been laid. A lot of people are interested in making it happen. The biggest chore seems to be coming up with enough $$$$ up front from those that plan to be there to reserve the train. If you don't have a Yahoo membership already, maybe sign up for one and then sign up for the CORP fan group. Larry Tuttle is one of the head moderators of that group...I believe you already know him. JDLX Elko, NV
I went over to Yahoo and took a look around JD. I was not aware that there's so many of you who were aware of the YW's plight. Karla came home last night and told me that CORP has now moved their estimated date to open the tunnel back to end of June, first of July. This is really killing us!
Bill, someone asked a question about the tunnel over on altamontpress.com today, too. He said he stopped in at the YW office and talked to a lady about the effects on the YW--Karla?
