Bill, Thats great news. I hope they do find the open space in the middle it sure will speed things along. If this work is done in 6 or so weeks will the equipment that is currently for sale be pulled off the market? And also do you have the business car Santa Rosa in Yreka? Thanks for the information. Shannon WP LIVES (and so does the ATSF)
Shannon, I'm assuming that you are asking about the cars that Kepner has up for sale (?). I don't believe that the tunnel situation and the coaches being for sale are related in any way. Those coaches are only used during the summer for the excursion train. The Santa Rosa was sold a couple of months ago to a gentleman from the bay area, and it was shipped by rail to its new home.
Ken .. I believe he said there was around 400 feet left to be cleaned up. If there's no void, then it may take another four weeks to clean out. He seemed to be confident there is a void. I suspect once the bore is cleaned out and stabelized, the track crew will move in and lay new ties and rail. I don't know if they will use prefab modules or not.
Is the current stabilizing work all that will be necessary? Or will additional shoring be needed for permanent repair? Boxcab E50
I'm not sure .. but it is my belief that they are doing the finishing work, including spraying the walls and shoring with gunnite as they go. Otherwise, because the rock is so unstable, it would be very risky to work in an environment that is not as stable as it could be.
Bill, Thanks for the information. I had someone here in town asking about the Santa Rosa. I was at a local packing house for several years before being moved to Yreka. The track was being torn up and they did not want to truck it out. Also, is there a web site or a list somewhere of the equipment Kepmer has for sale? I don"t want to put my money in his pocket, but if there is something worth saving it would be nice to know about it. Shannon WP LIVES (and so does the ATSF)
Shannon- I'm not aware that the list of Kepner's equipment for sale ever got posted on any sort of a website. Or at least the equipment that Kepner claims to own...some people on the YW are apparently pretty sure that they own the passenger equipment in question, as evidenced by some recent discussion on the CORPfan Yahoo group. That being said, Martin Hansen distributed the list of available equipment far and wide on a number of different discussion boards, and the list got re-posted to other places by other people once he made it public. The list has probably slipped off of a lot of discussion boards now, but if you are a paying member of Trainorders you should be able to find it, and if not the list also got posted to quite a few Yahoo groups, such as the 4L list, Pickering Lumber Corp list, Historic Sierra Rail list, and many others. You should have no problem finding it on one of those sources, provided that you join those lists. If nothing else you can always try contacting Martin directly at meh@franceshansenmartin.com or something close to that. JDLX Elko, NV
Jeff, Thanks for the information. I will do one if not all of the above. Shannon WP LIVES SANTA FE LIVES
How has this project been progressing? I'm sure the weather has turned to wet, and cool. Snow? Will drainage be a problem? I seem to recall that it was last year. Boxcab E50
I have not been up there for a couple of weeks. I heard they did find a void .. but it was only about 30 feet long. I suspect they have about 100 feet or so to go. I'll get up there ASAP and report back to you then.
Well, sounds like they are making steady progress. Better than their predecessors! Will be interested in any updates! Boxcab E50
I spoke with the ramrod up at the tunnel this afternoon. He told me he had some 'problems' with the night crew, so he is tryint to get another crew together. This means until he gets a crew there is only one shift working. He told me they did in fact encounter a void about 40 feet long, and it appears there's another approximately 50 feet long behind it. (I guess they can see it over the top). Anyway, he said they have about 300 feet more to go... pretty much on schedule. Some snow has fallen but the biggest problem is the mud at this time. Drainage is not problem as they made preparations for that last fall. In the meantime, the Yreka Western is for sale and hanging on by the skin of our teeth!
If the tunnel is opened, and the YW has lasted that long, can things pick back enough to get going again? Boxcab E50
I think it could Boxcab, but creditors do not want to wait. The YWRR is having problems keeping the lights and telephone from being shut off. The remaining partner does not want to invest any more money into the railroad ... understandably. A week ago our MOW backhoe was reposessed! Things are looking pretty bleak.
I'm very sorry to hear this! Is there any chance of public assistance/emergency type funding? I suppose it would take too long, if possible. Bummer. Big time! Boxcab E50
Some guy stopped by the railroad last week and was telling my wife that he procured federal and state grants for a living before he retired. He told her that he could get some capitol for operating costs. Like you, I believe it would take too long to get through the red tape. Right now, the company brings in about $5K per month from what little freight we move, and it costs about $15K just to keep even! I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
It might just be worth letting him try. If it works, great. (Strings attached?) If not, your situation remains unchanged. A friend and I were viewing the Yreka Western home page. It is very nice! I did have a question. There is mentioned a couple of times when thoughts were to expand the RR. Did any physical work ever commence? Or was this just on paper? It almost reads like one time something might have started? Boxcab E50
Thanks for the good words on the homepage Boxcab. I am currently in the process of improoving it with some good stuff, and a couple of excellent links. I'm not sure what "expansion" of the YWRR you are writing about. I suspect it was the western expansion plan of the early 1900s. That was a plan to run a line over Forest Mountain Summit into the Scott Valley all the way to the town of Etna. There was also a plan about the same time to branch off of the Scott Valley line and follow the Scott River to the Klamath River and end at the Copper mines in Happy Camp, California. The San Francisco earthquake in 1906 destroyed the financial backing for that project. There was a second attempt to make the expansion some years later .. hence the change from the Yreka Railroad to the Yreka Western RR. Hope that answers your question(s). I guess I'll have to review that section in the history of the railroad and attempt to make it more clear.
Any updates on this? I drove from Portland down to Carlsbad 2 weeks ago and passed through Grants pass and down into Redding in the daylight for the first time. The Siskiyous area is the best part of that entire drive. And related to my questions regarding the Cascades and SisKiyous. The first thing you see when you top the Siskiyous pass on I-5 is Mt. Shasta It's hard for me to imagine that there is any geological difference between Shasta and the Cascades and the Siskiyous. In either case, I hope I get to spend more time in the area in the future. Lunch at the Yreka Subway does not do justice to the area.
I was just thinking the same. It's been a while. Am hoping weather there has been as mild as it has here. So possibly progress has been good? Boxcab E50
