Got this one from the Yahoo group Shortline/Industrial RR news, forwarded by group member Paul Highnald. It's a document from the Surface Transportation Board, and is therefore available to the public. Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 09:23:21 -0700 From: "Paul S. Highland" Subject: Fwd: STB 'Abandon Ship' dept. - Wyo & Colo RR, Walcott to Saratoga WY (cont'd) Full Text of Decision 35016 SERVICE DATE - LATE RELEASE AUGUST 27, 2004 SEC SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD DECISION STB Docket No. AB-307 (Sub-No. 5X) WYOMING AND COLORADO RAILROAD COMPANY, INC. –ABANDONMENT EXEMPTION– IN CARBON COUNTY, WY Decided: August 27, 2004 By petition filed on July 23, 2004, Wyoming and Colorado Railroad Company, Inc. (WYCO), seeks an exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10903 to abandon a 23.71-mile line of railroad between milepost 0.57, near Walcott, and milepost 24.28, at Saratoga, in Carbon County, WY. Notice of the filing was served and published in the Federal Register (69 FR 49946-47) on August 12, 2004. The Notice indicated that replies to the petition for exemption are due on or before September 1, 2004. By facsimile submitted on August 25, 2004, the State of Wyoming (Wyoming) requests that the due date for filing replies be extended until September 16, 2004. Wyoming submits that a closed mill previously served by the line has been sold to another company and is scheduled to resume operations sometime between November 1, 2004, and December 15, 2004. Accordingly, Wyoming contends that a 15-day extension of time is necessary to afford the Office of the Governor time to meet with the Carbon County Commissioners to address the economic impact of the proposed abandonment on the community and to prepare and present evidence in the proceeding. According to Wyoming, WYCO does not object to the extension request so long as the due date for issuing a decision on WYCO’s abandonment petition is not changed. Under the circumstances, the request for an extension of the due date for filing replies to the petition for exemption is reasonable and will be granted. It is ordered: 1. The due date for filing replies to the petition for exemption is extended to September 16, 2004. 2. This decision is effective on the date of service. By the Board, Vernon A. Williams, Secretary. Vernon A. Williams Secretary .
The mill and all the timber rights were sold by Louisiana-Pacific to another firm, and the only obstacle is getting logs to cut into lumber. The mill, when closed, is a shadow of the mill that existed back when I lived there in the 1960s. It, and a mill in Oregon, was owned by Edward Hines Lumber. While 140 people were laid off when the mill closed, officials believe most will be hired back. The L-P mill was the town's biggest employer, about the only other big job source being tourism. When I was through there 5 years ago, WYCO had an ex-BN SD7 and an ex-Santa Fe GP7R for motive power, and was shipping out aspen chips and some cut lumber a couple times a week to the UP interchange at Walcott Jct. When the line was owned by UP, locals came out of Rawlins every weekday to work the branch (read: the lumber mill), even though the tracks were intact south of Saratoga to Encampment until 1975. Interestingly, the cattle pens at Encampment were intact as late as 1967, as was the track. The UP depot in Saratoga was moved to another spot and restored, and is now a muesum. A boxcar and UP caboose sit outside the depot, which has exhibits depicting life in the Platte River Valley. Sorry about the rambling, but for deeply sentimental reasons I hope the new owner of the sawmill can make a go of things, and yet another piece of Wyoming history doesn't fall prey to the scrappers.
