All that rail in Montague is from the CORP rebuild of the Siskiyou Line over the past couple years and has nothing to do with the Yreka Western. In actuality, the railroad is set up well for shippers. Both Timber Products and the new Fruit Growers Supply mill have expressed interest in shipping by rail, but will not as long as Court Hammond is involved with the YW. This also includes the scam "acquisition" by RailMark Holdings. There is also Suburban Propane in Yreka that used to take in about a dozen propane cars every year. Shasta Forest products across the tracks from Timber Products used to take in boxcars up until the late 90's or early 2000's I believe and I've heard through the local grapevine that they would potentially get in on the railroad as well. Again, not without a change in ownership first.

The bottom line is there is a ton of potential for this railroad, but with the current management in charge, nothing is going to change, unfortunately. The best job I ever had was working and volunteering at the Yreka Western, and I hope one day there will be a competent manager that steps in and maybe I can go back to work.

Matt Starman
Yreka, CA