Re: Willits-South. MART PDATE
Author: FUD
Date: 08-09-2021 - 21:51
Who is "Redwood National Lumber" in Cloverdale? Google doesn't know. There are 4 lumber mills evident in Google Maps in Cloverdale. From the north end:
Redwood Empire Sawmill: across the freeway from the railroad; no direct rail service possible; would have to truck to a reload across the freeway someplace.
All-Coast Forest Products: big operation, on the railroad side of the freeway; has sketchy evidence of once having a spur, but nothing within the mill's fence remains. Is this "Redwood National Lumber?"
Nu Forest-International Wood Products: a small mill next to All-Coast: no evidence of any past rail access.
Redwood Empire (almost in Asti): another smallish mill, on the railroad but only vague evidence based on alignment of some things on the ground suggests a spur in the distant past.
That's it, and there's no evidence of other mills in the immediate area. So ... what's "Redwood National Lumber" and how likely is it that they're actually going to provide 400 loads a year, let along the monthly traffic needed to keep freight going? Where's their mill, currently producing and shipping enough that rail service to supplement trucks would be useful?
SMART might, some day, reach Cloverdale. It's technically within their service area, and within the portion of the railroad that's being kept as a possibly someday actual railroad rather than a trail. But the chances of them going north of even Healdsburg in the foreseeable future are slim - what passenger traffic is there to justify it? How many buses are running full on a congested Hwy 101 right now? So reopening it to Cloverdale for freight would need to be on a paying basis for freight alone, without SMART's involvement. I just don't see it happening based on 400 loads a year (i.e. 4 unit trains) from a company that appears to be smoke & mirrors. Now if the company were real enough to be willing to pay for the rehab work, in return for some rate rebates? That might be different. Show me the money.