Yup, the same Bryan Whipple. I am now practicing law, including some occasional, minor work for the Yreka Western, and I talk to Court Hammond once every few months. As to the (permissive, non-mandatory) abandonment approval back in 1999, I'd think that would be unaffected by a change in the ownership of the stock in 2000. So, beyond MP 4.5 at or near the Timber Products turnouts, I believe the track is officially "abandoned" although not physically torn up and removed -- except, of course, for the 1500 feet or so that WAS torn up and removed somewhere around MP 8. According to Mr. Hammond, the company has retired some siding and spur trackage out there, but lost the main-line trackage to a thief. All of the foregoing is based on "educated guesswork." No one has paid me to research the status of the YW abandonment or the removal of small portions of its track, and a lot of the information I have comes from "reliable" railfan sites such as this one.