Document text
Railroad changes ownership By BILL VARBLE The Yreka Western Railroad has a new owner. The 111-year-old Northern California railroad, which operates the popular Blue Goose tours each summer, has been bought by Rocky Mountain Railway and Mining Museum of Denver, Colo., in a deal completed Friday. Rocky Mountain President Don Marshall, in Yreka Tuesday, said the nonprofit corporation bought the railroad for cash from former owners, the Cecil family of California. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed. The deal was scheduled to be announced in a 10 a.m. press conference today in Yreka, Marshall said. "The museum seeks out distressed historic properties on the endangered list," he said. "We try to find a way to rescue them. The Yreka Western has been removed from the list." A Save the Goose Committee in Yreka raised about $25,000 to help purchase the old railroad, which had been losing money. In addition to operating the Blue Goose, the railroad ships wood chips and veneer to various locations. A statement from the company said the deal included all the railroad's assets. Those include a depot and roundhouse, two diesel freight locomotives, other cars and equipment and eight-and-a-half miles of track. Marshall called the Blue Goose a "rolling museum." Each summer it takes passengers on a three-hour tour of the area around Mount Shasta that boasts views of the 14,162-foot mountain and takes in the old railroad town of Montague. Rocky Mountain said a refurbished Blue Goose would keep its regular schedule this summer, beginning on Memorial Day and running daily trips through Labor Day. The Blue Goose is a 1915 Mikado 2-8-2 locomotive. The numbers 2-8-2 are the wheel configuration from front to rear, indicating eight drive wheels. It has been featured in such movies as "Stand by Me," with River Phoenix, and "Emperor of the North," with Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. Some reports have said that one of the railroad's trains would tour Oregon towns from Ashland and Medford as far north as Cottage Grove. Marshall said that's a possibility. "But I doubt we'll get it done this year," he said. "We have a lot of work to do on the railroad." He said Rocky Mountain officials think the line can be made to at least break even. He said that short-line railroads that upgrade infrastructure and are responsive to the needs of local shippers have a high success rate. He said plans include restoring some of the bad areas on the tracks with new ties and ballast. The locomotives need major work, he said, as do the line's passenger cars. He estimated the refurbishing would cost about $200,000. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA