After a period of transitions and various ups and downs, 2015 was a year in which the BBCRC flourished in a number of ways. New caretakers/volunteers brought renewed energy and creativity to our organization, we had significant progress on a number of major projects and hosted a series of well received musical and other events. Our music program started off with BBCRC favorite Tim Barry making a return appearance to the boxcar on March 26th. See our You Tube page for an excerpt from this memorable show. In April, Minnesota based folk-blues legend Charlie Parr returned to Black Butte, for another stellar performance. Also in April we were saddened to learn of the death of BBCRC friend and supporter, Jerry Miller (see below). During our Spring Work Party in May, we moved forward on a number of key projects, including the initiation of major upgrades to our outdoor and indoor kitchens as well as lighting up, for the first time, two of our main searchlight signals and connecting them to solar power. We carried out a major creek restoration project using a Bobcat and a group of 6-8 people all carrying boulders and root balls and making a series of weirs along the creek. We had demos of the new blacksmith forge in the shop, built more trails and wildlife habitat structures, hauled and processed firewood, completed plumbing on two cabooses, and carried out all sorts of other repairs, maintenance, and painting. The weekend also featured really good music including a honky tonk night with Jeannie Reno from Ashland and Hearts Gone South along with Pat Reedy, all the way from Asheville, NC. The following night including a rocking punk show with Something on the Wing, The Shlurs, Hens Teeth, and Black Rainbow. We had a great turnout, both of those who came in on the rails and by car, lots of good food, including a pizza party using our new wood-fired cob oven!
We had more good music for Railroad Days in June and the BBCRC participated in the resumption of the event in Dunsmuir, as we rode our “Bindlestiff Express” railbike “float” in the parade. We were honored to have Guitar Whitey, at 92 years old America’s most well respected hobo, again join us for the event. Then in n July, the BBCRC sponsored four evenings of music and films. The event was covered in our local newspaper. The event included a performance by the New Orleans jazz band Tuba Skinny in our newly refurbished outdoor kitchen, a movie night at the California Theatre in Dunsmuir featuring Long Gone and Rail Kings, a metal oriented show featuring Speed of Darkness and Zelosis, and a couple days later, the band Wildcat from Minneapolis.
At our Fall Work party in September, we had a major push on processing firewood, worked towards finishing up our indoor and outdoor kitchen upgrades, prepped for Fall forest restoration activities, reaped the benefits of our large vegetable garden, and completed a number of other maintenance and various activities. Music included Divers from Portland, Hera Has a Heart from Humboldt, Powers from Santa Cruz and Lara Buckley from Buffalo. In November, we had good news on the railroading front: after being closed since May, 2008, Central Oregon and Pacific resumed operations on the ex-SP Siskiyou Route between Black Butte and Medford, Oregon over Siskiyou Pass. This is leading to an increase in rail activity and switching at Black Butte, something that is likely to further expand in 2016. On November 11th the BBCRC hosted the Joe Hill Road Show, a tribute to the IWW labor activist, song writer and hobo, on the 100th anniversary of his execution. Later in November we carried out a round of forest restoration work, thinning out more pines in the area right behind the compound and carrying out our first controlled burn on the forest floor.