Despite the fact that the BBCRC is an all-volunteer organization which makes no money from the musical performances (the vast majority of which involve original music) that have taken place at our site, we were recently targeted by the music industry, specifically ASCAP, which demanded we pay them high fees for allegedly allowing songs to be played at our site that they claim to own. As a result the BBCRC has been forced to terminate our sponsorship of public music events. We hope that other organizations with the capacity to assure proper licensing are able to host music in our area in the future but this will not be organized by the BBCRC. We regret to have to take this step, it is not our choice. For more info on this situation feel free to contact us.
Author: Black Butte Admin
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2016 Year in Review
During 2016 we took on two new ambitious projects. In late April, a new railcar arrived at the BBCRC — Southern Pacific #109 “The Shasta”, a wooden Pullman business car built in 1888 and donated to us by the California State Railroad Museum. The car was in very poor shape and its restoration will be a multi-year project. See our Shasta page for more information on this project. The second major project involved the installation of a solar power array at the BBCRC, completed in December. The BBCRC now runs 100% on renewable solar energy! More info on this project can be found on our solar power page. Thanks to our generous supporters who helped fund both of these major projects! Over the course of the year we also moved forward with a number of other site improvements, including the completion of the upgrading of our indoor and outdoor kitchens and further work on our searchlight signals. Late in the year we received a forest restoration grant from CalFire and began another major round of thinning and fuels reduction in our forest areas. We hosted three major work party events — in May, July and October — as well as a number of other gatherings and shows. Through all of this the BBCRC has continued to grow as an institution increasingly well-known and appreciated both locally and within the wider community of those interested in railroad culture. For more info on our 2016 activities see our Images 2016 page.
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$21,500 Cal Fire Grant for Forest Management
We are happy to report that Cal Fire has awarded a $21,500 grant from the California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP) for forest management on the land where the BBCRC is located. We got started right away and are thinning and pruning up trees, burning slash and needle piles, and creating areas for replanting other species like oaks and aspens. The grant goes through 2017 and builds on the earlier federal grants we have had from the Environmental Quality Incentive Program of the National Resource Conservation Service. The result will be a healthier and more fire resilient and wildlife friendly forest at the BBCRC!
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New Page: Solar Power Project
Added a page describing and documenting the development of our new Solar Power Project.
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$3,800 Donation for Restoring the “Shasta”
We would like to thank the Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society for the very generous donation of $3800 we received today for restoration work on our Southern Pacific business car #109 the “Shasta”. This is a long term and expensive project and this donation is a big boost to the effort and will allow us to move forward with getting a new roof on the car this season.
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Help Black Butte Go Solar!
Help Black Butte Go Solar! This month we launched our new Solar Power for Black Butte project! We are working to convert to 100% solar power this yea — for all the rail cars, our office, our shop and outdoor kitchen! We are building mounts for a big solar array out behind the boxcars and will be ordering panels and all the related materials over the next few months and getting it all hooked up as funds become available. To accomplish this really ambitious project we need the help of many friends and supporters. Please check out our online fundraising campaign and consider helping us out with a donation! Note that you do not have to pay the suggested administrative fee to Generosity and also that we have a bunch of perks available for contributors. Thanks! www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/help-bring-solar-power-to-black-butte
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Southern Pacific #109 “Shasta” Arrives
Today we took delivery of our sixth railcar, Southern Pacific #109, the “Shasta”, a historic 1888 wooden business car based in Dunsmuir in the early 1900s. The car was donated to the BBCRC by the California State Railroad Museum. Thanks to Carlton Crane, LH Trucking, Benson Roofing, Union Pacific, Solano’s Building Supply, Swenson Excavating, Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, and the Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society as well as all the individual volunteers who came together to make this happen! The Weed Press covered the story of the car’s move to Black Butte.
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New Page: SP #109 “Shasta”
Added a page describing our acquisition and future restoration of the 1888 Southern Pacific Pullman business car #109, the “Shasta“
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“Black Butte Then and Now” Moves Online
Over the last year and a half we have hosted the “Black Butte Then and Now” show of historical railroad photos in our PFE reefer gallery. That show has now been expanded and moved online.
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2015 Year in Review
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.